Forget the People’s Vote: the
upcoming elections for European Parliament have become the new second
referendum. To one side, Nigel Farage hopes to gather the Leave vote behind his
new Brexit Party. To the other, a splintered coalition of Greens, Changers, Lib
Dems, and Labour candidates are campaigning for Remain. Both sides agree on the
primary purpose of these European elections: “vote
so you can be heard on Brexit.”
But the European elections are
about far more than membership of the European Union. With a continent marred
by poverty, strangled by austerity, and standing flat-footed in the face of a
climate emergency, the contest for seats in the next European Parliament — and
control of the next European Commission — will fundamentally shape the future
of Europe for years to come, regardless of the Brexit outcome.
It’s little wonder that this
campaign has been the most fractious and contested in the history of the EU:
the stakes could not be higher. Either the European Union will continue on
its down spiral: austerity producing chronic under-investment, leading to low
growth prospects that justify fresh demands for austerity.
Or countries across Europe
will collectively endorse a public investment campaign that can both transform
the economy and transition it to zero-emissions: a Green New Deal for Europe.
Since 2016, our Democracy in
Europe Movement (DiEM25) has
campaigned for such a Green New Deal, calling on the European
Investment Bank (EIB) to make use of its mandate to plough €500bn each year
into Europe’s ecological transition, creating millions of decent jobs in
infrastructure, industry, and agriculture along the way.
Now, with two weeks left
before the European Parliamentary elections, we are calling on all candidates
from all political parties to take the
pledge to support a Green New Deal, pushing this proposal to the front
of the legislative agenda for the incoming Commission.
Support for this proposal is
not a question of Leaving or Remaining. Over the last two decades, the UK’s
energy import dependency has skyrocketed. In 1998, the UK net exported 20 per
cent of its energy to the EU. By 2014, the UK net imported over 40 per cent of
its energy from the EU. No credible government can commit to a transition to
renewable energy without a broader European strategy.
Perhaps more obviously, the
declaration of a climate emergency in the UK is meaningless in the absence of
international efforts. Europe is the world’s third largest emitter of
greenhouse gases, after China and the US. If the EU continues to subsidise
fossil fuel consumption, a domestic Green New Deal will amount to little more
than a drop in the bucket.
Leave or Remain, then, all
voters concerned about the future of life on this planet should join the call
for a Green New Deal, and demand that Europe accept its historic responsibility
to clean up the mess that it has — since the dawn of its industrial era —
continued to exacerbate.
The proposal to mobilise the
EIB may sound radical, but there is precedent. Since 2015, the European Fund
for Strategic Investments—also known as the Juncker Plan—has mobilised
investments worth over €392bn,
in a desperate attempt to counteract sinking levels of investment across
Europe. These funds mainly support local businesses, research and development,
and energy. Nearly a million small and medium-sized companies benefitted, and
the programme created more
than 750,000 jobs by the end of 2017.
“To many, it sounded like a
fairy tale,” the
European Investment Bank says of the Juncker Plan’s basic Keynesian
premise. “You take a bit of money, invest it wisely and within three years it
will have multiplied 15 times over.” The programme has been so successful that
European lawmakers are now planning to raise the target to at least €500bn,
while increasing the focus on sustainable investment and local decision-making.
The Green New Deal for Europe
builds on — and radically improves — the Juncker plan in four key ways.
One is size: to combat the
climate crisis, we need to invest at least 5 per cent of GDP each year directly
into the ecological transition.
Another is design: much of the
financing in the Junker Plan was based on a model of public-private
partnership, in which investment risk is socialised while private banks keep
the gains. The Green New Deal raises its funds through green bond issuances,
and ensures that ownership of Europe’s infrastructure remains in public hands.
Third and final is democracy.
Under the Juncker Plan, decisions are made by a committee
of experts, without reference to the needs, preferences, and dreams of the
communities that they affect. The Green New Deal would put investment decisions
in the hands of a devolved Public Works Agency, giving meaningful control back
to regional, municipal, and local authorities.
There is already a growing
well of sympathy inside the EU for something like a Green New Deal. Even Michel
Barnier — widely regarded as the lead candidate for the Presidency of the next
European Commission — has pledged
his support.
But there are real dangers of
cooptation afoot. Unless we stand together behind our own detailed proposal for
a Green New Deal — one that is democratic, ambitious and justice, and that
commits to redressing Europe’s colonial crimes — we risk losing it to
technocrats like Barnier and their watered-down ideals.
Our job now is to hold our
candidates’ feet to the fire: to take the
pledge, commit to the proposal, and put Europe’s institutions to the
service of global climate justice.
David Adler is DiEM25 policy
coordinator and Pawel Wargan is Green New Deal for Europe campaign
coordinator.
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2019/05/european-elections-could-be-opportunity-transnational-green-new-deal
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