European Council - Photo © European Union 2026

During yesterday’s European Council, EU leaders met to discuss the new energy shock hitting Europe, with some of them looking towards deregulation measures and major changes to the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) as possible solutions.

The European Commission has put forward a proposal for a new long-term EU budget that reduces existing funding for climate and nature, leaving Europeans ill-equipped to deal with the ever-worsening climate and biodiversity crisis, amid yet another summer plagued by heatwaves, wildfires and floods.

Today’s European Parliament vote adopting an objection to the European Commission’s country benchmarking system under the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) represents an irresponsible move against one of the EU’s flagship environmental laws.