The European Commission unveiled its working programme for 2009 in November, with ambitious goals set in a year which also sees the end of the Commission’s mandate and elections in the European Parliament. The programme seeks, as one of its top priorities, to come up with a Communication on the Lisbon Strategy post-2010, as well as tackling the ongoing financial crisis.

Tackling climate change and making Europe sustainable is also one of the main priorities however, with 2009 being labelled ‘a critical year for efforts to tackle climate change’ according to the communication.

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso unveiled proposals for a new economic recovery package last Wednesday, which seeks to improve the current economic climate. The report suggests that this should be done by refocusing attention towards increasing energy efficiency and by greening products across various sectors. The plans call for a substantial investment of around €200 billion, or around 1.5% of EU GDP, with the majority of the finances coming from Member State governments and the rest from EU funds and the European Investment Bank.

In terms of the content of the package, Mr Barroso acknowledged that ‘there are not only different points of departure but there are also other different policy environments’ to take into consideration in face of the financial crisis. As such he has made clear that the intention of the package is not to provide a uniform solution for all countries, but that it is more prescriptive to each nation’s particular needs and concerns.

The Commission has therefore outlined various priority areas. Firstly it seeks to ‘green’ the economy more, by focussing on investment in greener buildings and cars, and more generally promoting the take-up of greener products.