Changing perspectives: how the EU budget can shape a sustainable future

This report offers an assessment of the extent to which the EU-Budget is currently contributing to tackling the challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and resource overconsumption. It considers resilience to fire and floods and other natural hazards as well as ecosystem resilience in the face of climate change as part of the most important public goods associated with agriculture. It sets out clear recommendations for the next EU-Budget to catalyse the transition towards a just society that guarantees the well-being of citizens in a globally and fiscally responsible way, within the ecological limits of the planet.

The report consists of three parts: the first part presents 10 guiding principles, proposed to ensure a sound EU-Budget with clear targets, improved efficiency and accountability. The second part flags the three most detrimental environmental challenges that the budget must address in order to place Europe on a sustainable development path. In the third part, it presents concrete steps for reforming the major European funding instruments and policies so that they can catalyse the transition.