“ECR accepts Bardella’s plea to jointly take down the Green Deal”, By Théo Bourgery-Gonse Euractiv
“ called on these groups to “support the addition of a future debate on the temporary suspension of the Green Deal” and bring a resolution – a non-binding piece of legislation – to vote.”
ECR accepts Bardella’s plea to jointly take down the Green Deal
The ECR are willing to work with “those who share our concerns about the economic and social implications of the Green Deal” – including the far-right Patriots for Europe, according to a letter seen by Euractiv.
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ECR group co-chairs Patryk Jaki (L) and Nicola Procaccini (R) [European Parliament]
Théo Bourgery-Gonse Euractiv Jan 30, 2025 10:15 4 min. read Content type: News
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The co-chairs of the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament said they were willing to work together with the far-right Patriots for Europe to bring the European Green Deal to a halt, a letter seen by Euractiv shows.
France's Rassemblement National president and PfE chairman Jordan Bardella sent a letter on Tuesday, obtained by Euractiv, to the presidents of the Parliament's conservative and far-right groups, including ECR, the European People's Party, and Europe of Sovereign Nations, calling for joint action to temporarily suspend the Green Deal.
“[T]he temporary suspension of the Green Deal would allow us to re-evaluate its objectives and applications” as the EU risks “being further marginalized by the United States and China,” the letter reads.
Bardella called on these groups to “support the addition of a future debate on the temporary suspension of the Green Deal” and bring a resolution – a non-binding piece of legislation – to vote.
Now, the ECR is in on it.
“Dialogue between our political groups is crucial, and we are open to further discussions with [PfE] and those who share our concerns about the economic and social implications of the Green Deal,” ECR co-chairs Patryk Jaki and Nicola Procaccini wrote in a response letter, obtained by Euractiv and dated 29 January.
“We remain committed to cooperating with like-minded partners like you to counter the ideological excesses of the Green Deal and advocate for policies that align with Europe's economic and strategic priorities," they continue.
The letter falls short of explicitly calling for the Deal's temporary suspension, but emphasises the parliamentary group has "long underscored the need to reassess its timelines and implementation."
France’s far-right asks EPP to end the Green Deal together
The move is yet another blow to the EU's long-suffering Green Deal.
EPP's bind
The European Green Deal, once Europe’s flagship pro-environment programme, has faced heavy backlash in the past year. Lawmakers from centrist Renew to the far right have raised concerns that it would hamper economic growth.
Bardella has long vowed to suspend its application, but his letter is the first time he has proactively prodded his conservative and far-right counterparts in yet new evidence that an alternative, right-leaning majority is taking shape in the European Parliament.
Both the Patriots and ECR have never shied away from showing their ideological common ground – but Jaki and Procaccini's letter suggests they are willing to bring their joint work up a notch on key EU files.
Bardella’s offer was met with a different tone in the centre-right EPP headquarters, where senior MEPs have ruled out partnering up.
“I would just say no. We have a completely different vision [on the Green Deal],” German MEP Peter Liese, who leads on environmental issues in the EPP, told journalists on Tuesday.
This view may not be shared across the board in the group, however.
“It is better to suspend the application [of Green Deal measures] before it's too late, and get things back on track, rather than continuing down the same road just because we don't want to go back on what was done in the past,” EPP Vice-President François-Xavier Bellamy told journalists back in November.
At the time, the EPP had provoked the fury of centrist and social-democratic lawmakers by siding with the far right to weaken anti-deforestation rules.
In October, this new majority successfully joined forces to pass a non-binding resolution in the European Parliament about the rigged Venezuelan election.
EPP lawmakers never hid their stark opposition to some of the Green Deal’s landmark legislations, including the end to all sales of new petrol and diesel cars in the EU by 2035, which Bardella wants to do away with.
The Parliament's most centrist group, Renew Europe, has also sought to loosen its rules on cooperation with the ECR – permitting some cooperation with national parties within the group that are considered less far to the right.
Anything anti-Green Deal push launched by the ECR's troops in Parliament could transpire all the way up to the European Council, where Italian Prime minister Giorgia Meloni sits. Her party, Fratelli d’Italia, is ECR’s largest delegation.
The EU's conservative heads of government, notably Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose country is heading the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, have called to row back the Green Deal’s application.
There must be a “full and very critical review” of all Green Deal laws, Tusk said last week.