Euro elections | Is the EU's climate policy facing a U-turn or sudden braking? This is how the Finnish MEPs respond

Strasbourg

U-turn, sudden braking or something else? The future of the EU's climate and environmental policy is emerging as the central theme of June's European elections.

While in the previous European elections five years ago the parties campaigned in an atmosphere dominated by youth climate protests, this spring's campaigning is based on what has been seen across Europe farmer protests. They oppose, among other things, the EU's climate policy.

The right wing of the European Parliament calls for a drastic change in the direction of climate policy, and in the discussions of the EU leaders, the focus has turned to reducing regulation and improving Europe's competitiveness.

Finns MEPs still do not believe that a complete U-turn in climate policy is ahead. Not even climate policy critics believe that.

“Green deal [EU:n vihreän kasvun ohjelma] is a total disaster,” says the coalition Petri Sarvamaa.

“The balance was lost when one region dominated 90 percent of policy-making. Europe wasted five years in developing the internal market and competitiveness.”

Still, Sarvamaa does not believe that the EU will begin to reverse the decisions made. Instead, he believes that the brakes will be pressed on climate policy and the decision-makers' focus will shift to other issues.

“

“I think we're going for realism.”

MEP of the Basic Finns Pirkko Ruohonen-Lerner he does not demand a waiver of climate commitments, but an interim assessment of the costs and benefits of climate policy.

“We have to weigh the price, how much the actions will cost and who will bear the burden,” says Ruohonen-Lerner.

The center Elsi Katainen says that although the EU sticks to its carbon neutrality goal, there are signs in the air that the policy is changing in a more “realistic” direction. It can be seen, for example, in the rise in the valuation of nuclear power.

“Clearly, right-wing sentiment is on the rise, so I think we're going to be more realistic, and maybe there will even be some cancellations in the goals,” says Katainen.

Multi however, the MEP says that the EU cannot slip away from its climate goals.

The coalition Sirpa Pietikäinen estimates that there is growing support in the parliament for some kind of respite in the new climate and environmental regulation. However, according to him, a five-year break is an impossible idea, as it would mean that the new regulation would only be implemented in the late 2030s.

“Hurry is the biggest problem here,” says Pietikäinen.

“The fact is that the warming has not stopped. A responsible decision-maker cannot even think that this [ilmastopolitiikka] let's put it on the dock”, says Sdp's too Eero Heinäluoma.

Instead some members of the European parliament believe that in the future climate regulation must give companies and member countries more freedom to choose actions.

“The biggest shortcoming right now is that the perspective of industry and the economy has received little attention. The regulation has gone too detailed, and it needs to be lightened,” says the convention Henna Virkkunen.

Also Rkp's Nils Torvalds criticizes the commission that the bills have been too detailed.

“We have to cherish the green deal, but we can't do that if the commission sticks to detailed legislation.”