C L I M A T E & E N V I R O N M E N T F R A N S T I M M E R M A N S Green future European Commissioner Frans Timmermans speaks about the vision of a sustainable Europe. I N T E R V I E W H E L E N S I B U M E MMr Timmermans, how will the COVID-19 P O R U E pandemic affect the Green Deal? The COVID-19 crisis has shown us how fragile we are. It has also made us realise again how much we value our health. While we battle this immedi- ate crisis, the climate crisis and the biodiversity crises are still here and very real. And these too directly affect our health and wellbeing. I would like to stress that the Green Deal is not a luxury for rich people; it is a necessity for all people. If we are about to unlock billions of euros in order to bolster our economies and ensure people can get back to work again, we better spend it wisely and get it right from the getgo. invest and change much, much quicker. We can stand back, close our eyes and hope everything will simply stay as it was, but it won’t. So either we are going to be masters of our fate, or our fate will be masters of us. Do you think that the corona crisis can give the EU a new sense of the importance of cooperation – also in terms of climate policy? I understand that the first reactions of some mem ber states were national, also because some felt the EU as a whole wasn’t moving fast enough. Ulti mately, the EU member states realise that only by working together, by cooperating, can we beat this. And the same goes for many other challenges. Fighting the climate crisis and the biodiversity cri sis, in the interest of the health and wellbeing of our European citizens, could be the new raison d’être. Does the EU coronavirus aid package consider ecological aspects enough? Yes, I’m satisfied that we presented a recovery package of this magnitude, Next Generation EU, with strong green DNA embedded in it. When member states present their national plans for re covery, the green transition is going to be an im portant part of it, as is digital. This is what the Euro pean leaders asked for, and this is what we are proposing. And it should be, for we have to build a green, inclusive and resilient economy. If we get this right, Europe will be a trailblazer and lead the way in dealing with the climate, cleaning our air and water, producing more sustainable and nutri tious food, helping people to renovate their homes and lower their energy bills, electrifying our public and private transport, creating local jobs and mov ing towards a carbonfree economy. Representatives of business argue new environ- mental standards are too expensive to reach due to the economic crisis. My answer is that sooner or later they will have to come to terms with this new reality anyway. Per haps you could postpone investment decisions or decisions to change for a few years more, but eventually reality would have caught up with you. Even without the Green Deal the transition was already happening. Because everything is chang ing. We are in the midst of the 4th industrial revo lution, the way we live, work, consume, discard, everything is changing. COVID and the ensuing economic crisis will force us to take decisions to What do you expect of the German Presidency of the EU Council? I have very high expectations. Germany is a very special European country. It is a country that has shown time and again that it can rise above itself, in terms of its industrial power, but also in terms of its moral and political power. A country that has determined that its national interest coalesces with the collective European interest. To be sure, Germany can lead, together with France, but also with other member states. And I hope that if any thing, COVID will have taught us that if we come together in this Union, there is little we cannot do, together. 3 6 I 3 7