Green backlash will spread to European Parliament
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.
By Lisa Jucca
MILAN, Jan 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) -The European Union’s green backlash will spread to its parliament in 2024. The growing electoral success of nationalist parties across the continent risks undermining pro-environment forces in the next European Parliament vote in June. That will reinforce a strengthening bond between conservatives and far-right politicians wary of the industrial and social cost of the clean transition, and may water down the EU’s ambitious Green Deal.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has kicked off a raft of initiatives designed to ensure the 27-nation bloc achieves net zero carbon emissions by 2050 by heavily reducing or offsetting all greenhouse gases. The policies support renewable energy, reduce waste, promote efficient buildings, boost organic farming, and foster clean mobility. The European Parliament, which co-adopts EU laws together with the bloc’s member states, has traditionally been an enthusiastic proponent of green policies.
Yet the recent electoral success of far-right parties in Italy, the Netherlands and elsewhere suggests priorities are shifting. If traditionally pro-environment socialist and green lawmakers lose ground in the vote, the European Parliament’s environmental focus may blur.
Cracks are already appearing. In November EU lawmakers torpedoed a bill to curb the use of pesticides in farming, a pillar of the Commission’s green strategy, as conservative and right-wing lawmakers responded to lobbying from the agricultural industry. On the same day, the chamber also watered down targets for reducing and reusing packaging to cut waste.
Opinion polls suggest radical lawmakers will increase in numbers but probably remain a minority in the European Parliament. The Identity and Democracy group, which includes Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in France and the Dutch Freedom Party led by Geert Wilders, is on track to capture 12% of the seats, according to Breakingviews calculations based on opinion polls available on Dec. 4, 2023, closely followed by the European Conservatives and Reformists, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy. Throw in Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz and a few others and the anti-environmental parliamentarians may at best win 190 seats, or 26% of the total, up from around 22% now. Besides, nationalist parties tend to struggle to present a united front in Europe as their domestic interests often clash. Witness the disagreement between Italy and Hungary on a failed EU immigration deal.
Still, concerns that the EU’s plan for a fast climate transition may leave behind many low-income workers and impose heavy costs on citizens may resonate more widely. The conservative European People’s Party, projected to be the largest force in the EU Parliament, is concerned about the additional burden that new green legislation will impose on traditionally important European industries such as car-making, fossil fuel energy and chemicals.
After the next European Parliament election, the continent’s green policies may get a paler hue.
Follow @LJucca on X
- This is a Breakingviews prediction for 2024. To see more of our predictions, click here.
CONTEXT NEWS
The next European Parliament elections are due to be held between June 6 and June 9, 2024.
Voters across the 27-nation European Union bloc are due to pick 720 EU Parliament members, up from 705, for a five-year term.
Graphic: What the next EU Parliament may look like https://tmsnrt.rs/47XYncA
Editing by Peter Thal Larsen and Oliver Taslic
Dernières actualités
Avertissement : Les entités de XM Group proposent à notre plateforme de trading en ligne un service d'exécution uniquement, autorisant une personne à consulter et/ou à utiliser le contenu disponible sur ou via le site internet, qui n'a pas pour but de modifier ou d'élargir cette situation. De tels accès et utilisation sont toujours soumis aux : (i) Conditions générales ; (ii) Avertissements sur les risques et (iii) Avertissement complet. Un tel contenu n'est par conséquent fourni que pour information générale. En particulier, sachez que les contenus de notre plateforme de trading en ligne ne sont ni une sollicitation ni une offre de participation à toute transaction sur les marchés financiers. Le trading sur les marchés financiers implique un niveau significatif de risques pour votre capital.
Tout le matériel publié dans notre Centre de trading en ligne est destiné à des fins de formation / d'information uniquement et ne contient pas – et ne doit pas être considéré comme contenant – des conseils et recommandations en matière de finance, de fiscalité des investissements ou de trading, ou un enregistrement de nos prix de trading ou une offre, une sollicitation, une transaction à propos de tout instrument financier ou bien des promotions financières non sollicitées à votre égard.
Tout contenu tiers, de même que le contenu préparé par XM, tels que les opinions, actualités, études, analyses, prix, autres informations ou liens vers des sites tiers contenus sur ce site internet sont fournis "tels quels", comme commentaires généraux sur le marché et ne constituent pas des conseils en investissement. Dans la mesure où tout contenu est considéré comme de la recherche en investissement, vous devez noter et accepter que le contenu n'a pas été conçu ni préparé conformément aux exigences légales visant à promouvoir l'indépendance de la recherche en investissement et, en tant que tel, il serait considéré comme une communication marketing selon les lois et réglementations applicables. Veuillez vous assurer que vous avez lu et compris notre Avis sur la recherche en investissement non indépendante et notre avertissement sur les risques concernant les informations susdites, qui peuvent consultés ici.
