Political theatrics dominate climate commissioner hearings

If the EU was to get a conservative climate commissioner, left-wing lawmakers were going to make it hurt — for a bit, at least.

On Wednesday, the EU’s new Green Deal chief Maroš Šefčovič and climate Commissioner-designate Wopke Hoekstra finally won the blessing of the European Parliament’s environment committee. A formal confirmation vote in plenary is scheduled for Thursday.

The committee’s approval came only after MEPs, unsatisfied with what they had heard in hours-long hearings earlier this week, forced Šefčovič and Hoekstra to answer additional questions in writing.

Green-minded MEPs in particular sought to put pressure on both candidates, demanding clarity on specific legislative files and diplomatic efforts — in particular setting the EU’s new climate goal for 2040.

But as much as the lawmakers insisted that this was all about substance, they ultimately waved the candidates through despite gaining little in the way of new policy commitments.

Instead, the prolonged hearings were all about sending a message: Don’t mess with the Green Deal.

With EU elections on the horizon, the past year has seen an increasing number of governments and MEPs — particularly on the right — pushing for weaker EU green legislation as the policies start to hit home for voters.

Left-leaning MEPs were aghast at the idea of an EPP man in charge of the bloc’s climate policy, given that Hoekstra’s political family has spent much of the year campaigning for weaker nature conservation rules and less green regulation.

Climate activists and green groups piled on in the run-up to Hoekstra’s hearing on Monday night, pointing to his two years working for oil giant Shell and what they saw as a lack of relevant experience.

In response, Hoekstra promised a slate of ambitious climate policies — notably pledging to push for the EU to slash emissions by at least 90 percent by 2040 compared with 1990 levels, roughly in line with what the bloc’s scientific advisory board has recommended.

That didn’t convince his critics. “Looking at your CV so far, you’ve not really been a climate champion,” Green MEP Bas Eickhout told Hoekstra in the hearing. “How credible is what you’re promising here?”

Skeptical Greens and Socialists twice forced the environment committee to postpone their evaluation of Hoekstra, even threatening to call him back for an embarrassing second hearing.

Eventually, MEPs settled on drawing up a list of additional questions for him to answer in writing Tuesday night.

Most of all, they wanted to know just how firm Hoekstra’s commitment to science-based targets really was — asking if he would also look at scenarios that go against the advisory board’s recommendations, which would leave the door open to a less ambitious target.

The answer was yes. “We will also look into relevant scenarios that were not identified as feasible by the Scientific Advisory Board,” he said in a joint response with Šefčovič.

It’s not what the Greens wanted to hear — but they decided to call it a win anyway.

Having Hoekstra pledge support for 90 percent in writing “means that the anti-Green Deal policies of the conservatives, the call for a pause in climate policies by [EPP leader] Manfred Weber, has been defeated. They lost and we won,” Green MEP Michael Bloss told reporters after the committee approval was announced.

The EPP doesn’t see it that way. “This is not over,” said the center-right group’s Peter Liese. The 2040 pledge is “a personal commitment by the two candidates,” not the Commission’s position, he added.

Tit for tat

The center-left Socialists & Democrats (S&D), meanwhile, realized they couldn’t inflict more pain on Hoektra without risking EPP retaliation against Šefčovič, a Slovak Social Democrat who was already serving in the Commission as vice president for interinstitutional relations.

The S&D was the only group ready to support Šefčovič’s new role without quizzing him further after his hearing Tuesday morning, which MEPs widely described as surprisingly weak and lacking in specifics.

On Wednesday morning, the EPP, the S&D, the centrist Renew Europe and the Greens eventually gave the green light to both candidates, paving the way for a plenary vote on Thursday.

There’s no guarantee that all MEPs will vote in line with their groups’ stance. The Dutch Socialists — the party of former Green Deal chief Frans Timmermans — have already said they will try to vote down Hoekstra. Swedish Renew MEP Emma Wiesner said she would oppose Šefčovič’s confirmation.

But with only a simple majority needed in plenary, Šefčovič and Hoekstra have crossed the highest hurdle to being confirmed in their roles.

Hanne Cokelaere, Eddy Wax and Karl Mathiesen contributed reporting.