The 'Green' wave will make it impossible for the European Parliament to ignore climate change
It was a remarkable night for Europe’s Greens. They made dramatic gains, and across large parts of the continent it was they who held off the challenge from the populist Right, as the traditional centre parties saw their vote shrink.
In Germany, the Greens doubled their vote to become the second largest party. In Ireland, they look set to finish in equal second place. In France and Belgium, they were third. In Austria and the Netherlands, they are set to finish in the double digits. In the UK, they are ahead of the Tories.
Overall, they are set to gain as many as 20 seats to become the fourth biggest bloc in the European parliament.
A Green surge should perhaps come as no surprise in the wake of climate protests and the school strikes movement of Greta Thunberg.
But it was striking that attempts by the traditional mainstream parties to embrace green issues in the run-up to the election failed to convince voters.
In France, Emmanuel Macron’s bid to wrap himself in the green mantle in order to see off the challenge from Marine Le Pen appeared to fall flat.
Instead France’s Green Party, Europe Ecologie Les Verts, staged an unexpected comeback, gaining six seats to finish in third place.
“In the end, the Greens have wanted all this for decades,” Werner Weidenfeld, a German political scientist, told Bild newspaper. “The other parties would only have stood a chance if they had delivered a major change of direction. But they didn’t.”
Prof Weidenfeld was talking about the German Greens’ gains, but he could easily have been describing the wider results.
The surge in their vote will embolden the Greens to push for tougher environmental policies in the European parliament. They want to phase out coal-fired power stations across the continent by 2030 and move to 100 per cent renewable energy soon after.
They are calling for major investment in international high-speed trains to move people away from cars and planes. And they want much stricter controls on pesticides and a ban on dumping European agricultural products on developing economies.
But while the climate is clearly the Greens’ central issue, it would be a mistake to see it as the sole reason for their success.
In Germany, voters say they are turning to the Greens because they have taken the clearest stand against the populist Right. In the UK, the Greens have become a home for frustrated Remainers.
In the run-up to the elections, the main threat to Europe’s established parties was considered to be from the nationalists. While that has materialised, it is now clear the mainstream parties also face a challenge on the opposite flank, from the Greens.
It is not just that the populists often side with climate deniers. On almost every issue, the Greens are their diametric opposite. While the populists are Eurosceptic, anti-immigrant and nationalist, the Greens are Europhile, immigrant friendly and cosmopolitan.
But while the Greens’ moment appears to have arrived, it is worth bearing in mind that their success has been largely confined to northern and western Europe. They had little impact among the newer EU members in central and eastern Europe, and failed to make inroads in populous countries like Italy and Poland.
Nevertheless, they are now a force to be reckoned with in European politics. In Germany, there were suggestions on Monday that when Angela Merkel finally stands down as chancellor, her successor might be a Green.
