Green Deal founders amid shifting policy focus
Robert Hodgson
A leaked intergovernmental priority list suggests environmental matters will be relegated below issues of defence, immigration and food security in the next legislative cycle, while Hungary has made it clear the Green Deal will not be a priority when it takes over the EU Council presidency in July, and Belgian premier Alexander De Croo has warned of the huge cost of implementation.
An internal working draft of the EU’s Strategic Agenda for 2024 to 2029, widely circulated in Brussels earlier this week, sets out three priority areas, with the rst being the promotion ‘ strong and secure Europe’, where actions include reducing external trade dependencies and building up military defensive capability.
There is no explicit mention of the Green Deal, and ‘ accelerating the energy transition’ is presented in section two - ‘a prosperous and competitive Europe’ - as a means to increase Europe’s energy sovereignty, while moving towards a ‘ more circular and resource-e cient’ economy is a way of reducing ‘ strategic dependencies’.
“The disappearance of the ght against air and water pollution, as well as the absence of the promotion of sustainable agriculture in the leaked 2024 Strategic Agenda, are both deeply troubling,” said Faustine Bas-Defossez, director for health, nature and environment at the European Environmental Bureau, an NGO umbrella group.
The agenda, which government leaders are expected to discuss next week at a European Council meeting focusing on competitiveness and nalise at another summit in June, is not a legal document, but is intended to guide the legislative agenda of the EU and its new Commission, which is due to take o ce in the autumn.
There was little sign that Budapest is enthusiastic about taking forward the remaining Green Deal les when it takes over the rotating EU Council presidency.
Minister of State for International Communication and Relations Zoltán Kovács briefed journalists in Brussels on Thursday, making it clear that Hungary’s role as “honest broker” would not prevent it from vetoing legislation it felt was not in its national interests.
Hungary won't rule out using veto during EU Council presidency
Asked about Hungary’s intentions regarding environmental policy proposals still on the table, and its broader position on the Green Deal of the outgoing von