Ambassadors of EU Member States approved a mandate for the Council to start negotiations with the European Parliament in order to reach an agreement on the 8th Environmental Action Programme (EAP). The 8th EAP will serve as a guide for environmental and climate policymaking and implementation until 2030.
The Council endorsed a new chemicals strategy setting a long-term vision for the EU chemicals policy.
The European Commission proposed to create a Digital Green Certificate to facilitate safe free movement inside the EU during the COVID-19 pandemic.
INEA has received 232 project proposals by the deadline of 10 March 2021 for the first call for small-scale projects requesting a bit more than €1 billion from the Innovation Fund, 10 times more the available budget.
On 12 March, the Commission held the 5th Ministerial Meeting under the European Battery Alliance. Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, Commissioners Thierry Breton, Nicolas Schmit and Elisa Ferreira, as well as the European Investment Bank Vice-Presidents Ambroise Fayolle and Thomas Östros attended the event alongside Ministers from 14 EU Member States with significant investments in the battery value chain.