The EU has a strong interest in an ambitious deal at the Paris climate conference. A strong and unified EU position backed by common resource could prove instrumental for making European preferences heard at the Paris Summit and increase the likelihood of a deal. It would increase the EU’s ability to shape the emerging international climate institutions and their governance, to make sure that climate finance is used to reduce mitigation cost (also in Europe) and to ensure European industry would benefit from opportunities. This paper advocates that dedicated resources, collected through a revamped emission trading system and a carbon tax on transport and heating fuels, would increase the predictability and credibility of EU climate finance. A redirection of domestic deployment costs for mitigation would reduce the burden on taxpayers.