A lot of people confidentially announce the death of the Green Deal. They often seem to be the same people who said confidently that the ambitious Green Deal package would never get support.

So, I thought it would be useful to look at the evidence to see how much support Green Deal proposals go.

To help me, I am using the great tool EUmatrix.eu. This provides some great data insights into how the EP votes.

I look at the votes (first reading vote) in the EP, and the Council’s approval of the EP’s first reading position.

What support each measure got in the Council and in the EP.
How fast it took for the proposal to get through – from being tabled by the Commission to being published in the OJ.

I will update as existing files are finalised.

Method

I’m using the Annex to the European Green Deal, 11.12.2019.

Over the last 4 years, I’ve heard that the proposal did not have support and would never get pass the EP or the Council.

As the EP enters their last week before the election, I thought it would be a good time to see how MEPs and Member States voted.

If you want to dig deeper into the lgislative jounrey, you’ll find a link to EUR-Lex in the title of each file (when available).

Note that the Council configuration who votes on the files is rarely as the Council configuration who took the file through.

The vote is the first reading vote.

I’ll update this over the next month with the other votes.

I would recommend you take out a subscription to EUmatrix.eu. Their data set on voting by MEPs on issues is increbiliy useful.

Initial Conclusions

1.Most proposals got strong support from both the EP and the EU 27.

2. Politically sensitive files, like cars, faced a tougher jounrey through the EP and the Council, but got enough votes to get adopted.

3. The speed which political agreement between the EP and the Council was reached on most files is remarkable.

4. Whilst the Commission’s proposals were changed through the legislative process, in the main the changes were at the margins, and not the structure of the proposals.

5. Some files did not suceed. Energy Taxation is a sacred national cow. Proposals that riled up farmers near election time led to them being stalled. None are surprising.

6. Your best hope of success is hoping that the Commission puts out a proposal that you are okay with. If not, your likehihood of success is low.

7. Tales of the death of the Green Deal are much exaggerated. It has clear political support from most Member States and MEPs. I sense some politicians are hiding behind Brussels. When they cast their vote they are backing the Commission’s proposals.

8. A PhD student would find a good project to see how much of the Commission’s original proposal got changed during the legislative journey. My gut tells me, for many, not much.

And, to think the Green Deal got on the Commission’s table because of the tenacious lobbying of a French panda.

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Proposal on a European ‘Climate Law’ enshrining the 2050 climate neutrality objective, 2020/0036 (COD)

Tabled: 4.3.2020

Published: 9.7.2021

Vote: 8.10.2020

Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council (Energy), 28 March 2023

Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council (Energy), 28 March 2023

General Affairs Council, 10 July 2023