The 7Ds – Decarbonisation in Depth

With its 2019 Green Deal and the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, the EU aims to become the most influential global actor when it comes to advancing the international agenda on decarbonisation and the fight against climate change. Geopolitical conflicts have increasingly shifted political priorities and resources, making the commitments pledged in the previous decade even more challenging to achieve. At the same time, resilience and economic security have become key criteria for the future transformation.

In 2023, the Martens Centre published its 7Ds for Sustainability strategy document. This text comprised 175 proposals for the next legislature to future-proof EU policy in the areas of debt, decarbonisation, defence, democracy, demography, de-risking globalisation, and digitalisation. Sustainability was chosen as the guiding principle to ensure that the policies reconcile the needs of both the present and the future, and systematically include the interests of the next generations.

The 7Ds document has already inspired reflection on what to do over the next five years. These discussions are based on Christian Democrat and conservative thinking and the available in-house expertise of the Martens Centre. For the next phase of intense discussions about the programme to be implemented during the 2024–9 legislature, the Martens Centre has invited renowned external experts to put forward their own, more extensive proposals based on the original document, thereby deepening the available expertise. It is hoped that these proposals, published at the beginning of April 2024, will help to clarify the way forward at a critical juncture, when the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European Council are negotiating on and finalising their strategic priorities.

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