BLOOM publishes a groundbreaking environmental assessment of the European Parliament

20 March 2024

A few months ahead of the European elections on June 9, 2024, BLOOM unveils an unprecedented comprehensive analysis: an in-depth, detailed review of the environmental performance of the European Parliament’s political groups and the national delegations formed by MEPs from 27 different nationalities during the 2019-2024 term. 

SEE ALL THE DETAILS OF OUR ANALYSIS   

We analyzed the votes cast by all the MEPs, selecting a total of 150 amendments and votes of crucial importance, divided into four themes: preserving the ocean and small-scale fishing, combating climate change, protecting biodiversity and sustainable agriculture, and promoting environmental justice and rights. 

On the basis of the votes cast by the 853 MEPs (there are 705 of them, but the substitution of MEPs leaving the parliament before the end of their term of office increases the number of individuals to be assessed), we have been able to accurately establish the environmental performance of the eight political groups sitting in the European Parliament, and of all the delegations. 

The interactive “iPolitics” tool set up by BLOOM will provide answers to future voters seeking to know who, among those elected, has really defended key environmental issues within the European Parliament over the last five years.  

The result of BLOOM’s lengthy and complex analysis is clear: the Parliament is divided into three highly polarized groups. 

The scores of the political groups

ON THE LEFT: THE BUILDERS

On the one hand, there are the “builders“: the ecological left-wing group made up of the Greens, the Social Democrats and The Left, with scores ranging from 16.6 to 19.8 out of 20. 

It is thanks to them that the European Union has been able to achieve important advances, such as stricter emission standards for combustion engine vehicles, regulations to combat the import into Europe of products linked to deforestation, and the drafting of a duty of diligence directive for European companies. 

The Green group takes first place, with a near-perfect score of 19.78/20.  

The Left group follows closely behind the Greens with an almost equally high score of 19.04/20. 

The European Socialists and Democrats group scored 16.65/20.  

ON THE RIGHT AND FAR-RIGHT: THE VANDALS  

At the opposite end of the parliamentary spectrum, far-right and conservative groups used their votes to block all measures in favor of the planet, health and the rights of citizens and workers, including farmers and fishers. Those whom we have dubbed “vandals” for their irresponsible behavior have an appalling environmental record. 

The far-right groups European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and Identity and Democracy (ID) are at the bottom of our ranking. They score 2.53/20 and 3.34/20 respectively. 

The European People’s Party (EPP) group does no much better, with an overall score of 3.79/20. 

Neither of the two blocs, neither the builders nor the breakers of the planet, can single-handedly secure a majority in the European Parliament to pass their texts. This is where the Renew group comes into play, as it holds the future of all European legislation in its hands thanks to its central position and pivotal role. The Renew group was headed until last January by Stéphane Séjourné, now Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs. The current president of the group is now Valérie Hayer, who is also the leader of the list of candidates of Macron’s party Renaissance, ahead of June elections. 

THE LIBERAL RIGHT: THE HYPOCRITES

Although they present themselves as promoters of ecology and defenders of the environment, our analysis shows that Renew is a coalition without an ecological compass and without conviction on environmental issues, jeopardizing essential bills and sometimes even leading to their rejection. 

With an overall score of 11.91/20, the Renew group includes delegations with radically opposed ecological positions. 

Renew MPs are divided on most crucial texts. Without the support of Renew MEPs, every vote in the European Parliament becomes a Russian roulette. The political grouping of liberal MEPs has been an obstacle to the adoption of truly ambitious environmental measures during the last mandate. 

The scores for national delegations 

Greens and The Left

The top five delegations in terms of ecological performance are all from the Greens/EFA, demonstrating the exemplarity of this group. After the Danish delegation (formed by the Socialistisk Folkeparty), which obtained an astonishing 19.92/20 with its two MEPs, the French and Swedes completed the podium with equally near-perfect scores of 19.88/20 and 19.86/20 out of 150 votes. The Dutch and German greens are just a few hundredths of a point behind. This result further confirms the absolute exemplarity of European green parties. At the same time, it must not be forgotten that the radical left parties of The Left also demonstrated an unimpeachable ecological consciousness, with the French delegation, among the largest in this group, achieving an excellent score of 19.71/20. 

