Negotiators from the European Parliament and European Union member states agreed on Wednesday on how to finance investments to reduce the bloc’s dependence on Russian energy imports.
Czech Finance Minister Zbenik Staniura said in a statement that the agreement lays the foundations for a “fundamental reform” in the EU’s energy sector.
It is planned that 20 billion euros (21 billion US dollars) in grants will be added to the remaining funds in the bloc’s special fund to mitigate the effects of COVID-19.
In May, the European Commission announced plans to raise up to €300 billion in loans and grants to boost investments in renewable energy, part of a long-term response to rapidly rising energy prices in the EU following the crisis in Ukraine.
According to the Commission’s proposal, a large part of the money, up to 225 billion euros, will be unclaimed funds from the Special Fund to Mitigate the Impacts of COVID-19.
Negotiators agreed that this money could be reallocated for use in energy projects. One of the contentious points was the source of the 20 billion euros allocated in grants. Negotiators agreed that 60 percent of the grants would be funded mainly by the bloc’s innovation fund.
The remaining money will come from the sale of carbon permits to industries under the EU’s emissions trading system, closer than planned.
The funds will be directed mainly to energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.
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