European election winner wants to make green policy more competitive

The European People’s Party (EPP) has set out its priorities for climate and environmental policy, including economic competitiveness. It will have the largest number of seats in the new parliament.

The EPP emerged as the winner of the European Parliament elections. The party has published a proposal outlining its priorities for the coming period as part of its strategic “five-point plan,” as reported by Euractiv. The party intends to adjust its approach to climate and environmental policy in the European Commission’s forthcoming 2024–2029 work programme. Its plan emphasizes economic competitiveness and energy security within the EU’s decarbonization targets for 2030 and 2050.

A central element of the EPP’s strategy is a shift from the Green Deal to a “Green Growth Deal” that would better balance climate action with economic interests. The proposal stresses the importance of “technological neutrality,” suggesting that the party may be more open to nuclear power and, for example, the use of hydrogen.

Specific measures mentioned in the plan include boosting international hydrogen production and imports, creating an industrial alliance for small modular nuclear reactors, and investing in carbon capture, storage and utilisation technologies (CCS and CCU). The party also seeks to introduce market rules for carbon trading and adopt a “pragmatic definition” of low-carbon hydrogen.

Synthetic fuels and new jobs

The document reaffirms the EPP’s commitment to revising EU regulations on internal combustion engines, particularly to allow the use of alternative zero-emission fuels after 2035—a goal already enshrined in EU law. The party also calls for a comprehensive EU strategy covering e-fuels, biofuels and other low-carbon fuels.

Other economic proposals include an “investment plan for European jobs” to support clean-tech innovation, offering regulatory exemptions to climate-neutral businesses, and increasing investment in cross-border energy infrastructure. The EPP also wants to develop a new EU strategy for critical raw materials needed for clean technologies.

On nature protection, the EPP proposal calls for a balanced approach. The party wants to ease some Green Deal measures, and the document refers more often to farmers’ interests and stresses the need to protect European standards from abuse by third countries, explicitly mentioning China.