11 Oct 2024, 08:10
|
EU

What’s next in Europe? – Agenda of European climate and energy policy

EU
Journalists! Mark your calendars – or rather let us do it for you. Europe is complicated and even journalists from EU member states sometimes struggle to understand how climate and energy policy is made, and when institutions take key decisions. This timeline flags key European energy and climate reporting events and developments and includes concise background information necessary to jump-start your coverage.

Read CLEW's factsheet Climate in the 2024 EU elections and the making of the bloc’s next leadership for more information on key steps and developments in the 2024 election year.

You can find additional information on European climate and energy events and developments in the European Parliament’s European Green Deal legislative train schedule, in the event calendar of the Hungarian Council presidency, and in the Council’s press calendar.

2024

 

Date 1 July
Event

Hungary takes over EU Council presidency

Subject

In an interview with French Le Point, Orban laid out the five priorities for the Hungarian presidency: migration, the war in Ukraine, the green transition, defence, and the "demographic crisis". He said: "The European Union has long claimed that the green transition was not in contradiction with European competitiveness, but would actually increase it. Clearly, the opposite is true. We need to rethink this green transition before it kills our industry." The official programme was presented on 18 June.

However, as the EU will likely need almost the entire 6 months of the Hungarian presidency to establish the Parliament and then elect a new Commission, there is set to be little chance for policymaking and legislative work.

The Council represents the executive governments of member states, and the presidency rotates among EU member states every six months. It is not only responsible for setting policy priorities and planning and chairing meetings among ministers and heads of government, but must also try and reach agreement on laws with the EU’s other legislative bodies – the Commission and the Parliament. Member states holding the presidency work together closely in groups of three, called 'trios'. Preceding presidencies Spain and Belgium cooperate with Hungary. [More on the presidency]

Press contact  sec.beu[at]mfa.gov.hu (Hungary's perm rep to the EU)

 

Date 14 October
Event EU environment minister meeting
Subject

EU member state environment ministers come together for one of several regular annual meetings. Ministers are expected to agree the EU's negotiation position for the UN climate change conference COP29 in Azerbaijan in November. A draft seen by Reuters showed member states will demand that countries significantly step up their efforts to cut emissions by following through on the deal struck at last year's COP28 summit in Dubai to "transition away from fossil fuels".

Press contact Peristera Dimopoulou (EU Council)

 

Date 15 October
Event EU energy minister meeting
Subject

EU member state energy ministers come together for one of several regular annual meetings. Following up on the recommendations in the Draghi report, ministers will publicly exchange views on the contribution of the energy sector to the competitiveness of the European Union. They will also discuss electricity prices and winter preparedness.

Press contact Peristera Dimopoulou (EU Council)

 

Date 17 - 18 October
Event European Council - meeting of EU heads of state and government
Subject

EU leaders are meeting in Brussels to discuss Ukraine, the Middle East, competitiveness, migration and foreign affairs. They will also take stock of preparations for the meetings of the UN Biodiversity Conference in Cali, Colombia, from 21 October to 1 November 2024, and of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 11 to 22 November 2024.

Ahead of the European Council meeting, EU leaders and leaders from the Gulf region will meet in the first-ever EU-Gulf Cooperation Council summit on 16 October 2024.

Press contact Ecaterina Casinge (European Council)

 

Date 21 - 22 October
Event EU agriculture and fisheries minister meeting
Subject

EU member state agriculture ministers come together for one of several regular annual meetings. Agriculture ministers will seek to endorse a set of conclusions on the future of the post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Press contact Miruna Georgescu (EU Council)

 

Date 4 - 12 November
Event Hearings of Commissioner-designate in European Parliament
Subject

The new European Commission president has put together the designate-college of Commissioners in close coordination with member state governments. The relevant European Parliament committees organise hearings and essentially have to agree to the individual candidates. This is a crucial opportunity to find out about priorities of the future Commission, and might yet lead to candidates being exchanged. The president has given instructions to each Commissioner in "mission letters", which can be a treasure trove of information for journalists. Parliament also sent each Commissioner-designate written questions they hve to reply to by 22 October. The schedule for hearings for Commissioners most relevant to the transition:

  • 12 Nov.: Teresa Ribera Rodríguez, Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition
  • 12 Nov.: Stéphane Séjourné, Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy
  • 7 Nov.: Wopke Hoekstra, Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth
  • 6 Nov.: Dan Jørgensen, Commissioner for Energy and Housing
  • 6 Nov.: Jessika Roswall, Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy
  • 4 Nov.: Apostolos Tzitzikostas, Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism
  • 4 Nov.: Christophe Hansen, Commissioner for Agriculture and Food
Press contact Parliament’s press service.

 

Date 8 November
Event Informal meeting of EU heads of state or government
Subject

EU member state heads of state and government meet in Budapest.

Press contact  sec.beu[at]mfa.gov.hu (Hungary's perm rep to the EU)

 

Date 18 November
Event EU agriculture and fisheries minister meeting
Subject

EU member state agriculture ministers come together for one of several regular annual meetings.

Press contact Miruna Georgescu (EU Council)

 

Date ~December
Event New European Commission takes office
Subject

After confirmation through a vote in the European Parliament, the Commission can start its term. Politico reported that a start in December has become more likely, because the Parliament is set to start Commissioner hearings later than initially thought. The final vote by the European Parliament to confirm the Commission is scheduled to take place on 25-28 November.

Press contact European Commission

 

Date 5 December
Event EU transport minister meeting
Subject

EU member state transport ministers come together for one of several regular annual meetings.

Press contact Dimosthenis Mammonas (EU Council)

 

Date 9 - 10 December
Event EU agriculture and fisheries minister meeting
Subject

EU member state agriculture ministers come together for one of several regular annual meetings.

Press contact Miruna Georgescu (EU Council)

 

Date 16 December
Event EU energy minister meeting
Subject

EU member state energy ministers come together for one of several regular annual meetings.

Press contact Peristera Dimopoulou (EU Council)

 

Date 17 December
Event EU environment minister meeting
Subject

EU member state environment ministers come together for one of several regular annual meetings.

Press contact Peristera Dimopoulou (EU Council)

 

Date 19 - 20 December
Event European Council - meeting of EU heads of state and government
Subject

EU member state heads of state and government come together for one of several regular annual meetings.

Press contact Ecaterina Casinge (European Council)

 

 

2025

 

Date 1 January
Event

Poland takes over EU Council presidency

Subject

The Council represents the executive governments of member states, and the presidency rotates among EU member states every six months. It is not only responsible for setting policy priorities and planning and chairing meetings among ministers and heads of government, but must also try and reach agreement on laws with the EU’s other legislative bodies – the Commission and the Parliament. Member states holding the presidency work together closely in groups of three, called 'trios'. Poland will cooperate with the following presidencies Denmark and Cyprus.

Press contact Adrian Biernacki &  Marta Gan, Permanent Representation of the Republic of Poland to the European Union

 

 

All texts created by the Clean Energy Wire are available under a “Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0)” . They can be copied, shared and made publicly accessible by users so long as they give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.

Ask CLEW

Sören Amelang

Researching a story? Drop CLEW a line or give us a call for background material and contacts.

Get support

+49 30 62858 497

Journalism for the energy transition

Get our Newsletter
Join our Network
Find an interviewee