This blog was written by Eero Yrjö-Koskinen, IEEP Executive Director.
A sigh of relief echoed in EU capitals when the results of the European and French parliamentary elections were announced. In most Member States, the electorate gave its trust to more moderate and progressive forces, who will now form a majority in the coming months. Fears of an extremist tsunami did not materialize, whereby parliamentarians will continue to search for constructive solutions to the current geo-political, social and economic crises.
On the other hand, the elections sent a serious message to policymakers: from now on, political decisions need to be applied in a more balanced way, addressing properly the costs of living and social equity concerns that the majority of people are facing. Without these elements, the green transition is bound to fail.
Although Just Transition was one of the focus areas of the Spanish and Belgian presidencies of the Council of the EU, it has not been a key denominator of EU policymaking. It is time to rectify this by introducing the necessary measures and funding, which would provide concrete financial and technical support and training to the people affected by the European Green Deal.
The same applies to the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which have to be revised to comply with the changing circumstances caused by climate change, such as massive floods, droughts, and forest fires, and the major impacts that they have on our societies and wellbeing.
But our focus should not be restrained to the EU alone. For some time already, the Global South has criticized Europe for its new measures on climate and environment, which are considered to be protectionist weapons against their national interests. This sentiment will not go away unless we complement the existing free trade agreements and cooperation mechanisms with new tools that would provide the necessary technical and financial support for their green transition.
Europe has a historical responsibility to support countries in the Global South in their quest to become more stable and prosperous economies. This will not happen without concrete measures and training that would allow them to develop sustainable processing capacities that would provide the necessary added value to their people.
As from now, all eyes will turn to the presidential elections in the United States, which may prove to become a turning point in modern history. The return of Donald Trump to the White House would be a concern to European security, climate change mitigation, and environmental protection. Furthermore, the appointment of even more controversial figures in his inner circle would cause havoc to the international order, and disrupt the structures of cooperation and trust that have been built since the Second World War.
The conclusions are clear: while the threat of the extreme right has been averted for the time being, Europe must stick to its international pledges and proceed with the implementation of the green transition. But to be feasible, existing policies will have to be complemented with concrete new measures that would support our societies in the greatest change since the Industrial Revolution. In addition, we need to maintain our sense of solidarity with the rest of the world and search for feasible solutions to the existing conflicts. But we should also prepare ourselves to the eventual return to power of Donald Trump by becoming more self-dependent, and by assuming greater responsibilities to defend a rules-based international order.
Photo in the banner by Antoine Schibler on Unsplash
