Sunday’s elections to choose new representatives of the European Parliament were marked by a rise of the right and a significant defeat of environmentalist parties, represented by the Greens group in the EU’s legislative body.
The bloc obtained 18 fewer seats than in the previous vote, in 2019, falling from fourth to sixth place in relation to representation in Parliament – now with 53 seats. The loss of support came mainly from the French and German delegations, which represented half the group’s strength.
In the last elections, the Greens had a positive performance, supported by young students influenced by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and her environmentalist agenda, which pressured the European Parliament to develop its “green agency”.
However, the current scenario of tension in Europe due to the war in Ukraine and the countries’ economic problems seems to have removed voters’ “concerns” about the climate issue, which could contribute to the reduction of policies in this regard.
In Germany, one of the countries that drew the most support from the Greens in the elections, the losses were the result of the migration of young voters to the right, some of whom appear to have turned to the Alternative for Germany (AfD), according to analysis in the European press. .
Support for the Greens also plummeted in Austria and France, where the right-wing wing performed better and led President Emmanuel Macron to call early parliamentary elections.
This negative response at the polls is seen mainly as a reaction by the European people to the Green Deal, a failed project of climate ambitions that has guided parliamentary activities for the last five years.
The environmental policies implemented by the EU have led to large protests in recent months in several countries in the bloc, where frustrated farmers have taken to the streets to pressure local governments and the European Parliament for exemptions from environmental regulations and a reduction in bureaucracy, that limit production in the field.
Nationalist and right-wing parties, which have traditionally been skeptical of climate-related measures, have also criticized such EU policies for harming local workers.
Furthermore, the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine was another stumbling block for environmentalists. In 2019, the bloc made promises to become the first continent to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, by bringing net carbon emissions to zero.
However, the years that followed with the pandemic and Vladimir Putin’s war in Eastern Europe made this plan increasingly distant.
In 2021, Russia was responsible for more than 40% of gas supplies to the EU. However, after the invasion of Ukraine, this import fell drastically to around 8% in 2023, causing an energy crisis in the bloc, which had to look for other sources.
The demand for energy then proved to be an obstacle in the attempt to eliminate carbon emissions.
In this scenario, Germany, one of the great defenders of the climate agenda, needed to reactivate its coal industry, going against the discourse it started to defend in 2020, when the country announced that it would deactivate its coal-fired plants by 2038.
These bloc’s failures to gain support for implementing its climate ambitions have made European voters increasingly skeptical and pessimistic about the applicability of the green agenda.
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