Green parties suffer defeat in EU poll June 10, 2024
- Ana Cunha-Busch
- Jun 9, 2024
- 3 min read
By AFP -Agence France Presse
Green parties suffer defeat in EU poll
Green parties have suffered major losses in EU elections, especially in France and Germany, hit by growing discontent with the bloc's environmental pressure and voters' changing priorities.
They achieved their best results in the last European Parliament elections five years ago, which were accompanied by mass demonstrations on climate change.
But the parties appear to have been the biggest losers of this year's election, with projections showing that they will be left with just 53 seats in parliament - down from a record 72 in 2019.
The German Greens - part of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's ruling coalition - saw their support fall to just 12%, down from 20.5% in 2019, according to preliminary results.
Meanwhile, France's main green party, the EELV, got just 5% of the vote, down from over 13%, according to the results.
The party's main candidate, EU lawmaker Marie Toussaint, admitted that she was “unable to convince people beyond our base”.
Toussaint said she had underestimated “the strength of the lobby and the cultural battle that is constantly being waged against us”.
However, there was some good news for the pro-environment parties - they made gains in Sweden, while a green/Labor alliance came first in the Netherlands, beating the far right.
- Changing priorities
The loss of support comes against a backdrop of changing priorities for EU voters.
Environmental issues have fallen off the agenda for voters, who are now focusing on issues such as the EU's ailing economy, following a period of record inflation, and security, with wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
There were also signs of growing frustration among voters about the cost of ecological transition measures, such as the switch to electric vehicles and the reform of heating systems.
“Climate protection has fallen down the list of people's priorities, even among young people,” said the German news agency Spiegel, trying to explain the losses suffered by the country's Greens.
“War and the desire for peace are much more important, as are social issues, crime and immigration.”
Following their gains in the EU polls in 2019, the Green parties helped pass a massive package of “Green Deal” laws as warnings about the terrible impact of climate change multiplied.
But far-right parties, which made big gains in the EU polls, took advantage of discontent with the policies.
Some analysts say that the center-right European People's Party (EPP), which emerged victorious in the elections and remains the largest group in the EU parliament, sought to discredit the green agenda.
After watering down or rejecting several green laws last year, the EPP has been openly calling for a “pause” on any further legislation of this kind to focus on maintaining the competitiveness of the EU economy.
Most prominent in the resistance against EU environmental law has been a wave of farmer protests across the bloc, fueled by anger at regulations deemed excessive.
- Coalition woes
Some Green parties have lost support after agreeing to concessions to participate in a coalition government, but have ended up angering their bases.
In Germany, for example, the Greens accepted the reopening of coal plants after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as a delay in shutting down the country's last nuclear plants.
But they have also provoked a backlash by advocating climate policies, such as a law to reduce emissions from heating systems, which critics say would force homeowners to install expensive heat pumps.
Germany's far-right AfD party, which has made gains in EU polls, is among those that have taken advantage of the anger to help bolster their support.
In France, Sandrine Rousseau, an EELV lawmaker in Paris, lamented the fact that the party had not agreed to take part in a left-wing alliance for the polls, preferring to go it alone.
Voters “didn't like” the party, she said.
By Sam Reeves
burs-sr/fec/rlp
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