The Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament reached an interim political agreement that legislates the objective of the European Union’s climate neutrality in 2050.

In a message published on his personal Twitter account, António Costa writes that he is facing “another commitment made in the trialogue of the first European climate law”. “It is an unmistakable sign of the European Union’s determination to combat climate change and a good omen for the climate summit,” says the prime minister.

Also according to the Prime Minister of Portugal, the country that presides over the Council of the European Union until June, “the pandemic emergency [of Covid-19] did not make the climate emergency disappear”.
“May Earth Day inspire others to take action in favour of a healthier and more sustainable world”, adds António Costa.

It is stated that “the negotiators of the European Council [to which Portugal chairs] and the European Parliament reached a provisional political agreement that legislates the objective of the European Union’s climate neutrality in 2050 and the goal of net collective reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases (emissions after deduction of removals) by at least 55 percent in the year 2030, compared to 1990”. “We are satisfied with the provisional agreement reached today. The European Climate Law is the ‘law of laws’, setting the framework for EU climate legislation for the next 30 years”, stressed the Portuguese Minister for Environment and Climate Action.

“Today, we are proud to have laid the foundations for an ambitious climate objective capable of bringing together the support of all. With this agreement, we send a strong message to the world and we pave the way for the commission to move forward, in June, with the climate package proposal ‘prepared for the 55’”, said João Pedro Matos Fernandes.