Simson's first job will be contributing to the European Green Deal
The first major work of the future European Commissioner for Energy, Estonia's Kadri Samson, will be to contribute to the European Green Deal (EGD).
"As early as December, we will also have a European Green Deal for energy, where energy is very much on the agenda. So we are working on all the details of the initiative," Simson told ERR in Strasbourg on Wednesday after the European Parliament approved the new commission.
The new President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has made tackling climate issues a priority and wants the EGD plan, for the transition to a carbon-neutral society, to be presented within the first hundred days of her term.
Von der Leyen has said she wants the EU to reduce carbon emissions by at least 50% by 2030, which is an increase on the current goal of 40% by 2030. The European Union intends to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 at the latest.
European Commission by senior Vice-President Frans Timmermans will need to coordinate the work of commissioners in the fields of energy, transport, agriculture and trade to come up with a deal.
The new commission will take office on Dec. 1.
In 2017, an OECD report found that between 2000 and 2014 Estonia produced the most carbon of all it's member countries and recommended it reduce its reliance on oil shale.
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Editor: Helen Wright
