In European capitals, governments are concerned about security, the housing crisis, unemployment and competitiveness.
Problems that Europeans feel in their everyday lives.
And to which a new and ambitious climate target for the EU in 2040 may seem like a contradiction.
This has caused the green agenda to slide down the agenda of elected officials in the EU. And it is now affecting the upcoming Danish EU presidency.
The Union is currently struggling to agree on a new climate target for 2040. The EU Commission, with support from Denmark, among others, has put forward a desire for a 90 percent CO2 reduction.
However, in the past six months, the Polish EU presidency has failed to implement an agreement on the target.
The climate issue is pressing
On Tuesday, the President of the EU Parliament, Roberta Metsola, acknowledged at a press conference at the Prime Minister's Office that the climate issue is pressing in the EU.
- In some countries, security is the biggest concern. Elsewhere, it is the housing market or employment that people are most concerned about, she said, and continued:
- If you put the three elements together, that is overall what we were asked to deliver on in the elections in June last year.
The statements were made during Roberta Metsola's visit to the European Parliament's Conference of Presidents in Copenhagen ahead of the Danish EU presidency, which starts on July 1.
Across Europe, there has been a political rightward shift in recent years, where the social agenda and the solutions to the above problems have been owned by the right wing.
This is explained by Ditte Brasso Sørensen, senior analyst at the think tank Europa.
- They are the ones who talk about the rural-urban conflict, that there must be meaningful jobs in rural areas, good infrastructure and decent wages in agriculture, she says.
The right wing has no tradition of leading the climate cause. And the green agenda is therefore left outside the negotiating rooms when social problems are discussed.
- The balance in the EU is that you have to make sure that the frustrations and concerns that have been channeled into the political system are heard, says Ditte Brasso Sørensen.
The same reading is happening at the top of the EU Parliament. Roberta Metsola believes that citizens have sent a signal to politicians in the union that climate policy must not be at the expense of efforts to combat these problems.
- We cannot continue to push towards the climate goals without addressing the main concerns in the countries where the poverty gap is growing, because then we have not responded to the concerns of our citizens, she said on Tuesday.
To be achieved before COP30
This development has left the climate issue and the Danish ambitions for a new 2040 goal for the EU in a challenged place. After the Polish presidency failed to push through the target, the Danes are now busy before this autumn's climate summit COP30 in Brazil.
A climate target is required for the EU by September.
However, sparks may fly in the negotiations on this until the very end. The 2040 target is to be a step on the way to the goal of climate neutrality in 2050 - but popular support for the path there is currently crumbling.
- You have a democratically adopted 2050 target, for which you are now losing popular support, says Ditte Brasso Sørensen.
/ritzau/
Text, graphics, images, sound, and other content on this website are protected under copyright law. DK Medier reserves all rights to the content, including the right to exploit the content for the purpose of text and data mining, cf. Section 11b of the Copyright Act and Article 4 of the DSM Directive.
Customers with IP agreements/major customer agreements may only share Danish Offshore Industry articles internally for the purpose of handling specific cases. Sharing in connection with specific cases refers to journaling, archiving, or similar uses.
Customers with a personal subscription/login may not share Danish Offshore Industry articles with individuals who do not themselves have a personal subscription to Danish Offshore Industry.
Any deviation from the above requires written consent from DK Medier.
