Green’s Bas Eickhout battles far right while facing electoral challenge from the centre

While Green co-lead candidate Bas Eickhout laments the politicisation of climate change by the far right, the main electoral competition may come from centrist-parties in north-west Europe.

In an interview with Euractiv, the Dutch lawmaker lambasted the far right’s influence, saying that they have “transformed the climate issue into a cultural issue, and that “they are framing climate action as if people are going to (…) take things away from you”.

Eickhout cites the Czech Republic, when he was recently asked by an interviewer if he was ‘a green lunatic’. The politician also has his native Netherlands in mind, where a government coalition deal was announced last week. The far right PVV, led by Geert Wilders, will be the largest party.

However Eickhout also acknowledged that in north-west Europe, the Greens face the opposite challenge. The political ‘mainstreaming’ of climate means that centrist parties are now appealing to climate-conscious voters, who might otherwise vote Green.

The north-west of Europe is the Green’s political heartland. Over 90% of their European Parliament seats are in Scandinavia, the Benelux countries, France, Germany and Ireland.

This may in part explain the party’s recent struggles. EU citizen’s concern over climate peaked in 2019, and has stayed high.

That year the Greens won a record 74 European Parliament seats, but unlike climate concerns, this political triumph did not endure.

Europe Elects seat projection for Euractiv suggests that Green seats will drop by a quarter in next month’s elections with almost all losses in north-west Europe.

In the run up to the June elections, the Greens are making a conscious effort to broaden their appeal, for immediate and longer-term reasons.

In the short-term, Eickhout recognises that the Green position must resonate with current physical and economic security concerns.

“The cost of living has become much more a concern of people, so our climate agenda needs to be much more linked to this security and social aspect.”

Eickhout also talks about the longer-term importance of motivating the centre ground, whose support is needed to stimulate climate action.

While logical, this poses an electoral dilemma for his party.

Broadening the Green’s manifesto means more direct competition against established centrist parties, just as these parties are integrating climate more deeply into their own positions.

The Left

Flagbearer for the left and Spanish nominee for the next European Commission Theresa Ribera is promoting her ‘Green Deal 2.0’ vision.

When asked how the Greens could differentiate themselves from the socialists, Eickhout replied that he was “very happy” to see Ribera’s nomination for the next Commission, which would be “very helpful”.

However he said that the left’s commitment to climate action is “very person dependent” and argued that only the Greens offered “credible” and “consistent” support for climate action.

The Right

Eickhout is also wary of the embrace of climate action by some parts of the right, point to what he sees as “a big gap between the rhetoric and the real action”.

He points to the incoming Dutch government, which says it remains committed to climate action, but is also calling for more gas exploration in the North Sea, and the right wing CDU and liberal FDP parties in Germany, who “say they will they keep on supporting the climate the Paris Agreement but then at the same time … have been turning against quite some files of the Green Deal”

Post-election compromises

Irrespective of Eickhout’s concerns, the Greens will have to work with both the right and left during the EU’s next five year cycle. His focus on industry and international competitiveness hints at where post-election compromise may be found.

He says that “a strong Europe on industry” and “the continuation of the Green Deal” have to be core for the next European Commission, otherwise “I don’t see any viable majority possible” in the Parliament.

When asked whether the Greens would prioritise climate over nature protection in negotiations, Eickhout demurred, citing the need to overcome current political polarisation.

However he pointed to next Common Agriculture Programme, which must be agreed during the next Commission’s term, and Europe’s growing climate adaptation needs, which can be in part addressed with nature-based solutions.

“Nature will be on the agenda whether we like it or not” he concluded “but we need to find some common ground”.

[Edited by Alice Taylor]

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