Climate, EPP and right-wing parties in the European Parliament scupper urgency on 2040 target

Brussels – Moving fast is fine for defence, downgrading of wolf protection, simplification, but not for the climate emergency. The debate on the amendment to the Climate Act, introducing a 2040 target of a 90 per cent reduction in emissions compared to 1990 levels, compacts the ranks of left and right political forces, delineating a precise fracture between the two blocs in the European Parliament and shattering the old Ursula majority once again. Today (9 July), the chamber rejected the request to use urgent procedure on the amendment to the law. A request that had been made by the Greens, Socialists (S&D) and Liberals of Renew Europe to try to bring home the result as soon as possible, before the next UN Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, in November. Voting against a procedure that would have speeded up the process—through a vote in the Environment Committee directly on the amendments to the Commission’s proposal, without the presentation of the report by the rapporteur of the Patriots for Europe and the subsequent negotiations with the shadow rapporteurs—were all the right-wing forces together with the European People’s Party. On an Italian scale, there were no divisions between the two blocs of majority and opposition: against Fratelli d’Italia, Lega and Forza Italia; in favour, Partito Democratico, Movimento 5 Stelle and Alleanza Verdi Sinistra. Overall, there were 370 no votes, 8 abstentions and 300 yes votes. 

The EPP deemed the request for a faster procedure unjustified and requested more time to “carefully examine” the law. According to the first group in the chamber, it is the Member States that should decide on the issue, presumably at a meeting of environment ministers on 18 September. A date that would inevitably jeopardise the outcome by COP30. The EPP has “joined forces with the extreme right to jeopardise” the climate law, Green MEPs immediately denounced. And Liberal Pascal Canfin (Renew Europe) pointed out that “the rejection of the urgency procedure on the climate law does not guarantee that Parliament can vote in October before” the UN conference in Brazil.

 Meanwhile, yesterday, the conference of coordinators of the Environment Committee (ENVI) chose to entrust the dossier to a rapporteur of the Patriots for Europe. To the dismay of the Left and the Greens. “What we are witnessing is a real betrayal of the trust of European citizens, who are demanding a greater commitment to the climate. Yesterday the EPP delivered the most important climate legislation into the hands of climate change deniers, and today it voted against the urgency procedure requested by the progressive forces to limit the damage,” commented today the European MPs of the Italian Greens delegation, Cristina Guarda, Ignazio Marino, Leoluca Orlando, and Benedetta Scuderi. “With this decision, the EU risks going to the COP30 essentially empty-handed. At a time when the United States has withdrawn from the Paris Agreement, we are effectively handing over the leadership of the climate negotiations to China,” they added. 

The proposal to include a target of -90 per cent emissions by 2040 compared to 1990 levels is on the policy agenda of this European Commission, the second in the hands of Ursula von der Leyen. After several delays, the EU executive  proposed an amendment in early July. However, to address the dissatisfaction and criticism that have emerged in recent months from some member states and political groups, it has included flexibilities in the calculation method, aiming to overcome the resistance of the most reluctant states. The Commission’s goal is to adopt the amendment by the time of the Brazil meeting; however, the timeframe appears extremely tight. Certainly, the rapporteur of the Patriots—a group chaired by Frenchman Jordan Bardella (National Regrouping, RN)—will not be able to prevent the other political forces from reaching an agreement on the final content of the Climate Bill. But the extreme right will try to delay the negotiations and will have a real opportunity to fight what it calls “punitive ecology.”