Ribera's U-turn in Europe: she feels "honoured" and "satisfied" with the package of measures that softens the 'green' transition

" Honoured " and " satisfied ". "Deeply satisfied", in fact. That is how the executive vice-president for Clean, Fair and Competitive Transition, Teresa Ribera, feels about the package of measures presented today by the European Commission and which means softening the green transition. And in case there was any doubt, the former Spanish vice-president said it first in English and then in Spanish. The shift from the positions she defended in Pedro Sánchez's Government is evident despite the fact that she has insisted that there is no "deregulation" and that no "undoing" of past measures.

But that is not exactly the same as the " flexibility " in decarbonisation that the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced weeks ago, nor does it fit with actions such as the " simplification " of environmental procedures for companies, especially small and medium-sized ones.

"We are presenting our first far-reaching simplification proposal. EU companies will benefit from simplified rules on sustainable financial reporting , sustainability due diligence and taxonomy. This will make life easier for our companies, while ensuring that we stay on track towards our decarbonisation goals," Von der Leyen herself insisted again on Wednesday.

The Commission says that the extensive package of measures presented today, with which it hopes to reduce administrative costs by up to 6 billion euros, also provides the framework for new action plans for the automotive and steel sectors and that, in both cases, it involves easing the actions linked to the green transition. It does not eliminate the decarbonisation process or the ultimate objectives, but it does ease the pace so that the battered European economy does not lose further distance with respect to the United States and China.

Clean Industry Pact

In addition to the measures already announced, there are those contained in the Clean Industry Pact, which form a set of actions with which Brussels wants to boost the business sector. In the specific case of the pact, Brussels wants to mobilise up to 100 billion euros and also proposes a significant tax reduction that will benefit both companies and households.

"Member States should reduce electricity tax levels and remove levies that finance non-energy policies ," the document states, which also suggests the possibility of reducing VAT to 5%.

For his part, the Commissioner for Energy, Dan Jorgensen, has specified that these fiscal measures would result in savings of 45 billion euros in 2025, a figure that will increase "progressively" to 130 billion euros per year by 2030 and up to 260 billion euros per year by 2040.