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The EU Council has rejected a Covid-inspired European Commission proposal for a 40 billion warchest to help coal-dependent regions shift to renewables, with the heads of member states instead allocating 17.5 billion. Despite the final figure being 10 billion higher than that suggested by the commission before coronavirus battered Europe, questions have been asked about how useful the program will be.

In a Covid-19-free Europe, a decision by the leaders of European Union member states this summer to allocate 7.5 billion to the Just Transition Fund (JTF) for fossil fuel-dependent regions might have been cheered by environmentalists as unequivocal backing of the ambitious plans of the European Commission for the blocs energy transition.

After all, that was exactly the figure suggested by the commission in January when it announced the fund, which is intended chiefly to help coal-dependent EU regions mitigate the social impacts of the switch to renewable energy generation.

However, the subsequent impact of Covid-19 in Europe prompted the Brussels policymakers in May, at the behest of member states, to suggest raising the stakes by increasing the JTF contribution made directly from the EU budget for 2021-27 from 7.5 billion to 10 billion. The commission also proposed beefing up the JTF with a further 30 billion from a new cash pile it was proposing to help the continent recover from the coronavirus the 750 billion Next Generation EU fund.

With expectations duly raised, the national leaders who make up the European Council in July approved creation of the Covid recovery fund but stipulated it would supply 10 billion, rather than 30 billion towards the JTF, and that the direct contribution from the blocs 2021-27 budget would revert to the 7.5 billion originally mooted by the commission.

Slimmer budget, slimmer transition hopes?

The dilution of the Just Transition Fund, from the 40 billion suggested in May to 17.5 billion, has raised questions about how effective the money will be in persuading coal-dependent regions to embrace renewables.

The JTF itself is part of a wider Just Transition Mechanism which also includes a program to attract private investment into renewables, under the blocs InvestEU platform, and a public sector loan facility, although both those measures are also likely to have slimmer budgets than those suggested by the commission in May.

Nikos Mantzaris, a senior policy analyst at Athens-based thinktank The Green Tank, criticized the Just Transition plans as overly favoring energy transition laggards such as Poland ahead of nations like Greece and Hungary, which have already progressed much further down the path to a renewables-based energy mix.

EU member states applying for Just Transition support have to draw up territorial transition plans identifying regions most heavily impacted by the switch to renewables and also outline their planned green recoveries to 2030.

With those plans requiring approval by the commission,Mantzaris told pv magazine: The criteria proposed by the European Commission for the allocation of funds are unfair and do not take into account key considerations. Specifically, the speed of transition away from coal and lignite is not accounted for and the same is true for the extent of dependence of the local economies on coal and lignite. As a result, member states which have not yet committed to phase out coal, such as Romania, Czechia or Bulgaria, or have not even yet accepted the climate neutrality objective, such as Poland, receive very large sums, leaving countries like Greece, Slovakia, Portugal or Hungary which have made far more ambitious commitments regarding the dirtiest fuel on the planet with utterly insufficient funds to implement the transition.

The standard of national and regional governance could also be key to the success of a slimmed down Just Transition program. Member states which engage communities in the most impacted regions and draw green transition plans in an open and transparent manner may have more success than those which do not and may also attract more private-sector finance for clean energy too.

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Will a watered down EU Just Transition Fund still be effective? - pv magazine International

On 9 August, Presidential elections took place in the Republic of Belarus.

The EU has been following the developments leading to the presidential elections closely. During the electoral campaign, the people of Belarus have demonstrated the desire for democratic change.

However, the elections were neither free nor fair.

State authorities deployed disproportionate and unacceptable violence causing at least one deathand many injuries. Thousands of people weredetained and the crackdown on freedoms of assembly, media and expression intensified. We call on the Belarusian authorities to release immediately and unconditionally all detained. Furthermore, credible reports of domestic observers showthat the electoral process did not meet the international standards expected of an OSCE participating State.

The people of Belarus deserve better.

Since the 2015 release of political prisoners, the relationship between the EU and Belarus had improved. But without progress on human rights and the rule of law, the EU-Belarus relationship can only get worse.

It is against this background that we will be assessing the Belarusian authorities actions to address the current situation and conducting an in-depthreview of the EUs relations with Belarus. This may include, inter alia, taking measures against those responsible for the observed violence, unjustified arrests, and falsification of election results.

We call on Belarusian political leadership to initiate a genuine and inclusive dialogue with broader society to avoid further violence. The EU will continue to support a democratic, independent, sovereign, prosperous and stable Belarus.

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Belarus: Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the presidential elections - EU News

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Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of European Union on the announcement of a normalisation of relations between Israel and the UAE. -...

Germany said Monday it was prepared to back an expansion of European Union sanctions against leading figures in Belarus over its bloody crackdown on demonstrators.

After EU ministers agreed Friday to draw up a list of targets in Belarus for a new round of sanctions, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said even stronger measures should be considered.

"Of course we are looking at the option of expanding the sanctions to other leading figures," he told reporters.

Germany holds the rotating presidency of the EU.

Seibert called the mass demonstrations against this month's disputed presidential election "impressive" and "moving" and urged an immediate end to violent reprisals and the release of "political prisoners".

"These people should know that Europe stands by them," he said.

Seibert urged a "national dialogue" between the government and opposition "to surmount the crisis", adding that the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) could play a role with a "review of the election".

The OSCE has sent observers to Belarus since 2001 but has said it was not invited to monitor the latest presidential election.

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Germany threatens wider European Union sanctions against Belarus - Deccan Herald

Monday, August 17, 2020 8:11 a.m. EDT by Thomson Reuters

NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cyprus on Monday criticised European Union partners over what it said was diffidence amounting to "a policy of appeasement" in dealing with Turkey, locked in a stand-off with Cyprus and Greece over energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.

The Cypriot comments came after Greece failed to secure a strong commitment from fellow EU nations for sanctions against Turkey for carrying out offshore natural gas surveys in areas where both countries claim jurisdiction.

Two Turkish survey ships are in two areas of the disputed maritime region - one that Greece says is on its continental shelf, and the other claimed by the island state of Cyprus. In both cases, Turkey says it has jurisdiction.

"Unfortunately we are observing a diffidence from the European Union in taking on a substantive role and adopting policies of deterrence," Cypriot government spokesman Kyriakos Koushios said in remarks to reporters.

He said Nicosia welcomed expressions of support from EU partners but this was not enough. "The policy of appeasement and the messages of support are not enough to discourage Turkey from its illegal actions."

The EU, he said, needed to have a "more intense" presence in the eastern Mediterranean.

Turkey drew another EU rebuke on Sunday when it said its Yavuz energy drill ship would extend operations in disputed Mediterranean waters off Cyprus until mid-September.

Cyprus's internationally-recognised Greek Cypriot government has long been at loggerheads with Turkey. The island was split after a 1974 Turkish invasion spurred by a brief coup engineered by the military then ruling Greece. A breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in north Cyprus is recognised only by Ankara.

Turkey questions Cyprus's right to explore in the seas around the island because it maintains that the Nicosia administration does not represent the interests of Turkish Cypriots - an argument dismissed by Cyprus, which is legally recognised as representing the entire island.

In Turkey's dispute with Greece, the two countries are at odds over the delimitation of their continental shelves.

(Reporting by Michele Kambas; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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Cyprus: EU 'appeasement' of Turkey in exploration row will go nowhere - Midwest Communication