The Case for a Green Industrial Deal: An Interview With European Greens Lead Candidate Bas Eickhout – Part 2

The recent surge in popularity of European conservative forces and the far-right sparked concerns about the future of the bloc’s green legislation. With rising international competitiveness, the European Union needs to step up investments in green infrastructure and renewable energy, and adopt a unified strategy to guide the bloc’s green transition. In an interview with Earth.Org, European Greens lead candidate Bas Eickhout discusses how a Green Industrial Deal could facilitate this.

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This is part 2 of a two-part interview with Bas Eickhout. Read part 1 here.

The Green Deal implementation in 2019 positioned Europe as a global leader in green policy and the first world’s first continent to begin a tough race to achieve carbon neutrality by mid-century. A lot has happened since then and the EU, which is heading to elections this weekend, is not on track to meet its ambitious climate targets.

A December 2023 analysis by the European Commission of current measures in place to achieve the legally binding 55% emissions reduction target suggested that the bloc is on track for a 51% reduction by the decade’s end. Despite installing a record 56GW of additional solar capacity last year, marking a 37% increase from 2022, EU countries are also off track on their renewable energy target, with current policies projected to lead to a share of 38.6-39.3% of renewables in the energy mix by 2030, compared to the 42.5% target.

For Bas Eickhout, lead candidate for the European Greens at this weekend’s elections, the problem lies in a lack of clean energy infrastructure.

“You do see quite some investments in renewables in different countries. The biggest problem is the lack of energy infrastructure at the European level, the connectivity of countries is quite poor and investments are really staying behind,” Eickhout told Earth.Org in April.

Last month, the Dutch MEP presented a 28-page proposal for a “green industrial deal,” co-authored by fellow Green MEPs Michael Bloss and Sara Mathieu.

“When I talk about a green industrial strategy, our European renewable infrastructure is a key part of that. In Europe, energy will always be more expensive if you compare it to the United States, but at this moment we are making it unnecessarily expensive because we have 27 member states doing their own strategy and working in different directions. But for a 100% renewable future we need investments in cross-border infrastructure,” explained Eickhout.

Building on the “strong foundation” for the clean transition laid out by the Green Deal, the bloc-wide industrial deal would facilitate a “proactive, inclusive strategy and green industrial policy” to support the European industry in this transition, the trio of leading Green MEPs argues.

For Eickhout, the deal also has the potential to bring together the bloc’s increasingly divided political landscape.

“We are ready to discuss a green industrial deal,” the MEP said. “There is this old-fashioned idea that the conservatives are friends of the industry and the green side hates the industry. This narrative has been outdated for 20 years… I think the future of our industry should be a concern for all of us, a topic that could unite pro-European centre parties. I don’t see how we can be serious about the future of Europe without a European strategy and I would challenge parties that don’t see that. Seriously? You think we can pull it off with 27 states separately?”

After witnessing an unprecedented surge in support at the previous election, the Greens are now poised to lose about a third of their seats in parliament. This coincides with the surge of climate-skeptical, right-wing forces, fuelled by widespread discontent with the rising costs of living and recent attempts to pass stringent sustainability measures concerning agriculture and deforestation.

Incumbent centre-right European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is seeking a second term, hinted last week that she would be open to working with right-wing parties. Following her comments, Terry Reintke, the German Green MEP chair who was elected alongside Eickhout to steer the Greens’ election campaign, said her group would “absolutely” not support von der Leyen, were she to make a deal with right-wing forces.

Despite crediting von der Leyen for leading the adoption of the Green Deal and putting forward ambitious climate legislation that “really changed the course of the European Union,” Reintke and her party are worried about her ability to withstand pressure. In recent months, the Greens repeatedly criticised the Commission for backtracking on environmental legislation amid mounting pressure from European farmers and citizens who are becoming increasingly aware that the transition will directly affect their lives.

“The Commission sees a protest and they immediately come up with all kinds of changes to existing laws and urgency procedures, which, democratically, is just chaos,” Eickhout told Earth.Org.

“What you see now is that the Green Deal is being attacked as if it’s a problem for our competitiveness and our position in the world. We view that totally the opposite. What we are seeing is that the world is full-on in a green race. Look at the US and China, they do it in their own ways. Meanwhile, Europe is lagging behind and is acting too slow,” said the MEP.

He argues the energy transition will be a fundamental part of the bloc’s competitive advantage in the coming years, though a lack of clarity, vision for the future, and investments are slowing down progress.

“The attack on red tape and bureaucracy is not the big problem of our industry; the problem, and what Europe badly needs, is a lack of a European strategy of where we want to go. More industries are now realising that in order to make sure investments come to Europe and not elsewhere, they need more clarity.”

The proposed Green Industrial Deal will address all these issues, replacing the current fragmented and incoherent industrial policy – which was rushed through in response to the $369 billion US Inflation Reduction Act that facilitates clean tech investments – with a mission-oriented strategy involving the coordination of strategic industrial sectors, improved energy and industry planning, and sectoral transition pathways.

According to the three MEPs that put forward the proposal, the new policy will prioritise the “real challenges for industry,” including a lack of infrastructure, renewables, demand and coordination among EU member states.

Funding and investments are also lacking, they argue, especially when compared to the US. To address this, their proposal includes the establishment of a Green Transition Fund, which should amount to at least 1% of European GDP. This would be similar to the EU’s current seven-year budget, a third of which is allocated to farm subsidies. The Greens also advocate for the European Central Bank to provide lower interest rates to commercial banks financing green technologies and industry, as stated in their 2024 election manifesto.

“The investment programme will also be critical about austerity that some parties want to put back on the table. That will mean a European investment continuation after what we did with Corona. Those issues need to be on the table and yes, consensus is not there right away but if we’re serious about the future of our industry, a topic that concerns everyone, then I don’t see any other way than making the Green Deal part of that, talking about a European vision, about investments,” said Eickhout.

“I think at the European level we can create majorities around that and we will have a debate with other countries, including my own country, not known for thinking of European investments. This is exactly what the campaign is about. Bring it on. If you’re serious about the future of the European industry, you need to put the money where your mouth is.”

Featured image: European Greens/Twitter