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Since the launch of our open letter the hearings of the new European commissioners have taken place.  Wopke Hoekstra – candidate for the post of Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth – is responsible (with Dan Joergensen) to create a framework for the phase out of fossil fuel subsidies in the EU, as stated in his mission letter. Last week the European Parliament asked him questions on his background and his plans for the next five years. One of these questions focused on the phase out of fossil fuel subsidies: The commission has the legal means to do this but has lacked the determination, so far. For example,

Brussels, 5 October, 2024 Today at 2pm in Brussels, around 400 demonstrators from all over Europe and the Global South organised a climate march that began in Place du Luxembourg, in front of the European Parliament, and ended in Merode, where the demonstrators held a People’s Assembly on Climate Justice. Meanwhile, at 2.30pm, 135 activists, including Greta Thunberg, blocked Boulevard du Jardin Botanique, by Rogier metro station, for two hours. The demonstrators, united under the flag of United for Climate Justice (UCJ), called for an EU-wide end to government support for the fossil fuel economy. 115 people, including Greta Thunberg, were

Brussels, 2 October 2024 – More than 30 leading climate and social justice groups under the United for Climate Justice (UCJ) coalition have issued an urgent open letter to EU leaders, calling for an end to fossil fuel subsidies by 2025. The letter, addressed to the Presidents of the European Commission, Council, and Parliament, and candidate commissioners, comes as frustration mounts over the EU’s failure to make meaningful progress on its climate commitments.  The open letter—co-signed by over 130 academics and prominent organisations including Oxfam, ActionAid International, 350.org, Legambiente and Laudato Si Movement—demands that EU leaders lay out a comprehensive and transparent roadmap to