As EU ministers prepare to discuss the proposed National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPP) at the General Affairs Council on 17 March, an NGO report warns that the future regulation must do more to support a just transition to climate neutrality.
Published by the Plan4Climate consortium and coordinated by Germanwatch, the report examines whether the proposed NRPP Fund can help close Europe’s climate investment gap while preserving the strongest features of current cohesion policy.
The proposed NRPP Fund would bring together cohesion policy funds, the Common Agriculture Policy and other EU funding streams into a single national instrument. While this approach is supposedly designed to simplify access to funding, it also risks weakening support for climate action, social fairness and regional participation if key safeguards are not maintained, as the report based on interviews with managing authorities, ministries and experts from 12 EU countries, shows.
The report identifies the most valuable elements of existing cohesion policy, highlights current shortcomings, and proposes ways to ensure the new framework better delivers on the EU’s climate, energy and just transition goals.
“As it is by far the largest pot of funding in the proposed 2028-34 long-term EU budget, strengthening its climate and just transition provisions is necessary for meeting the EU’s commitment to a just transition to climate neutrality,” said Brigitta Bozso, policy expert at CAN Europe. “But this will only happen if the EU learns from past experience and includes strong social and environmental safeguards.”
“Climate policies are only as effective as the financial tools that support them. Yet, Member States have failed to provide sufficient clarity on how they will fund the measures outlined in their National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs), casting doubt on whether the EU’s 2030 55% emissions reduction target will be achieved. Strengthening climate and social earmarking in the NRPP Regulation is essential to ensure EU funds contribute to the climate targets. With the revision of the Governance Regulation underway alongside Multiannual Financial Framework negotiations, there is a concrete and valuable opportunity to align the NRPP Fund’s performance-based approach with real progress on our shared climate and energy goals.” Marion Guénard, Senior Policy Advisor on EU Climate Policies at Germanwatch
Notes to editors
National and Regional Partnership Plans are part of the European Commission’s proposed €2 trillion EU budget for 2028–2034. Under the plan, €865 billion would be channelled through national and regional plans — making NRPPs the biggest spending instrument in the next EU budget. The proposal was tabled in July 2025 and, if agreed, would apply from January 2028. This brings together several EU funding instruments, including cohesion policy funds, into a single framework agreed between the European Commission and Member States. While presented as a way to simplify EU spending, the proposal has raised concerns about reduced regional involvement, weaker partnership and lower accountability. For climate and just transition objectives, the design of the future NRPP framework will be critical.
The full report is available here.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Cristina Dascalu, CAN Europe, communications coordinator: cristina.dascalu@caneurope.org
Stefan Küper, Press Spokesperson, Germanwatch: stefan.kueper@germanwatch.org
About Germanwatch: Germanwatch is an independent development, environmental, and human rights organisation. Based in Germany, Germanwatch advocates for sustainable global development based on social equity, respect for nature, and economic stability.
About Plan4Climate: Plan4Climate is a civil society network working to see climate promises turned into real action, covering 13 EU countries, with CAN Europe leading the consortium work. plan4climate.caneurope.org/. This new project is a continuation of Together for 1.5 work carried out during the last three years.