environmentalists in decline in the European Parliament, the party loses its fourth place

The group of Greens and the European Free Alliance (EFA) is notably overtaken by the far-right groups, which are on the rise.

Failure was expected. The group of Greens and the European Free Alliance (EFA) obtains 52 seats in the hemicycle of Strasbourg and Brussels, according to a new projection published by the European Parliament following the European elections, Sunday June 9. The group thus arrives sixth, far behind the European People’s Party (EPP), the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), the centrist group Renew and the two far-right groups (European Conservatives and Reformists, and Identity and Democracy). The Greens and the European Free Alliance were until now the fourth political force with 72 deputies from 17 countries, but the environmentalist breakthrough during the 2019 European elections, with a gain of around twenty seats, now seems distant.

According to European Parliament projections, the formation loses 20 seats in the hemicycle. The German and French delegations, the largest of the Greens and EFA groups with 25 and 12 elected representatives respectively in the outgoing European Parliament, are in clear decline.

The German delegation loses 10 seats, while the French component of the group loses seven seats, according to European Parliament projections, while the Dutch, Danish and Spanish delegations respectively win a seat.

Environmentalists faced headwinds, in a campaign dominated by numerous international issues: the war in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, purchasing power, agricultural anger and even immigration. Issues linked to climate and the environment have been less visible, although they remain a major concern for Europeans. According to a Eurobarometer published in May78% of Europeans surveyed think that environmental issues have “a direct effect on their daily life and their health”. They are 84% to judge “necessary” European legislation aimed at protecting the environment.

Environmentalists may also have suffered from the far-right offensive against pro-climate measures in Europe. These parties “are now focusing their criticism on the measures taken by governments and on those involved in the fight against climate”, analyzed with franceinfo Lluis de Nadal Alsina, sociologist at the University of Glasgow. In Germany, for example, the AfD has lambasted green policies in recent months, including a law to reduce installations of gas and oil boilers. More generally, the far right attacked the Green Deal measures, and the right also made a shift on the subject. EPP elected officials thus rejected the European nature restoration law. “The AfD has been very vocally anti-Green Deal, as has (the right-wing party) the Christian Democratic Union,” confirms Catherine Fieschi, specialist in European radical rights.

Across the Rhine, the Greens are also perhaps paying for their compromises and their participation in the ruling coalition, with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Liberal Democratic Party (FDP). “There was a very deep rejection of the government, of the current coalition,” continues the researcher. In France, MEP Marie Toussaint had difficulty convincing despite her knowledge of the subjects, and narrowly escaped elimination synonymous with disappearance within the European Parliament.