In the European Parliament, a very strong polarization around environmental issues, notes the NGO Bloom

An analysis of the votes of MEPs on several environmental issues, depending on their political side, highlights a very strong divide between European right and left.

From 2.5/20 on the far right to 19.8/20 among environmentalists: a study by the environmental NGO Bloom, published Wednesday March 20, which noted the votes of European deputies on environmental questions, shows a strong polarization along a right-left axis.

The association, which fights for the protection of the oceans, awarded scores out of 20 to MEPs based on 150 votes and amendments in the European Parliament between 2019 and January 2024.“We selected votes and amendments whose importance could not be ignored by the deputies”, explained Alessandro Manzotti, research biologist at Bloom.

The team of 15 researchers excluded several themes on which “we considered that we did not have the skills to give an informed opinion”, he specifies. Nuclear energy was thus excluded from the ranking, as were certain technical questions on the climate, pesticides or the common agricultural policy (CAP).

The far right gets the worst rating

On this basis, it is the left of the European hemicycle which obtains the best scores, with 19.8 for the Greens, followed closely by the group The Left (19.04), which includes La France insoumise (LFI ), then by the Socials and Democrats (16.6), whose French delegation includes the PS, Nouvelle Donne and Place publique.

At the other end, the far-right group European Conservatives and Reformists (2.5/20), joined by Reconquête, obtains the worst score, followed by Identity and Democracy (3.3/20), where the National gathering. The rating of the European People’s Party (EPP), which includes LR, is barely better, with 3.8/20.

“This total polarization is the thing that surprised me the most,” underlines Alessandro Manzotti. “When we ask to ban pesticides that are recognized as dangerous, we would expect everyone to vote for this ban. But that is not at all the case,” adds the researcher, who believes that this study should “awakening citizens concerned about ecology” in view of the next European elections.