The EU’s political shift to the right – and the dumping of its greenest-ever parliament – has fuelled worries over the future of the bloc’s flagship Green Deal and plans to turn Europe into the world’s first climate-neutral continent.
Suffering a loss of 18 seats and performing particularly badly in France and Germany, the Greens-EFA group has emerged as a major loser in EU parliamentary elections that gave populist parties a big jolt while still favouring the centrists.
It’s a far cry from five years ago when a triumphant “green wave” made the Greens the second largest party in Germany and the third largest in France – with enough support to enter coalition governments in several EU countries.
Now they’ve lost about a quarter of their seats (despite making gains in the Netherlands and Sweden).
France’s EELV was relegated to fifth position, with its share of the vote dropping from about 13 to 5 percent. The German Greens, part of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's ruling coalition, fell from 20.5 to 12 percent.
Sliding priority
It's evidence that climate protection has “slipped down people's list of priorities – even among young people", German news outlet Spiegel warned.
So how safe will the EU’s ambitious climate goals be under a more climate-sceptic parliament that's focused on issues such as trade and immigration?
Experts say it’s unlikely the far right will be able to undo Green Deal policies that have been enacted, however the newly redrawn parliament may have a much smaller appetite for future climate priorities.
“Populist, far-right parties have unfortunately gained too much ground, exploiting legitimate concerns about the cost of living, job security and social and territorial disparities,” said Laurence Tubiana, chief executive of the European Climate Foundation.
“Europe has made great progress on climate action in the last five years ... I refuse to give in to fatalism. There can be no solving the cost of living crisis, security or competitiveness without ecological transition.”
Farmer protests
The drubbing at the polls for the European Greens – and overall concerns that climate change is becoming less of a priority – come on the back of stiff resistance for a greener agricultural sector.
Historic farmer protests across the continent this year have become a major stumbling block for the European Green Deal, which seeks to ensure the bloc’s entire economy – energy, transport and agriculture – is carbon neutral by 2050.
Even ahead of the EU polls, the agricultural furore won significant concessions for farmers – including the relaxing of environmental rules required to receive subsidies.
The centrist European People's Party (EPP), which remains the biggest grouping, has itself sought to stem the green agenda as part of efforts to keep the EU’s economy competitive.
Despite the rejection of Europe’s ecological parties at the ballot box, the Green Deal is still the bloc’s best tool to tackle the climate crisis and “future-proof” our continent, European Greens co-leader Bas Eickhout said in a statement.
“We call on other political groups, particularly EPP and Renew, to boost efforts to drive the Green Deal forward as the economic engine for Europe’s economy,” Eickhout said.
