The European Union is poised to announce the world’s greenest recovery package next week, as it seeks to curb pollution and save its economy from the coronavirus pandemic. European Commission President Ursula Von Den Leyen is set to transform her Green Deal strategy to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, into a coronavirus economic rescue plan that’ll rapidly drive private investment and create jobs across the continent, according to a draft document with details of the proposal seen by Bloomberg.

The plan is part of the package that the EU executive will unveil on May 27 for the bloc’s jointly financed response to the pandemic-induced recession. The package will include a proposal for the EU’s next trillion-euro budget for the years 2021-2027 and a “recovery instrument” of at least half-a-trillion euros specifically designed to cushion the economic blow from the outbreak.

“These sums would dwarf any green stimulus announcements to date and signal that the EU really wants to align its economic recovery strategy with the Green Deal,” said Victoria Cuming, head of global policy at BloombergNEF.

SELECTED PROPOSALS (SUBJECT TO CHANGE):
  • 60 billion euros to 80 billion euros to boost electric vehicle sales and a doubling of investment in charging networks
  • Option to exempt electric vehicles from VAT
  • 91 billion euros a year in grants and guarantees for sealing up drafty buildings – including plans to offer home buyers green mortgages
  • 10 billion euros to leverage finance for 7.5 gigawatts of new renewable energy projects over the next 2 years
  • 10 billion euros a year in a fund administered by the European Investment Bank to boost renewables and hydrogen infrastructure
  • As much as 30 billion euros from the EU’s existing Innovation Fund for the development of green hydrogen that can curb emissions in some of the hardest to tackle industries, like steel and cement making