Europe to Plant Trees in Africa

09
December 2018

Europe to Plant Trees in Africa

In Brussels, an official presentation of the joint financial document of the EU countries for 2021-2027 was held at the high-level conference “EU budget for the future - the road ahead”. This estimate of income and expenses is approved for seven years and regulates both the contributions of rich countries and the amounts of aid to their, not such well-off, allies. Three bodies are responsible for the preparation of the draft: the Council of Ministers of the EU member states, a special commission of the Executive Committee and the European Parliament.

The conference, consisting of more than 700 participants, generally supported the proposals, which were formed taking into account the two main “negatives” of the near future: the British exit from the EU and a large-scale crisis projected for 2021. Following the discussions, it was decided to reduce the economic burden on donor countries: Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria and others. In order to use the common market, the United Kingdom would still have to pay to the EU treasury, albeit much less than it had being its member. The costliest programs such as the Cohesion Fund and agricultural subsidies are awaiting sequestration.

New sources of revenue were introduced into the European budget. For example, the fee for unprocessed plastic will reach the level of one Euro per kilogram. Over the past quarter century, Denmark, Ireland, Finland, and Luxembourg have almost halved the volume of plastic waste. The rest of the EU old-timers are also enjoying positive trends in this area. As for the new arrivals to the Union, the recycling situation is much more lacking. So now for the remaining two years they will have to either solve this problem on their own, or pay from 4 to 8 billion Euros per year.

Despite future financial difficulties, the European Union plans to continue implementing support programs for the poorest countries in other continents. The conference participants were sympathetic to the initiative of the Finnish delegation. To combat climate change on the planet, it proposed to launch several large-scale reforestation projects in Africa costing hundreds of millions of Euros. Until it's not too late.

Subscribe