The EU recovery plan offers the opportunity to redirect the continent's economy towards ecological objectives, with a view to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. The priority issues are economic, ecological and of course related to healthcare. The mobilisation of young people for the climate is an important factor, in addition to the activism of certain NGOs. There is also the challenge of using emerging technologies to protect the environment. What financial instruments are available to promote the ecological transition? A European fiscal power would have real added value, as would a carbon tax that would make carbon products more expensive. All this should be part of a long-term strategy that also includes social objectives. In this context, an ambitious programme of investment in European public goods should be launched and investments (notably those of the EIB) should be channelled in a sustainable way towards a new development model based on decarbonisation, reforestation and the circular economy.