Far right and centre right unite in EU parliament to undermine green rules

Conservatives in the European parliament joined forces with the far right to vote to weaken corporate sustainability reporting rules, the strongest signal yet of the EU’s rightward shift from climate ambition to deregulation. The vote is a win for the deregulatory drive pushed by US President Donald Trump, who has pressed the EU to water down environmental laws. While conservative and far-right parties have aligned before, this is the first time that the centre-right European People’s party (EPP) has knowingly relied on far-right support to push through important legislation. “A year ago, the EPP promised voters to cut red tape, simplify existing regulations and remove unnecessary burdens for European companies. Today we delivered,” said Manfred Weber, EPP leader. The EPP’s first attempt last month to pass laws as part of the European Commission’s “simplification” drive to slash red tape fell through, when some social democrats and liberal MEPs voted against the centrist majority. They said the proposed changes went too far in watering down requirements for big companies to police supply chains. On Thursday, a law that weakens regulation even further than last month’s version passed with a wide margin of 382 votes in favour and 249 against, thanks to support from the far-right Patriots for Europe and the rightwing European Conservatives and Reformists, the third and fourth-largest parliamentary groups, respectively. “Patriots for Europe broke the old coalition’s deadlock and opened the path to replace the Green Deal straitjacket with a competitiveness-driven agenda. We proved that another majority — and another policy for Europe — is possible. This is only the beginning,” the group celebrated on X. The vote is seen as definitive proof that the “cordon sanitaire” to deny far-right forces the ability to shape policy no longer works. Recommended Populism in Europe Far-right lawmakers are ‘political reality’ in EU assembly, says top official The EPP was accused of a “moral failing” for “marrying the far right and legitimising an alternative majority” by Sophie Wilmès, a liberal MEP and former Belgian prime minister.  Alberto Alemanno, a professor of EU law at the HEC Paris Business School, said the vote marked “a significant consolidation” of a coalition between the EPP and the far right “in order to embrace the deregulatory push that will be characterising the next four years of this legislature”. MEPs voted to limit rules and reporting requirements on labour and environmental matters to large corporations with more than 5,000 employees and an annual turnover of above €1.5bn, thus sparing smaller companies. Companies that break the rules could face fines or have to fully compensate their victims for damages. The vote scrapped the need to prepare green transition plans, a bugbear of many companies.  The parliament will now negotiate with EU countries before the rules can become law. France and Germany have already called for the law to be scrapped entirely.