Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) today rejected a motion put forward by the centre-left S&D group yesterday to fast-track discussions on the EU's 2040 climate targets, after far-right group the Patriots for Europe was given the lead on these discussions.
MEPs rejected the urgency procedure motion — which would have sped up discussions on the European Commission's proposal to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 90pc by 2040 from 1990 levels — with 379 votes against and 300 in favour.
Dutch Renew member Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, in favour of the proposal, argued that an EU 2040 target will contribute to the success of Cop 30 UN climate talks in Belem, Brazil. "The proposal to amend the European climate law has only been tabled last week, which is very, very late," Gerbrandy said.
The urgency procedure would have allowed for faster debate, amendments and votes at committee and plenary level, according to German S&D member Tiemo Wolken. He noted that parliament has previously used the procedure to change environmental and climate laws, and recently to amend the protected status of wolves. Wolken's S&D had signed the motion with the Greens and Left.
Parliament's largest group, the centre-right EPP, did not support the motion. Dutch EPP member Jeroen Lenaers called for realism. "We're not voting today on the climate law. We are voting on which procedure we're going to use," he said. He sees no justification as the climate proposals were only recently put forward by commissioner Wopke Hoekstra.
"We want to work alongside the council in a parallel process," Lenaers said. EU states and parliament will have to adopt the final legal text of any amendments to the bloc's 2021 climate law. The text currently contains an obligation for the EU to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and an intermediate net GHG cut of at least 55pc by 2030, compared with 1990 levels.
Austrian Green Lena Schilling said the EPP has opened the door for climate change deniers to further delay and undermine Europe's climate protection. "Right-wing extremist climate change deniers in powerful negotiating positions are a threat to the fight against the climate crisis," Schilling said.
The Patriots group has been selected to choose one of its members to draw up and negotiate legal amendments following the commission's proposal. "The left's attempt to remove our influence on EU climate negotiations has been voted down," Danish member Anders Vistisen said. He called for a "realistic and responsible" climate policy rather than "[campaigner] Greta Thunberg rhetoric and climate nonsense". Vistisen also indicates that the commission's proposed 90pc GHG reduction is "not going to happen".