From the lists of best and worst delegation, we have excluded delegations represented by only one MEP, since in this case the score would correspond to that of its only elected member. In the case of delegations including several MEPs, on the contrary, the score reflects the global delegation’s political agenda, beyond the personal sensitivities of individual MEPs. Delegations from the UK where equally excluded given their short activity during the ongoing mandate. 

The Socialists

The Socialists and Democrats group is included among the builders of our study, but it is important to keep in mind that it still shows considerable room for improvement. On the one hand, some delegations have proven to be absolutely exemplary. Such is the case with the French delegation, made up of members of the Parti Socialiste, Nouvelle Donne and Place Publique, topped the S&D group with a score of 19.03/20. Other delegations, on the other hand, have shown that they are still too attached to productivist vision of politics, especially when it comes to protecting the oceans and combating industrial fishing. Such is the case with the S&D delegations of Italy and Spain, which scored a paltry 14.46 and 13.21 out of twenty respectively.  

The right and far-right groups

The European Parliament’s worst national delegations are divided between right-wing and far-right groups. This anti-ecological jumble includes some of the best-known faces in the European reactionary and climate-denialist galaxy, and some of the main allies of the French right and far right: the Hungarian EPP delegation (1.81/20), the Spanish ECR delegation made up exclusively of the VOX party (with 1.82/20), the Polish ECR (of which Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, the former party of the Polish government until 2023, is the main member) with a score of 1.86/20, the Italian EPP delegation (with 1.99/20 and including Forza Italia, the party founded by Silvio Berlusconi) and, finally, the Italian ID delegation formed by Matteo Salvini’s Lega (2.06/20). 

The liberal right: Renew

The incoherence of Renew is proven by the wide array of scores obtained by its national delegations, ranging from delegations that refuse to make any progress on environmental protection, such as the Czechs (5.41/20) and Germans(5.52/20), to those with almost exemplary performances, such as the Slovaks who achieve a score of 16.95/20 or the Poles with 17.27/20. 

The French delegation of the Renew group (comprising Renaissance, MoDem, Horizons) achieved an honorable score of 14.63/20, but still found itself torn between defending the status quo and the urgency of climate and environmental issues. 

Our study, based on the actual legislative activity of MPs, does not allow us to assess the actions of elected representatives prior to voting. As a result, a whole range of potentially damaging practices are not quantifiable. 

“Our assessment is a valuable guide for our fellow citizens, but it obviously doesn’t take into account the tortuous stratagems and anti-environmental alliances that take place outside the visible space, in compromise negotiations, in the drafting of amendments etc.” says Alessandro Manzotti, researcher at BLOOM and coordinator of the study. 

“For example, the score of the French delegation of Renew is quite respectable, but it masks strategies for undermining the ecological ambition of European regulations, as we saw on a daily basis before the votes on the Nature Restoration Act. In the end, they did pass the law, but under insane pressure from citizens and BLOOM, and after boning up on its scope. Similarly, the Socialists’ relatively high score indicates that they often align themselves with the voting instructions of the Greens, which is a good thing, but does not make it clear that, in reality, they are not always an ally with whom we can easily work on these issues. In the previous Parliament, the Socialists were still a harmful force on ecological issues. They have come a long way and still have room for improvement.”  

The tool designed by BLOOM will enable citizens to assess their future European representatives on the basis ofconcrete actions for ecology, beyond public announcements and promises. Detailed results and overall ratings of the ecological performance of political groups and national delegations for the various topics we have considered (Ocean, Climate, Biodiversity and Justice) can be consulted on the site, with country-by-country details and an assessment by theme.