The European Commission announced on Tuesday that it had defined the terms of its green bonds, which will allow a first issue in October to finance the post-covid recovery plan of 750 billion euros.
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A third of this plan must be financed by this sustainable finance tool.
“The EU's plan to issue up to € 250 billion in green bonds by 2026 will make us the largest green bond issuer in the world,”
said Johannes Hahn, Budget Commissioner , during a press conference.
The European framework adopted on Tuesday is aligned with the principles defined by the International Association of Capital Markets (ICMA) for green bonds, a recognized standard, said the Commission, which hopes to convince of the seriousness of its approach.
37% of the State budget in the ecological transition
The European recovery plan provides for Member States to detail their spending in favor of ecological transition.
These must represent at least 37% of their total envelope.
Brussels will use this information to show investors the proper use of green bonds.
Nine categories of investments are planned, including clean energies, energy efficiency (especially building insulation) and sustainable transport.
The first green bond issue
"is already scheduled for October"
, announced the Commission.
Nuclear power excluded from these investments
Asked by journalists, Johannes Hahn specified that the money raised on the markets by this mechanism
"will in no way be able to finance investments in nuclear energy"
because this sector is not recognized as contributing to the green transition within the framework of of the European recovery plan. On the other hand, it will be able to finance gas power stations
"under certain conditions to provide a solution of transition in the production of energy".
The regulatory framework for EU green bonds adopted on Tuesday is ahead of the draft European standard for the sector presented in July by the Commission.
The proposal for a
"European standard for green bonds"
, which Brussels hopes to eventually impose on the markets to guide states and companies, has yet to be negotiated by the European Parliament and member states, which could take at least one or two years. .
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The Commission could not wait.
“We need to have something in place now to get the first shows going. But we made sure to anticipate and align as much as possible (the framework) with our July proposal, ”
explained Johannes Hahn.