Dear Disaster Diary,
A hypocrite is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then mount the stump and make a speech for conservation.
- Adial E. Stevenson
The European Green Deal-Visionary Policy Or Empty Promises?
The Green Deal or Red Alert?
The European Climate Law mandates climate neutrality by 2050. By then, industry and households are only allowed to emit as much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as can be absorbed by technical and natural means.
Fifty individual measures and numerous laws are intended to push this initiative forward. The "Fit for 55" package sets an interim goal: by 2030, emissions should drop by 55 percent compared to 1990 levels.
Yet, the project is stalling. For a highly industrialized continent like Europe, whose residents are accustomed to a wasteful lifestyle, the Green Deal has proven to be an exceedingly ambitious undertaking.
Member states' measures were insufficient to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 as planned, the Commission stated last December. Some countries are lagging, but the Commission has also been less steadfast as the Green Deal faced increasing resistance.
Lobbying has had an effect; contrary to initial plans, agriculture is not required to halve pesticide use. The EU had aimed to improve soil and groundwater quality through this measure. Additionally, the sector faces no specific reduction target for greenhouse gases.
"Our farmers deserve to be heard," said Ursula von der Leyen. The industry, too, has grown increasingly dissatisfied. Since the onset of the Ukraine war, it has suffered from paying more for energy than competitors in the US and China.
Expensive environmental measures, tied up in bureaucracy, are not seen as viable. Heated conflicts arose over questions such as which companies should comply with the supply chain law and whether only electric cars should be allowed in the EU from 2035.
Consequently, the administratively burdensome supply chain law was somewhat simplified. The target year 2035 for the "combustion engine ban" still stands—at least for now, with exceptions. In 2026, the Commission will review the law.
Moreover, even after 2035, cars running on e-fuels, i.e., synthetic fuels, will still be permitted.
Nothing could stop Ursula von der Leyen; the EU Commission President steadfastly implemented her Green Deal, and it packs a punch. The expropriation of farmers through land set-asides and the damage to the European automotive industry through the combustion engine ban are part of it.
The German CDU politician could rely on an informal coalition of Social Democrats and Christian Democrats in the European Parliament.
Initially, only the national conservatives to far-right parties in Europe rejected the Green Deal, which comprises around fifty laws.
Von der Leyen and her broad coalition could still routinely sit that out. The argument of populism avoids any serious substantive discussion in Brussels as well.
But then the farmers began to demonstrate—in France, Poland, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
Hay bale barricades and street blockades with tractors are not democratic protests. They are sheer coercion, but at the same time a powerful expression of the "vox populi."
The EU is neither one nor the other. It is not a democracy, nor a republic.
It is a homunculus mixing democratic elements like the European Parliament with the undemocratic principle of unanimity. However, the EU is a good seismograph for the mood in Europe.
The "firewall," i.e., the uncompromising demarcation from right-wing parties, has long been fiction at the European level.
Ironically, the German Ursula von der Leyen demonstrates to her compatriots, afflicted with exclusionitis, how to cooperate with ill-reputed parties when it benefits oneself.
Under the pressure of the streets and the likely changing majorities, the European pseudo-democracy proves an adaptability that full-fledged democracy in Germany lacks.
Recently, Marine Le Pen and Giorgia Meloni were still the "most dangerous women in Europe." Today, they are considered somewhat respectable, especially since they ended their factional alliance with the AfD.
The two women are joining forces more closely. They see the historic chance to expand their power because the old parties have created a vacuum with an unrealistic asylum and climate policy.
Nothing is more populist than a climate policy that proudly sets tough goals but cannot even present soft means to achieve them.
When a Herculean effort like the Green Deal also appears as a mere elite project, the mess is perfect.
One should not be surprised when farmers take politics into their own hands, and judges in Strasbourg or Karlsruhe act as climate experts.
It’s Red Alert Time!
Whenever a politician trumpets net zero by 2050, especially one like Frau von der Leyen, who will be around 92 by then, just tune out and do not take her seriously. Do yourself a favor: do not vote for the EPP (European People's Party).
And don’t vote for right-wing parties either. There’s no time left for a “protest vote.” Tell the EU that you are content with three climate laws: clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and non-toxic soil for growing food.
Frau von der Leyen’s CV is a disaster. Despite holding a medical degree (you would think "health before wealth", but no!), her lack of transparency in governance disqualifies her as the right President for the EU.
Why does it feel like the EPP stands for European Puppet Play, with Ursula as the master pulling the strings?
It’s crucial to make it perfectly clear: do not vote for the EPP and work to oust President Ursula von der Leyen!