Towards sustainable development

Addressing Key Environmental Challenges

z Continue efforts to ensure sustainable financing of water services and infrastructure including by improving municipalities’ cost accounting capacity and updating tariffs where they provide the service directly.

z Raise water abstraction charges for agriculture, strengthen capacity to monitor abstractions, enforce water licensing regulations and limit new abstraction permits in over-allocated basins.

z Accelerate the passing on of municipal waste management costs to households through dedicated identifiable charges uncoupled from the water bill, as part of wider awareness-raising campaigns to move up the waste hierarchy; develop separate collection of waste.

z Increase allocations to protected areas management under the new common agricultural policy 2023-27 and assess the environmental impact of measures implemented.

Enhancing Policy Coherence For Sustainable Development

z Carry on efforts to ensure the transparent and effective implementation of programmes financed with EU funds, prioritising investments with the highest social return.

z Complete the evaluation of the green tax reform with a view to applying the polluter pays principle more consistently and supporting a green and inclusive recovery; identify potentially environmentally damaging supports and phase out those not justified on economic, environmental or social grounds.

z Gradually close the tax gap between diesel and petrol, remove the preferential circulation tax treatment for older vehicles to rejuvenate the fleet and steer towards cleaner vehicles.

z Vary toll prices with vehicle emissions; further develop low emission zones with strict standards in cities exceeding air quality limits and ensure their effective enforcement.