Fit for 55: The EU's Plan for a Green Transition

July 29, 2021

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(European Council) As part of the European Green Deal, with the European Climate Law, the EU has set itself a binding target of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. This requires current greenhouse gas emission levels to drop substantially in the next decades. As an intermediate step towards climate neutrality, the EU has raised its 2030 climate ambition, committing to cutting emissions by at least 55% by 2030.

The EU is working on the revision of its climate, energy and transport-related legislation under the so-called 'Fit for 55 package' in order to align current laws with the 2030 and 2050 ambitions. A number of new proposals are also included in the package.

This page includes information on:

what the Fit for 55 package is
what the package includes
the role of the Council

What is the Fit for 55 package?

The Fit for 55 package is a set of proposals to revise and update EU legislation and to put in place new initiatives with the aim of ensuring that EU policies are in line with the climate goals agreed by the Council and the European Parliament.

The package of proposals aims at providing a coherent and balanced framework for reaching the EU's climate objectives that is fair and socially just, maintains and strengthens innovation and competitiveness of EU industry while ensuring a level playing field vis-à-vis third country economic operators and underpins the EU's position as leading the way in the global fight against climate change.

The Commission presented the package on 14 July 2021.

What is included in the package?

The Fit for 55 package includes the following legislative proposals and policy initiatives:

a revision of the EU emissions trading system (EU ETS), including its extension to shipping, revision of the rules for aviation emissions and establishing a separate Emission Trading System for road transport and buildings
a revision of the effort sharing regulation on member states’ reduction targets in sectors outside the EU ETS
a revision of the regulation on the inclusion of greenhouse gas emissions and removals from land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF)
a revision of the renewable energy directive
a recast of the energy efficiency directive
a revision of the directive on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure
an amendment of the regulation setting CO2 emission standards for cars and vans
a revision of the energy tax directive
a carbon border adjustment mechanism
ReFuelEU Aviation for sustainable aviation fuels
FuelEU Maritime for a green European maritime space
a social climate fund
an EU forest strategy

Delivering the European Green Deal (European Commission)

The Council as co-legislator

EU member states, represented by their ministers within the Council of the EU, are responsible for adopting EU laws, based on legislative proposals presented by the European Commission. In most cases, laws are adopted together with the European Parliament following the ordinary legislative procedure.

The role of the Council

The Council will discuss the Fit for 55 package in order to form a common position on the proposals and initiatives contained in it. The proposals are first presented and discussed at technical level, within the Council's working parties responsible for the policy area concerned, before they land on the table of EU member states’ ambassadors in Coreper.

Subsequently, EU ministers, in various Council configurations, will exchange views on each proposal and seek agreement on a common position. This forms the basis on which the presidency of the Council then engages with the Parliament in negotiations to reach a common agreement in view of the final adoption of each legislative act.

EU Climate Policy: Fuel Up, Fuel Down (Our Daily Planet)

Taxation not solution to cutting aviation emissions, says IATA (Biofuels International)

Excerpt from Biofuels International: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) warned that the reliance on taxation as the solution for cutting aviation emissions in the EU’s ‘Fit for 55’ proposal is counter-productive to the goal of sustainable aviation.

EU policy needs to support practical emission reduction measures such as incentives for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) and modernisation of air traffic management, IATA said in a statement.

“Aviation is committed to decarbonisation as a global industry. We don’t need persuading, or punitive measures like taxes to motivate change.

“In fact, taxes siphon money from the industry that could support emissions’ reducing investments in fleet renewal and clean technologies. To reduce emissions, we need governments to implement a constructive policy framework that, most immediately, focuses on production incentives for SAF and delivering the Single European Sky,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general.

Achieving aviation decarbonisation requires a combination of measures. This includes SAF which reduce emissions by up to 80% compared to traditional jet fuel.

Insufficient supply and high prices have limited airline uptake to 120 million litres in 2021 — a small fraction of the 350 billion litres that airlines would consume in a ‘normal’ year.

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"... We should all be worried that the EU’s big idea to decarbonize aviation is making jet fuel more expensive through tax.

“That will not get us to where we need to be. Taxation will destroy jobs. Incentivising SAF will improve energy independence and create sustainable jobs. The focus must be on encouraging the production of SAF, and delivering the Single European Sky,” added Walsh. READ MORE