Latest news with #PatriotsForEurope
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on EU climate targets: vital to avoid backsliding
The European Commission finally announced on July 2nd that it would retain the target of a 90 per cent CO2 reduction by 2040 compared to 1990 levels. This is a positive development as there had been fears that there would be backsliding on the headline target amid pushback from some member states. However, the Commission's latest set of proposals included a compromise that has attracted much criticism from environmental campaigners. Following intense lobbying, the commission announced new 'flexibilities' that would help member states reach their obligations. The most controversial of these is the proposal that from 2036, member states can use carbon credits to reach their overall target. Carbon credits is a system whereby countries can invest in carbon offsetting programmes in developing countries and include the reduction for domestic use. Critics of the measure claim that it will divert much needed investment from the EU to the developing world, which will result in member states rolling back on their decarbonisation efforts. It should be noted, however, that as it stands, member states can only use carbon credits for 3 percent of their reduction efforts. While it is a fudge, its overall impact will be limited. The package must to be signed off by all EU member states by September 19th. The Czech Republic, Italy and Hungary, want more compromises on the 90 per cent reduction target. READ MORE Meanwhile, it emerged last week that the Patriots for Europe, a far-right grouping in the European Parliament, will take the lead in the parliament's response to the legislation, which will be deliberated this autumn. This has prompted concerns that there will be further 'flexibilities' before the EU's final package is agreed. Broadly, the argument among sceptical member states and European Parliamentary groupings is that because Donald Trump has dropped America's climate change commitments, on the basis that they were a threat to economic growth, this will undermine the EU's competitiveness. This is an entirely spurious argument. The devastating effects of climate change are becoming more frequent. It is the biggest threat to long term economic growth and prosperity. Any backsliding on commitments now to reduce the CO2 levels will have incalculable future costs. The good news is that the EU is on track to reduce its CO2 emissions by 55 per cent by 2030 and 90 percent by 2040. But there is a significant disparity between member states. Ireland is among the worst performing , as the latest figures from the EPA show that the country is on course for a 23 per cent CO2 reduction by 2030. Just as it is incumbent upon the EU to retain its 90 per cent 2040 reduction target, it is also crucial that each member state, including Ireland, abides by its legally binding commitments.
E&E News
7 days ago
- Politics
- E&E News
Far-right climate delayers to lead Parliament talks on EU's 2040 target
BRUSSELS — The far-right Patriots for Europe group will be in charge of negotiating the bloc's next climate target on behalf of the European Parliament, five officials and lawmakers told POLITICO. The Patriots will field the so-called rapporteur, which drafts Parliament's position and leads talks with EU governments on behalf of MEPs, on the bloc's 2040 emissions-cutting target — giving the far right unprecedented influence over the EU's next climate milestone. The group — which includes the French National Rally, Italy's Lega and Hungary's Fidesz — strongly opposes the EU's climate policies, with its chair, Jordan Bardella, pushing for the suspension of the bloc's Green Deal. Advertisement Rapporteurships are effectively auctioned through a point system, with each group receiving points according to its size. The Patriots, Parliament's third-largest faction, simply outbid all other groups, one Parliament official said. The official, like others, was granted anonymity to discuss the closed-door process.
New York Times
13-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Progressives Need a Global Movement
It's a strange irony that in recent years the nationalist right has gotten much better at international organizing than the ostensibly cosmopolitan left. The Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, went global during Donald Trump's first term; it's held gatherings in Israel, South Korea, Hungary and Argentina, among other countries. American conservatives have a growing pantheon of international leaders they take inspiration from, including Hungary's Viktor Orban, El Salvador's Nayib Bukele and Argentina's Javier Milei. This right-wing internationale trades ideas and memes. Its members support one another across borders. A steady stream of American conservative operatives, including the influential strategist Chris Rufo, has passed through Hungary's government-aligned Danube Institute, learning from the country's successful record of using the state to crush liberal institutions. Earlier this year members of the MAGA movement from Alex Jones all the way up to Vice President JD Vance rallied around an ultranationalist Romanian presidential candidate who'd been disqualified due to charges of Russian interference. This week, the nationalist group Patriots for Europe Foundation held a conference at the European Parliament with members of India's right-wing government, aimed at building an alliance based on 'civilizational sovereignty' — as opposed to universal human rights — and the fight against Islamism. There is nothing comparable to this global network among progressives, which is one sign of the left's deep crisis. Partly, progressives' problem is one of inertia. For decades now, when people on the left have coordinated across borders, they've often done it through liberal institutions: international bodies like the United Nations, international NGOs, academic conferences. These institutions tend to favor styles of communication that are highly specialized and bureaucratic. (To be part of the U.N.'s orbit, for example, grass-roots feminist groups often must learn its jargon: 'gender mainstreaming,' 'S.H.R.H.,' 'duty-bearers.') 'The progressive forces, the left and socialist forces, lost the way of communication with the people,' Alexis Tsipras, a leftist former prime minister of Greece, told me. They became, he said, 'more systemic.' And now the systems that sustained the left — particularly academia and nonprofits — are under concerted attack. 'The left basically depended on a fantasy view of the stability of institutions,' said Subir Sinha, a scholar at the University of London who has studied the links between far-right movements in India and Europe. Progressives, he said, neither anticipated nor planned for how they might answer a central question of our time: 'How would you do politics when the ground has shifted so dramatically from under your feet?' Some of that planning has now begun, however belatedly. This week, Tsipras convened a conference in Athens of progressives from Europe, Turkey, Latin America and the United States to discuss the global crisis of liberal democracy. It was the second such gathering he's organized, and the first since Trump was re-elected. Among the speakers was Senator Bernie Sanders, joining remotely. 'Right-wing extremists all over the world have been organizing effectively, and I think that it's time that we built an international progressive socialist movement, and this is a step forward,' he said. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
