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Green Party chairmen Omid Nouripour and Ricarda Lang at the presentation of the draft European election programme
Photo: Britta Pedersen / dpa
The last European elections were in May 2019, and two things have changed for the German Greens since then: they are now the governing party and have slipped in the polls – and this is also how their programme for the European elections in June 2024, the draft of which was presented in Berlin on Thursday, reads.
The focus is not on what you might want but will never get – but on what is feasible or at least has a small chance.
For example, the Greens apparently no longer want to try to enforce a motorway speed limit against the resistance of their coalition partner FDP and their Transport Minister Volker Wissing. Instead, they are looking for a detour via Brussels. "We are committed to an EU-wide speed limit on motorways," the draft states.
Speed limit, but how?
The draft does not reveal how this is supposed to work. According to the letter of the EU treaties, the Commission could possibly propose such a speed limit on the basis of traffic or environmental law. However, it would then still have to be decided by the Council of Member States with a qualified majority and by the EU Parliament with a simple majority.
So much for the legal theory. In political practice, however, neither EU Commission President von der Leyen – should she be re-elected – nor any other head of the Commission would try to push through such a speed limit against the will of the German government.
The Greens are faced with a dilemma when it comes to their election manifesto, says Green transport politician Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg. "On the one hand, it is madness that there is still no EU-wide speed limit," said the MEP. "On the other hand, of course, it's difficult to imagine that this will become reality tomorrow."
The Greens are also cautious when it comes to building renovation and heating, which is particularly controversial in Germany – but they clearly support the EU's plans. They stipulate that even old buildings must achieve certain stricter energy classes. There are protests against this, including from the FDP, which sees too high costs for property owners.
Regardless of this, the Green programme states that it supports "the further development of European requirements for the efficiency of buildings and heating systems in order to free buildings from dependence on fossil fuels quickly and cheaply". In doing so, the focus is "primarily on advice and financial incentives". Similar to Germany, other EU states should also oblige their municipalities to carry out heat planning.
Another controversial issue is the Greens' change of course on the underground storage of carbon dioxide. In a few areas, it will continue to be difficult to avoid greenhouse gas emissions in the future, according to the draft programme. "In these areas, we want to take advantage of technological opportunities and capture, store and, if necessary, use CO₂ directly during production."
It would be a U-turn from the Greens' previous position on CO₂ capture, also known by the abbreviation CCS ("Carbon Capture and Storage"). It would be – because it is by no means certain whether it will make it into the final election program. Over the next five weeks, the Federal Executive Board will adopt amendments.
The final decision will be made at the party congress in Karlsruhe at the end of November. "There will certainly be a debate and a vote on the CCS passage," says Green MEP Daniel Freund. "After all, this is a repositioning."
A sentence on the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) could cause trouble with farmers. It accounts for almost a third of the EU's total multiannual budget, which is worth more than one trillion euros. Around three-quarters of this goes to farmers in the form of flat-rate, area-based direct payments. The Greens want to abolish these payments, as they "create false incentives and do not contribute to a sustainable agricultural structure in a targeted manner". Instead, the aim is to "consistently promote services for the climate, the environment, biodiversity and health".
The Greens, on the other hand, do not shy away from an issue that has already earned them a lot of criticism and ridicule: the "feminist foreign policy" pursued by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. We want to anchor it as a guiding principle of the EU's external relations," the draft programme reads. The guidelines for the German government's feminist foreign policy are a model for the debate at the European level.«
In Brussels, people are wondering what this is all about. "I've never heard of defined guiding principles of EU foreign policy," says an EU diplomat who should know. The same applies to the debate, for which Germany's feminist foreign policy is supposed to be a model according to the Greens' interpretation. "In my reality, there is no such debate," the diplomat said, "at least not in the Council of Foreign Ministers."
Not a word about meat, gender asterisks or short-haul flights
On another foreign policy issue, on the other hand, the Greens are completely in line with Brussels' ideas: there should be no political discounts for current and future EU accession candidates, not even for Ukraine – war or not.
They are in favour of a "speedy accession process", according to the draft programme. Nevertheless, "all candidate states" must "fully meet" the EU's accession criteria. Only the pace of reform in the accession countries determines the pace of accession," the Greens emphasize. It is a clear rejection of demands such as those of EU Council President Michel to admit Ukraine by 2030 at the latest.
What is remarkable about the 104-page paper is what is not in it. The Greens do not say a word about controversial issues such as meat consumption, gendering in language or fewer short-haul flights. Instead, they want to strengthen the rights of air travelers vis-à-vis airlines and simplify baggage regulations.
This is likely to have to do not only with the government responsibility in Berlin, but also with the current poll results. They are such that some people take refuge in sarcasm among the Greens. "We thought long and hard about banning grilled sausages," jokes one party member. "But after looking at the polls, we refrained from doing so."