Publications Archive

With flexibility overcoming the crisis of the automotive sector: the EU should allow for more technological openness and market-driven decarbonisation within CO₂ emission standards to reconcile robust competitiveness and ambitious climate targets. This is the result of a study of the Centre for European Policy (cep) commissioned by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).

Whether green steel, bioplastics or alternative fuels: climate-friendly technologies require clear sales prospects. The Centre for European Policy (cep) sees great potential in green lead markets to make climate protection economically viable, but warns against too much state control.

According to the Commission, the EU target of climate neutrality by 2050 will not be achieved by avoiding greenhouse gas emissions alone. The Commission therefore supports measures such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) and the removal of CO₂ from the atmosphere. The Centre for European Policy (cep) considers these steps to be sensible.

Between 4 and 12 November, the Commission candidates will have to answer questions before the European Parliament. The touchstone will be the so-called Mission Letters, in which President Ursula von der Leyen assigns tasks and portfolios to the new Commissioners until 2029. The Centre for European Policy (cep) scrutinised the candidates, departments and EU initiatives, particularly with regard to the internal market and competition. The result: many things should have been more ambitious and structured.

Floods, drought, crop failures: The European Commission warns that Europe is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world. The negative consequences of climate change are already being felt. To make the EU more climate-resilient, the Commission wants to clarify how adaptation measures can be implemented, who is responsible and who will ultimately bear the costs. The Centre for European Policy (cep) welcomes this approach.

In order for climate protection to succeed, the Centre for European Policy (cep) believes that the EU must reduce greenhouse gases both more effectively and more cost-effectively in the future. The threat of production and emissions being shifted to third countries as a result of carbon leakage is damaging both the European economy and the global climate. The cep identifies effective instruments that should be at the top of the EU's 2024-2029 agenda.

Wind, sun and hydrogen are seen as the keys to climate neutrality. Another one is often ignored: CO₂ storage. In a new study, the Centre for European Policy calls for the development of an EU-wide pipeline and storage infrastructure for carbon capture and storage (CCS) - as well as the removal of regulatory barriers and the conclusion of Carbon-Contracts-for-Difference for young CCS technologies.

Heavy goods vehicles cause more than 6% of all greenhouse gases in Europe – and the trend is rising. The Commission wants to reduce CO₂ emissions by promoting zero-emission vehicles and more efficient road freight transport. The Centre for European Policy (cep) supports the proposal but calls for fair competitive conditions for rail and inland waterway transport.

Pricing CO₂ emissions is considered by economists to be the key to decarbonising the transport and building sectors. In order to mitigate social hardship, the Centre for European Policy is calling for a lump sum, income-independent climate dividend - co-financed by EU revenues from 2027. The judgement of the German Constitutional Court on the German Climate Transformation Fund makes this more necessary.

Berlin/Freiburg. Heavy duty vehicles are responsible for a significant share of CO₂ emissions in the EU. For this reason, the Commission wants to set new CO₂ limits for trucks, vans and buses. In view of other, more efficient instruments, the Centre for European Policy (cep) considers the Commission proposal to be one-sided, anti-technology and superfluous - and therefore rejects it.