What the EU is doing and why
The European green deal of 11 December 2019 underlined the need to better direct financial and capital flows to green investments. The European green deal investment plan of 14 January 2020 announced that the Commission would establish an EU green bond standard (EUGBS).
Green bonds play an increasingly important role in financing assets needed for the low-carbon transition. However, there is no official green bond standard within the EU. Establishing such a standard was a recommendation in the final report of the Commission’s High-Level Expert Group on sustainable finance.
EU Finance Podcast
Episode 9 - The one about the European Green Bond Standard
Policy making timeline
- 28 February 2023Legislation - EU green bond standard
- 6 July 2021Legislative proposal - EU green bond standard
Legislative proposal for a European green bond standard (EUGBS) is a voluntary standard to help scale up and raise the environmental ambitions of the green bond market.
- 12 June 2020Consultation - EU green bond standard
Targeted consultation on the establishment of an EU green bond standard
End date: 2 October 2020Based on the outcome of these two consultations, as well as ongoing bilateral stakeholder dialogues, the Commission decided to put forward a European green bond standard.
- 6 April 2020Consultation - Sustainable finance strategy
Public consultation on the renewed sustainable finance strategy
End date: 15 July 2020 - 9 March 2020Usability guide & Report - EU green bond standard
- Usability guide for the EU green bond standard
Building on the recommendations of the June 2019 report, the TEG published their usability guide for the EU green bond standard. This guide offers market actors guidance on the use of the proposed standard and the set-up of a market-based registration scheme for external verifiers. The usability guide contains an updated proposal for a green bond standard (annex 1).
- Final report on an EU green bond standard
In order to respond to the most frequently asked questions by stakeholders about the TEG’s final report on an EU green bond standard (and it’s technical annex) and the Commission’s next steps, a joint document with frequently asked questions was published by the Commission and the TEG.
- Usability guide for the EU green bond standard
- 18 June 2019Report - EU green bond standard
TEG published its report on EU green bond standard accompanied by a two-pager summarising its key recommendations.
The report proposes that the Commission creates a voluntary EU green bond standard to enhance the effectiveness, transparency, comparability and credibility of the green bond market and to encourage the market participants to issue and invest in EU green bonds. The proposal builds on best market practices.
- 6 March 2019Report - EU green bond standard
Interim report on an EU green bond standard
More than 100 organisations provided feedback on the interim report and the feedback received was generally positive. A large majority of the respondents supported the creation of a voluntary EU GBS. The TEG has carefully studied the detailed feedback received from participating stakeholders and has created an improved version of the EU GBS.