The European Green Deal calls for reclaiming Public Investments for a real socio-ecological transformation
Abstract
The European Green Deal is fraught with fundamental flaws that make it unlikely to properly contribute to addressing the key challenges of our times, from the need for a fair and just recovery, to tackling the health, social, climate and environmental emergencies. In a recent report, Counter Balance is proposing another approach to EU public investments and the financing of the Green Deal, one working towards the decarbonisation, de-financialisation and democratisation of our economies and societies. It is high time to reclaim public finance for the common good, and the financing pillar of the European Green Deal should become a laboratory for another kind of public finance, centred around public ownership and control and making funding accessible to small-scale and community-led projects.
This article and the report it is based on were discussed and enriched in the framework of the working group on EUGD coordinated by the Rosa Luxemburg office in 2021.
About the author
Xavier Sol is the Director of Counter Balance since 2012. Counter Balance is a coalition of 9 NGOs whose mission is to make European public finance a key driver of the transition towards socially and environmentally sustainable and equitable societies. Over the last decade, we have monitored extensively investment plans at European level as well as the operations of the European Investment Bank and led campaigns to make it a more sustainable, democratic and transparent institution. More information is available at: www.counter-balance.org