With 90 members, the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) is one of the two largest committees in the European Parliament, reflecting the high importance placed on building a more sustainable, cleaner and healthier union.
During this mandate, ENVI will work towards implementing and delivering the Green Deal for all European citizens. This is crucial to ensure a fair and equitable transition to a greener economy, leaving no one behind.
This is urgent work. We must accelerate our transition from fossil fuels to reap the full benefits of healthy ecosystems. We need to strengthen the EU biodiversity strategy in line with the Global Biodiversity Framework by ensuring that all EU member states adopt and implement ambitious national strategies and action plans, and we must increase international EU financial support for biodiversity.
We will also work towards a more robust and integrated EU Health Union to benefit all Europeans and continue our work on other policy priorities, such as the circular economy, biodiversity, food safety, air and water quality, and the use of chemicals and pesticides.
Implementing the European Green Deal's objectives is the most crucial task we have. The path to achieving the 2050 climate neutrality objective is challenging, but we are determined to navigate it.
Unfortunately, some objectives of the Green Deal package contain divisive elements. In these first weeks of work, we are already seeing requests from some member states to postpone deadlines and reduce the impact of European green policies in some areas, from the automotive sector and agriculture to the energy issue. I know that the goal is ambitious, but the EU was born on an ambitious bet.
Before becoming an MEP, I served as a local administrator and then as a mayor for ten years. I am a pragmatic man who fought for his community's rights, development and growth, ensuring no one was left behind.
In the next five years, the EU must urgently prioritise redesigning its economic system, clearly focusing on global challenges and keeping sight of local action. It must strengthen cohesion between member states by promoting solidarity in managing common challenges such as the climate crisis and health emergencies.
To safeguard and integrate all sectors of the economy into the green transition path, we will need to ensure public investment and stimulate large scale private investment. We will also work on tackling social inequalities and energy poverty, focusing on the most vulnerable people and communities. Our ongoing commitment is to ensure a just and sustainable transition.