Source: European Parliament
Subsidies harmful to biodiversity comprise the following:
— energy subsidies harmful to the environment including fossil fuel subsidies, where there is established reporting to the Commission[1];
— and ‘other’ non-energy environmentally harmful subsidies, which would cover agricultural subsidies, where Member States are due to report for the first time in 2025. A guidance document on the methodology for doing so has been agreed based on input and discussions in an Expert Group of the Member States[2].
The Member States and the Commission have a commitment to report on these environmentally harmful subsidies as part of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework on Target 18 by February 2026. The Commission intends to publish an overview of environmentally harmful subsidies before this time, but this is dependent on Member States reporting to the Commission their non-energy environmentally harmful subsidies including for sectors such as agriculture, transport and manufacturing.
By 31 December 2025, the Commission will report on the assessment of the operation of the new delivery model by the Member States and consistency and combined contribution of the interventions in Member States’ Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plans[3] to achieving environmental and climate-related commitments of the Union. The Commission will examine the effectiveness of the CAP by 31 December 2026 as part of the interim evaluation.
- [1] https://energy.ec.europa.eu/news/energy-subsidies-report-shows-progress-2023-2025-01-29_en.
- [2] Sub group on Environmentally Harmful Subsidies and the Polluter Pays Principle (E02987/1): https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/expert-groups-register/screen/expert-groups/consult?lang=en&groupId=103352&fromMeetings=true&meetingId=50127.
- [3] https://agriculture.ec.europa.eu/cap-my-country/cap-strategic-plans_en.