“We cannot sit like a rabbit in front of a snake”

Approval of the EU climate protection measures was already higher, and the sometimes violent protests by farmers against various EU regulations have recently made EU politicians act more cautiously. But the Green Deal, i.e. the goals for achieving climate neutrality in the Union by 2050, is not in danger, as numerous conversations with politicians and NGOs during a visit by State Environment Councilor Stefan Kaineder (Greens) to Brussels showed.

“I don’t know anyone who questions the Green Deal goals, they are the program,” including for the next EU period, said Austrian Othmar Karas, First Vice President of the European Parliament. 18 of 19 Green Deal laws have already been passed, and the energy taxation directive is about to be passed. Austria is the only EU country that still owes the National Climate Plan.

Karas admitted that EU policy had paid too little attention to the effects and implementation processes in environmental legislation. “There is now a rethink.” Doing nothing about climate change is not an option, “because we can’t sit like a rabbit in front of a snake.” Citizens need to be more involved in order to reduce energy consumption and promote green technologies, instead of leaving the field to the Chinese – as with electric cars. “This is not just a technological question, but a location question.”

Karas also insisted on the termination of the OMV gas supply contract with the Russian Gazprom as quickly as possible. “There are legal exit options. I expect that this exit will be prepared immediately,” he told the Austrian government, especially “his” party, the ÖVP. Karas will no longer stand as a candidate in the 2024 EU elections.

Restoration of nature

Green member of the EU Parliament Thomas Waitz, an organic farmer from Styria, sees climate legislation as “stable” even after the EU elections in June, although in his opinion it will be more difficult to enforce. He expects a strong pro-European majority that will continue to support the Green Deal. It is disturbing that the renaturation law, which was negotiated for around two years and is very important for climate protection, is now “hanging” in the EU Council despite parliamentary agreement. According to Waitz, this leads democratic processes to absurdity.

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