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Germany’s EU Climate Policy: A Call to Action
18/12/2023

Joanne Francis / unsplash
Joanne Francis / unsplash

Germany is expected to champion the EU’s green transition and fight against climate change. This Berlin Perspective policy brief explores how Germany has often failed to fulfil these expectations and how it can live up to them in the future.

The "Green Deal" counts as one of the most ambitious projects of the current European legislative cycle. In 2019, the European Commission set the goal to reach climate neutrality in 2050. Notwithstanding the achievements made, climate change remains one of the top concerns of European citizens ahead of the European elections in June 2024.

In this issue of the “Berlin Perspectives”, Sylwia Andralojc-Bodych analyses Germany’s role in EU climate governance in recent years. She outlines how Germany has mostly supported policies for more ambitious goals and stricter implementation at European level, but in doing so remained rather reactive than proactive. Further, significant gaps remain in the implementation of Germany’s own climate policy goals. The government has thus left expectations of being the main driver behind Europe’s climate transition unfulfilled. Andralojc-Bodych offers suggestions on how Germany can better fill this role in the coming legislative cycle, notably by building bridges between more progressive and sceptical Member States and by championing European climate policy initiatives, such as ambitious climate targets for the next decade.

Team & authors

About the Berlin Perspectives project: The IEP Policy Brief series Berlin Perspectives presents precise analyses on Germany’s European policy to an English-speaking audience. The authors analyse German European policy positions on current topics and debates to provide policy recommendations based on their findings.

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Image copyright: Joanne Francis / unsplash