Reality Weighs in against the EU’s Green Deal

As the man-made induced de-industralization of Europe is advancing in leaps and bounds, the tide is turning on Ursula von der Leyen’s insane “Green Deal” policy. While the political earthquake in Germany’s key state of Hesse may be a harbinger of things to come in Berlin (cf. below), other pieces of the EU green agenda are also falling apart.

* On Nov. 9, the European Parliament approved postponement of the stringent “Euro 7” emission guidelines — by two years for cars and four years for trucks. Along with the regulation, the “Ursula majority” in the European Parliament, i.e., the coalition that had elected von der Leyen as European Commission President, broke apart. The decision to postpone Euro 7 was voted by a majority of the People’s Party and the Liberals, as well as one-third of the Socialist factions, joining in with the opposition conservatives and nationalists.

* Another defeat for the von der Leyen agenda is expected on Nov. 21, when the European Parliament is expected to vote on the “Re-use” new packaging regulation, which would ban, among other things, paper cups for drinks consumed inside bars and restaurants, sugar sachets, plastic bottles for hotel shampoos and shower gels, and certain packaging in which fruit and vegetables are sold. They are supposed to be replaced with washable and reusable packaging.

The Italian packaging industry and several farmers associations that have entirely converted to the previous standard of a single-use recycling system over the past years, have mobilized to stop that regulation. A group of 40 Italian members of the European Parliament from all political parties has joined the mobilization and committed to build a nonpartisan majority to block the new regulation proposal in the European Parliament.

* The third development does not, strictly speaking, concern the EU agenda, but it does by implication. Switzerland has decided to prolong the life of its four nuclear power plants for as long as their safety can be maintained. They now account for 40% of the country’s electricity. While a referendum held in 2017 voted for phasing-out nuclear power, the current energy insecurity has prompted a rethinking, to avoid a huge black hole in the national energy supply. Furthermore, it is said that the potential for expanding so-called renewables has been exhausted.

Belgium and Finland are also planning to extend the lifespan of their NPPs. Finland recently completed a new one and is planning another, as are Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovenia.

* Last but not least, one of the pillars of the EU system, the so-called single energy market, has started to crumble, spreading panic among hedge funds and the entire financial industry, which has milked it for big profits in the past years. The German government has announced a five-year plan to subsidize energy costs for industry, designed to set the price for manufacturers at €70 per Mwh, for a cost of 28 billion until 2028. Apparently, the Commission has given a green light (or not yet given a red light), so that Italian producers now demand the same treatment. According to the daily La Verità, the Commission is rejecting an Italian request to postpone a total liberalization of the energy market in Italy.