With the EU's first climate targets unlikely to be met, the European Commission needs to be more proactive in pressuring EU member states to comply – because if they don't, who will? The EU is a self-proclaimed climate champion. The European Green Deal, launched almost four years ago, has been labeled as a new Union growth strategy with the ultimate goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. But neither electric vehicles nor heat pumps, as important as they are, will by themselves be net zero. The entire enterprise is based on three "core" climate laws that define the wider framework within which EU climate action takes place. These are the Emissions Trading System (ETS, which limits emissions from heavy industry), ETSII covering transport and buildings, and the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR), which covers emissions from the remaining sectors of the economy. (Nikolaus J. Kurmayer)