The Greens seek to fight the rise of right-wing governments across the EU and a conservative majority in the EU parliament by facilitating a credible alternative, but it will be a tricky mission.
The Greens’ “main political risk at the national level and European level” is the rise of right-wing coalitions in member states’ governments and in the EU Parliament, which would be a “total disaster”, European Green Party Co-chair Mélanie Vogel told EURACTIV in a party congress in Vienna on 3-4 June.
“This is the risk in Spain and that this model that you see in Italy, in Sweden, to be seen in Finland, in a way you can also say in France”, Vogel added.
If this model were replicated in more member states, Vogel affirms, “all progressive laws on climate policies and social justice, but also on the democratic structure of the EU, would be endangered”.
Faced with this scenario ahead of the EU elections on 6-9 June 2024, the party seeks “to be as big as possible” to provide the EU parliament with the option to build a “credible” progressive alternative.
“As European Green Party, our job is to gain as much as MEPs from as many countries as possible to make this coalition at the European level impossible”, Vogel said.
Enlarging south and east
As part of the strategy to gain presence, the party is undergoing a “massive enlargement” in the south and east of Europe to grow the Green movement and representation across the continent.
During the Congress in Vienna, the European Green Party welcomed four new party members – and they expect to keep welcoming new members next year.
The increase in political representation is slim, though, as the two new members from Portugal (LIVRE and PAN) have one MP each, the new Hungarian party (Párbeszéd) has six MPs, and a new Slovenian member (Vesna) has no parliamentary representation.
Even though the south has also been a traditionally “weak spot” for the Greens, co-chair Vogel affirms that “the political space exists because today southern countries are the ones that are the most affected by the climate crisis”, and the Greens can respond to that need.
Weakened strongholds
With a third of all Green MEPs at the European Parliament and experience in governance, the German Greens have traditionally been the biggest member of the European Green Party, regarded as an “asset” and an example for other party members, Vogel told EURACTIV.
The German greens were polling at an average of 23% in mid-2022, however, a recent survey suggests that they have lost 10% of their voters. While the Greens lose voters, the far-right party Alternative for Germany (ID) has positioned itself as the third-largest political force in Germany, polling at 18%, only two percentage points behind the governing Social Democrats of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Also, in Austria, where the Greens have been traditionally strong and are part of the current government, polls suggest a drop from the 15% achieved during the 2019 elections to 9%. Simultaneously, far-right FPÖ has increased to 27%.
The EGP, though acknowledging the polls, is confident in the Green’s capability to remount – and wary of the polls.
“A year before the [2019] European elections, we had polls saying that we would be the smallest group ever and we also could maybe disappear in the European Parliament. And then we ended up with the biggest group ever”, EGP Co-chair Vogel told EURACTIV.
Coalition building ahead of elections: is there political space left?
With the rise of right-wing movements across the EU, the political space for the Greens is narrowing in some member states as the main political priority becomes battling these movements’ entrance into government – or stripping away their power.
The several small Green parties in Spain, holding altogether eight out of 350 MPs, have joined the left-wing SUMAR coalition agglomerating all leftist political forces – apart from the socialists (PSOE/S&D) – to battle the increasing chance of a right-wing win in the 23 July general elections scheduled.
The Polish greens (Zieloni), with four out of 460 MPs, are also gearing up for a decisive general election at the end of 2023, determining whether Poland continues under the control of the right-wing Law and Justice Party (ECR).
Like in Spain, the Polish Greens will join the opposition block Civic Coalition to stand a chance against the current government as the main priority has become kicking the right-wing party out of government.
“The ruling party is just destroying democracy, destroying the rule of law, destroying nature, human rights. So for us as Greens, it’s important to cooperate with many opposition parties”, Green Polish MP Malgorzata Tracz told EURACTIV.
(Max Griera, additional reporting by Oliver Noyan | EURACTIV.com)
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