European Union countries have given the final seal of approval to a law to make the bloc’s greenhouse gas emissions targets legally binding, as EU politicians prepare a huge new package of policies to fight climate change.

Negotiators from EU member states reached a deal in April on the climate law, which sets targets to reduce net EU emissions by 55 per cent by 2030 – from 1990 levels – and eliminate them by 2050.

Ministers from 26 of the 27 EU countries formally approved the deal on Monday.

Bulgaria abstained from the vote, saying: “The final compromise does not reflect our national position sufficiently.”

We’re changing Europe. We’re going to make it:

🌱Greener
🛡Safer
🩺Healthier
📱More digital
💕For everyone

This is #NextGenEU.
Let’s #MakeItReal. pic.twitter.com/wG5bWUq2JW

— European Commission (@EU_Commission) June 16, 2021

Leaders from all EU countries signed up to the 2030 emissions-cutting target in December, which aim to put the bloc on a pathway that, if followed globally, could help avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

The targets apply to overall EU emissions, rather than a binding requirement for each country.

The law aims to put climate at the heart of all EU policymaking, ensuring future regulations support the emissions-cutting aims.

Doing that will require a huge policy overhaul. Most EU laws are designed to meet a previous target to cut emissions by 40 per cent by 2030.

The European Commission will begin that upgrade on July 14, when it proposes a dozen policies to reshape industry, energy, transport and housing to emit less CO2.

The proposals will include EU carbon market reforms, tougher CO2 standards for new cars, and more ambitious renewable energy targets.

The climate law also requires Brussels to launch an independent expert body to advise on climate policies, and a budget-like mechanism to calculate the total emissions the EU can produce from 2030 to 2050, under its climate targets.

-AAP