EU Parliament Rejects Blocks To Green Investment Rules

European Parliament members on Monday, September 23, rejected three attempts by some lawmakers to block the European Union’s proposed rulebook for sustainable investments, as Brussels edges towards completing the first part of the landmark rules.

The European Commission in April proposed the first section of the EU’s sustainable finance taxonomy, a complex piece of legislation that from next year will decide which investments can be labelled “sustainable” in the EU.

European Parliament and EU countries are scrutinizing the proposal, which includes CO2 limits and other criteria that economic activities like car manufacturing, wind turbines and cement plants must meet to be deemed green investments.

On Monday, Parliament’s environment and economic affairs committees rejected three attempts from lawmakers to object to the proposal. A majority of lawmakers or EU countries could block the proposal.

Pascal Canfin, chair of the environment committee, welcomed the vote results and said the taxonomy would “strengthen EU leadership on green finance rules.”

The three motions had attempted to block the taxonomy proposal on grounds that it was not aligned with existing EU laws, or should have included nuclear energy and gas power plants as green investments.

The Commission is due to publish a second proposal in the coming months, confirming whether the taxonomy will label investments in nuclear and gas as green.

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