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At stake for the party presently are such issues as –internally- its credibility and political fortune, as well as the future of the European Green Deal, externally. The party-grouping in the European Parliament, EP intends to advocate a more ambitious climate action, but it has to convince others of the approaches’ benefits. The Greens has just lost about twenty seats in the EP elections, therefore it intends explore a more pragmatic approach in political discourse.
Main challenge or the party is that the EU-wide climate-friendly policies had to be more business-friendly, like a recently proposed “green industrial investment plan.” The European Greens are in an “existential situation”: either to trade principles for power or advocate a more business-friendly political climate. The coming period in the EU is “years in transition”, i.e. the greens shall evolve from an opposition’s stance to a political position of a “hard right”. Notable, that the number of “greens” at the national frond reduced dramatically: e.g. from 25 to 12 MEPs in Germany and from 12 to 5 in France, etc. To boost their numbers the Greens have welcomed five MEPs from Volt, a pan-European party that has not made green issues a priority so far.
More on “green deal” issues in: https://www.integrin.dk/2024/07/09/climate-change-and-the-green-deal-the-eu-at-a-cross-road/
Background
In the first few years of the previous parliamentary term, the Greens acted as an unyielding, though quite vocal, opposition force. During the period of growing concern about global warming (ahead of the 2019 EU election), they consistently advocated bolder climate action. However, according to the “greens”, the EU-wide “green deal” was not ambitious enough: hence, when the EU adopted its climate-neutrality target in 2021, the green-group in the EP voted against it, declaring the mid-century deadline insufficient.
The shift to pragmatism seems understandable: in late 2021, both the Austrian and German Greens joined national coalitions and force them to make painful concessions. Among the EU institutions the legislative cycle shifted from debates to actual problems; thus, the group was “backing the compromise”. Then in post-pandemic and during the energy crisis the “climate anxiety” surrendered to security fears and the wellbeing concerns. As Politico rightly mentioned, “the far right rose, farmers took to the streets in protest against the Green Deal and unfair wages, and conservative lawmakers turned against nature-protection efforts”. Rather than fighting for a more ambitious end result, the Greens frequently found themselves trying to salvage what they could.
The pragmatic attitude has been dominating in the political climate among all EU political parties: e.g. the Nature Restoration Law debated in 2023, has been finally weakened almost beyond recognition; and the level of ambition has been reduced in order to join the majority.
Facing coming nomination, the Commission president could be forced to rely on Greens and Liberals to secure a second term, suggested Politico on in mid-July i.e. some weeks after European election.
Source: https://www.politico.eu/article/epp-eu-commission-president-ursula-von-der-leyen-fate-vote-mep-parliament-losers-france-portugal/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=alert&utm_campaign=EU%E2%80%99s%20biggest%20losers%20hold%20Ursula%20von%20der%20Leyen%E2%80%99s%20fate%20in%20their%20hands
Striving to remain vital
After losing about a quarter of their seats during June’s European Parliament election, the environmentalists and the “greens” are scrambling to remain relevant as surging right-wing forces reach for power. A tough choice awaits them: either stick to their uncompromising stance on environmental issues and pave the way for a right-leaning coalition, or keep to principles and join a centrist alliance, with all the political risks that this direction entails.
Many of the group’s MEPs and local party officials acknowledged that adapting to the EU’s new political reality requires so-called “paler shade of green”. “We are ready to step back on a few of our issues for the sake of democracy, because we definitely do not want any democratic party to work with the far right or with people who don’t respect the rule of law,” said Jutta Paulus, a German Greens MEP who has worked on major environmental files for the group.
Source: https://www.politico.eu/article/greens-europe-ursula-von-der-leyen-election-pragmatism-over-principle-adapt-to-survive/Politico, 12.07.2024.
Outgoing EU Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius, who will take his seat as a Greens MEP, said that his group “can definitely be part of a strong pro-European coalition, which would … ensure that the Commission has a strong mandate and has comfortable conditions to be ambitious” on climate and environmental policies.
Party’s coming challenges
= The first major inflection point arrived this July, when MEPs were about to vote on whether to back von der Leyen as European Commission president. While there are no formal coalitions in the European Parliament, with groups cobbling together alliances ad hoc, the assembly’s vote will set the tone for the coming five years, and for the Greens’ future. In 2019 von der Leyen (VDL) was able to rely on the support of her own center-right European People’s Party (EPP), the center-left Socialists & Democrats (S&D) and the liberal-centrist Renew Europe to win confirmation. This time she’ll likely need the backing of a fourth group, i.e. the Greens and/or the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR). Most Greens, who rejected von der Leyen in 2019, now say they want to join her coalition. Some say that the group feels it has a responsibility to be “part of the majority” to prevent the formation of a right-leaning parliamentary alliance.
= Second is the split over VDL’s confirmation: the “greens” tend to vote as a bloc in the EU; the divisions in the united front have been quite rare in the EP; though some MEPs worry that giving up on demands to join a broader coalition will tarnish their credibility, especially among their activist base. Thus, some French MEPs were among those who think the Greens should keep their opposition role: as long as the mainstream political parties are not changing course, “greens” will not join the coalition; “staying aside” would mean that greens do not support “foreign” policies.
= Third, as soon as the group will always advocate more ambitious climate action, the “greens” have yet to convince the rest of their valuable impetus; the greens’ climate focus is still on ensuring that the laws passed over the last five years are implemented, as well as “keeping the Green Deal alive”. Some are more optimistic, believing the greens could push a few policy changes: e.g. the group wants better protection of marine environments and greater efforts to prepare the EU for climate disasters. Still many greens are unanimous that the group’s role was now defense rather than offense, i.e. the EU-wide green commitments would stay on track and do not go backwards, the issue to be a key question for EU institutions in the years ahead.
Anyway, the coming days are going to show some interesting political debates…
Note. Majority of the newly elected 720 members of the European Parliament, with 562 votes in favor reelected Roberta Metsola (16.07.2024) as president of the European Parliament. First elected to the post in January 2022, the Maltese European People’s Party (EPP) politician will remain in the EP’s leader for 2.5 more years. She now becomes one of the four key EU leaders in the coming years, alongside the head of the European Commission, the European Council president (former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa), and the EU’s top diplomat (Estonia’s former Prime Minister Kaja Kallas; she will face a grilling by the EP’s defense and foreign affairs committees later this year).
The Parliament president’s five-year mandate has been traditionally split in two between the center-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and the center-right EPP. When it comes time for the S&D to pick a successor to Metsola, options include Spain’s Iratxe García, leader of the S&D group in Parliament, or a leading figure within Italy’s Democratic Party, which is the largest force in the S&D.
Reference to: https://www.politico.eu/article/roberta-metsola-reelected-european-parliament-president/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=alert&utm_campaign=Roberta%20Metsola%20reelected%20European%20Parliament%20president