By Kate Abnett
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The far-right Patriots for Europe group will lead the European Parliament’s work on the bloc’s new climate target, European Union lawmakers said on Tuesday, a role that could complicate a deal on the goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040.
The Patriots group, which has rejected EU policies to curb climate change, is the third-biggest in the parliament, and includes the political parties of France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Patriots group chair Jordan Bardella said the group “resolutely opposed” the 90% emissions target and had bid to lead the work to assert its vision on the goal.
“We are opposed to it because we feel that there are far too many constraints already bearing on industry at European level, and this would simply precipitate us into de-growth,” Bardella told a news conference.
Climate change has made Europe the world’s fastest-warming continent, and a severe heatwave last week caused disruption across the continent. But governments from Italy to Poland have pushed back this year on ambitious emissions-cutting goals, citing concerns over the costs for industries.
The new role puts the Patriots in an influential position for when EU countries and the European Parliament negotiate the EU’s 2040 climate target in the coming months – talks in which the Patriots will represent the European legislature.
The Patriots will be tasked with drafting an initial proposal for the parliament’s position in these negotiations. Liberal, socialist and green groups said they were preparing a proposal, which the Parliament would on Wednesday vote on, to fast-track the negotiations – cutting out this first stage of the process where the Patriots would exert influence.
“We can take back the control of the file,” French liberal EU lawmaker Pascal Canfin told reporters.
The Patriots group holds eurosceptic positions including the accusation that the EU is seeking to replace national governments with a European “superstate”.
The Patriots secured the negotiating role in a closed-door meeting on Tuesday morning by outbidding the parliament’s biggest group, the centre-right European People’s Party, EU officials told Reuters.
Brussels has struggled to generate political support for the 2040 climate target, which the European Commission last week proposed after months of delay.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett; editing by Mark Heinrich and Deepa Babington)
