The coming days will be decisive for the future of the European Green Deal, which is to lead the Twenty-Seven towards carbon neutrality by 2050. As pressure mounts on Ursula von der Leyen to amend two emblematic laws adopted within this framework in 2023 – one against deforestation, the other to ban the marketing of cars with combustion engines after 2035 – the response that the President of the European Commission gives will be decisive.
“If we open Pandora's box”warns Macronist MEP Pascal Canfin, other legislation will then be “unraveled” : “Tomorrow it will be the carbon tax at the borders, the day after tomorrow the extension of the carbon market to buildings and transport… All the pieces of the “green deal” will fall one after the other”continues the elected official.
The Green Deal has been under attack for over a year. In the run-up to the European elections on 10 June, debates in the European Parliament have become tense, as evidenced by the epic brawl that accompanied the adoption of the law on the restoration of nature. Under pressure from the right and the far right, the Commission has given up on presenting several of its projects, such as the one to legislate on reducing the use of pesticides. It has also, in the face of farmers' anger in early 2024, eased the environmental constraints of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
But so far none of the laws adopted in the name of the green deal have been revised. “The challenge today is to maintain what has been achieved”insists Green MEP Marie Toussaint. After the June 10 election, which saw the Christian Democrats of the European People's Party (EPP) consolidate their position in the Strasbourg Parliament, the populist and nationalist parties advance and the Greens decline, we are now witnessing a full-scale offensive by those who want to turn the page on community ambitions in the fight against global warming and environmental protection.
In their sights is the regulation against deforestation, which prohibits the Twenty-seven, as of December 31, from importing and exporting products, such as cocoa, coffee or beef, which come from deforested land. The EPP is once again at the helm, which is calling for its postponement. In a position of strength in the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, the European right does not intend to stop at the victories won against the Green Deal before the summer.
You have 72.65% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
Source: Lemonde
