Opinion on the guidelines for the 2027 budget – Section III

12.2.2026

Mr Johan Van Overtveldt

Chair

Committee on Budgets

BRUSSELS

Subject: Opinion on the guidelines for the 2027 budget – Section III (2025/2246(BUI))

Dear Chair,

The Coordinators of the Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety (ENVI) decided on 16 December 2025 that ENVI would provide an opinion on the guidelines for the 2027 budget – Section III (2025/2246(BUI)) in the form of a letter. Therefore, as both ENVI Chair and Standing Rapporteur for the Budget, let me provide you with ENVI’s contribution in the form of resolution paragraphs, which was adopted by ENVI at its meeting of 28 January 2026 and which I kindly request will be taken into account by your committee:

1. Considers that the last annual budget of the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework (MFF) should allocate the necessary funds to accelerate progress towards the fulfilment of the Union’s environmental, climate and food safety objectives – most of which remain off-track, according to the European Environment Agency – in a complicated geopolitical and geoeconomic context; calls for adequate appropriations under the 2027 budget to support the green transition, including renewable energy deployment, energy-efficiency technologies and the phasing out of fossil fuels, to protect biodiversity, and to ensure that no region or community is left behind in the just transition;

2. Stresses that 10 years after its adoption, the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping the global average temperature increase below 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial times remains more pressing than ever; reminds that the 2025 Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 30) showed once again that the Union is committed and a leading force within the global decarbonisation process, but underlines that efforts and resources are needed to operationalise the objectives agreed at COP level, such as the transitioning away from fossil fuels;

3. Points out that the Union’s budget for 2027 should be aligned with the realisation of the EU’s objectives to reduce pollution, to support a just and green transition and the realisation of the legally enshrined objective of the European Climate Law of reaching climate-neutrality by 2050 at the latest, including through its intermediary 2030 and 2040 targets, and to phase out environmentally harmful subsidies; stresses, in this regard, that the green transition must be a just transition for all;

4. Reminds that the European Green Deal aims to serve as a growth strategy, whose effective implementation and contribution to a just and inclusive transition, leaving no one behind and upholding workers’ protection, requires adequate funding, and which will strengthen the Union’s competitiveness when complemented by the Clean Industrial Deal and the future Circular Economy Act;

5. Emphasises the need for more ambitious funding allocations for programmes that support climate- and environment-related projects, as well as for the Just Transition Fund to assist the most vulnerable carbon-intensive regions in addressing the economic and social impacts of the climate transition, to leave no one behind; emphasises that adequate funding is essential to realise the transition towards an energy-efficient, circular, climate-neutral, competitive and climate-resilient economy; notes that efficient and results-driven climate and biodiversity financing should be integrated into programming activities, while remaining flexible enough to address the diverse needs of different regions and sectors;

6. Highlights that, despite the unforeseen annual repayment of high amounts within NextGenerationEU, the allocation of funds for the implementation of the EU’s long-term environmental and climate objectives should not be endangered; recalls, therefore, the need to assign sufficient resources for the implementation of, among others, the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the Farm to Fork Strategy, the circular economy action plan, the chemical strategy for sustainability, the Clean Industrial Deal and a Zero-Pollution Action Plan in the Union budget for 2027;

7. Welcomes the allocated funding to the LIFE programme; underlines that the LIFE programme has financed about 700 projects since 2021 and has proved to be a successful programme in the Union in delivering concrete actions for environmental protection; stresses that its cross-border nature and direct management by the EU are imperative factors guaranteeing funding predictability for final beneficiaries and the successful implementation of projects; calls, consequently, for the allocation of sufficient payments for LIFE-funded projects in 2027 and onwards, to prevent backsliding on funding for nature and biodiversity objectives;

8. Underlines the importance of upholding biodiversity targets and halting the ongoing biodiversity decline, and stresses that the Union must honour the commitment to ensure that at least 10 % of annual expenditure is allocated to biodiversity in 2027; underlines the intrinsic value of an established dedicated biodiversity financing objective, as well as robust tracking for biodiversity expenditure, to ensure that the Union combats biodiversity loss efficiently; regrets that the Union is expected to not reach this objective in 2027; calls on Member States and the Commission to make supplementary efforts in reaching the agreed spending target, which is needed for the Union to achieve the objectives set out in the Kunming-Montreal Global Diversity Framework, and to ensure cost-effectiveness and long-term sustainability; highlights that, in line with the principle of the just transition, no one should be left behind and due attention should be given to local communities, farmers and fishers;

9. Underlines, also, the importance of allocating sufficient financial resources to curb pollution, including the growing contamination by ‘forever chemicals’ (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS); highlights the need to dedicate increased financial resources to circularity, fostering the reduction, reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling of products and resources, considering the very small progress made in recent years, and as part of the implementation of the upcoming Circular Economy Act;

10. Stresses the importance of ensuring adequate funding for the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, considering the need to increase preparedness in preventing disasters and implementing climate adaptation measures; is concerned that the proposed funding is inadequate to effectively ensure strengthened protection and rapid responses, considering the serious threats posed by the dramatic increase in natural disasters, exacerbated by climate change, leading to frequent and intense floods, heatwaves, droughts and wildfires, causing loss of human lives and significant economic losses; stresses the need to uphold and swiftly implement the decisions taken to reinforce the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, particularly in the worst-hit regions and areas most affected by climate change; calls for dedicated support for water-resilience measures, including water efficiency, leakage reduction, reuse and nature-based solutions;

11. Calls on the Commission to swiftly implement pilot projects and preparatory actions related to the environment, climate and food safety objectives of the Union;

12. Reminds that the application of the adopted legislation related to the environment, climate and food safety requires the allocation of appropriate human and financial resources to the relevant Directorates-General of the Commission, including the Directorate for Health and Food Audits and Analysis within the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, as well as to the relevant EU agencies under the ENVI remit (the European Environment Agency, the European Chemicals Agency and the European Food Safety Authority);

13. Emphasises the need to strengthen the EU’s current own resources system, as well as to prepare the framework of additional resources for the Union budget, in supporting the realisation of the Union’s objectives for the environment, climate and food safety; stresses the importance of implementing the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism effectively, enabling the Commission to take compensatory measures to address any shortfalls in meeting the EU budget’s overall climate spending target.

I have sent a similar letter to Mr Nils Ušakovs, general rapporteur for the 2027 budget.

Yours sincerely,

Antonio Decaro

ANNEX: DECLARATION OF INPUT

The Chair his capacity as rapporteur for opinion declares under his exclusive responsibility that he did not include in his opinion input from interest representatives falling within the scope of the Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory transparency register, or from representatives of public authorities of third countries, including their diplomatic missions and embassies, to be listed in this Annex pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure.