N. Peter Kramer’s Weekly Column
‘Commission-EPP alliance hijacks EU decision-making process’ argues the S&D Group after the EU Council decided to cancel the final trilogue about the Green Claims Directive when the Commission let know to intend to withdraw the directive.
The S&D Group fiercely condemned the Commission move, followed by the Council. There were ‘no technical or legal grounds for doing so’, ‘with both co-legislators -Parliament and Council- willing and close to finding a final agreement’, says an S&D press release.
Is the Commission trying to kill the directive in alliance with the European People’s Party (EPP) and the far right? The S&D spokesperson for the EP’s committee for the environment, climate and food safety and rapporteur for the directive, Tiemo Wölken, calls it ‘a coordinated attack by the Commission and the EPP against green legislation.... a cynical attempt to kill important legislation that would protect consumers from greenwashing and ensure honest environmental claims’.
Wölken continues with allegations as ‘Ursula von der Leyen as Commission chief is betraying her mandate and turning the Commission into the EPP’s headquarters. An institutional scandal’.
His colleague Laura Ballarin (also S&D) adds ‘The EPP’s behaviour on this file is outrageous . They have used unfounded excuses and lies...’. This withdrawing is ‘sabotage of EU democracy’.
It sounds like the heydays of green politics are over...
