The joys and frustrations of an environmental law-maker

Abstract

For many years, environmental politics was seen as a relatively light policy area. In many European countries environmental issues were usually delegated to the Greens. As a result, until recently, climate and environmental policy has been dominated by the political approach and emphasis of the green movement. Today, however, political leaders across Europe are finally seeing how political environmental politics actually is. There is also a growing understanding that the green approach may not be the only possible way forward. Due to its top-down, bureaucratic and inflexible approach to the policy area, the green agenda may in fact sometimes even be dangerous. Thus, this article argues that the time has come to shift the paradigms of environmental politics and climate politics from the politics of limitation to the politics of possibilities. The European People’s Party family could offer a real alternative to the green agenda and show the merits of environmental subsidiarity.