Builders, hypocrites and vandals: an evaluation of the ecological performance of European political groups and delegations

20 March 2024

Just a few months ahead of the European elections from 6-9 June 2024, BLOOM unveils an unprecedented in-depth assessment of the environmental performance of the European Parliament’s political groups as well as the national delegations formed by MEPs from 27 different nationalities during the 2019-2024 term. 

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We have analyzed the votes of all MEPs, selecting a total of 150 crucial votes and amendments divided into four themes: ocean preservation and small-scale fishing, the fight against climate change, biodiversity protection and sustainable agriculture, and the promotion of environmental justice and rights. 

On the basis of the votes cast by the 853 MEPs (there are 705 of them at any given moment, but changes during their electoral mandate increases the number of individuals to be assessed altogether), we were able to establish the precise environmental performance of the European Parliament’s eight political groups and entire national delegations. 

The interactive tool set up by BLOOM will enable citizens to compare the rhetoric of candidates running for re-election with their real track-record. The assessment and search engine will clarify who, among outgoing MEPs, has really defended essential environmental issues within the European Parliament over the last five years. 

 

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

 

THE ECOLOGICAL 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, whose scores fluctuate between 16.6 and 19.8 out of 20. 

It is thanks to them that the European Union has been able to achieve important environmental progress, such as stricter emission standards for combustion engine vehicles, an import ban on products linked to deforestation, and a European Directive on Corporate Due Diligence (currently blocked in Council due to the opposition from European Centre-Right governments, including France).  

The Green group ranks first, with a near-perfect score of 19.78/20. The French delegation, which includes Les Écologistes MEPs, emerged as the second best performing in the European Union, with 19.88/20, just behind the Danish delegation, which scored 19.92/20. 

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

The Socialists and Democrats group scored 16.65/20. There is still significant room for improvement for the S&D group in order to be considered truly exemplary on the protection of the planet. 

 

THE RIGHT AND FAR RIGHT: THE VANDALS

At the opposite end, the far-right and conservative groups, with their appalling environmental performance, used their votes to undermine all measures in favor of the planet, but also the health and rights of citizens and workers, including farmers and fishers. 

The result was expected: these groups acted like vandals sabotaging the ambition of some of the most important texts of the European Green Deal in recent years. This was recently the case with the Nature Restoration Law, passed by Parliament but gutted of all its most effective measures to protect the environment, especially the ocean, at a time when it is breaking heat records and when ocean currents are threatening to collapse. 

The far-right groups of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and Identity and Democracy (ID) are at the bottom of our ranking, with an average score of 2.53/20 and 3.34/20 respectively. The European People’s Party (EPP) does no better, with a dreadful score of 3.79/20. 

The podium of ecological vandals includes some of the best-known faces in the European far-right and climate denialist galaxy:  the worst planet destroyers are the Hungarian EPP delegation (with 1.81/20), the Spanish ECR delegation (with 1.82/20, to which belongs the far-right party VOX), the Polish ECR delegation (of which Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, the former leading party in the Polish government until 2023, is the leading member) with a score of 1.86/20, the Italian EPP delegation (with 1.99/20 and including the party founded by Silvio Berlusconi, Forza Italia) and the Italian delegation of Identity and Democracy (formed by the MEPs of Lega, scoring 2.06/20). 

However, none of the two blocs, neither the eco-builders nor the planet vandals, can single-handedly win a majority in the European Parliament to make their political agenda prevail. This is where the group « Renew” comes into play, as it holds the future of all European legislation in its hands with its central position and pivotal role. 

  

THE CENTER-RIGHT: THE HYPOCRITES

Although they like to present themselves as defenders of the environment, our analysis shows beyond doubt Renew’s true nature: that of an hypocritical coalition lacking a political compass 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. The arc of incoherence ranges from delegations that refuse to make any progress on environmental protection, such as the Czech (5.41/20) and German (5.52/20) delegations, to delegations with almost exemplary performance, such as the Slovaks, who scored 16.95/20 or the Polish delegation with 17.27/20. 

Renew MEPs split on most crucial texts. Without the support of Renew MEPs for ambitious environmental policies, every vote in the European Parliament becomes Russian roulette. The liberal-right group has thus been a brake and a thorn in the side to the adoption of truly ambitious environmental measures during the last term. 

“Our assessment is a valuable guide for our fellow citizens, but it clearly doesn’t account for the tortuous stratagems and anti-environmental alliances that take place outside the spotlight, during negotiations, in the drafting of amendments and so on. For example, the French Macronist delegation’s gets a good grade, but it masks its strategies to diminish ecological ambition, as we saw on a daily basis before the votes on the Nature Restoration Law. In the end, they voted for the law, but only under reckless pressure from citizens and BLOOM, and only after stripping away its significance. Similarly, the socialist group’ 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, we often   lack allies who genuinely carry the issues among their ranks. 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.” Alessandro Manzotti, researcher at BLOOM, coordinator of the study. 

Our study, based on the actual legislative activity of MEPs, cannot reflect the actions of European MPs prior to voting. A whole range of potentially damaging maneuvers and dealings therefore fall below the radar of quantifiable data. 

Despite this, our tool will enable citizens to assess their future European representatives on the basis of concrete ecological actions, beyond public postures and electoral promises. Detailed results and overall ratings of the ecological performance of political groups and national delegations for the different topics we have considered (Ocean, Climate, Biodiversity and Justice) are available on a dedicated site with country-by-country details