Green wave reaches the European Parliament

European Elections

According to preliminary election results, the Greens/EFA group will significantly increase in size and are on course to hold more seats than ever before in the European Parliament.

EU Safety Authority decides not to appeal landmark transparency judgement, cementing GreensEFA victory in favour of the environment, public health and the right to know

It’s official. After years of legal battles with the EU Food Safety Authority against their decision to keep essential documents hidden from the public, victory is ours. By ‘ours’, we are referring to the public’s health, the people’s right to know, and the human right to live in a safe and thriving environment.

Affordable and adequate housing for all

Access to housing is a fundamental right. No one should have to choose between a place to sleep and a meal to eat. We call for an EU wide target of at least 3% of GDP to be spent on housing.

Thirty six objections and counting

Why the European Parliament opposes new EU GMO authorisations in vain

Thirty six. That is the number of objections that the European Parliament has voted through, against the draft authorisations of genetically modified plants in the EU put forward by the European Commission (the most recent objections against a GM soy and a GM maize). In 24 of these cases, the European Commission has happily ignored both the indecision of Member states (and hence the lack of a clear political majority) and the European Parliament’s clear disagreement and went ahead to authorize the GM plants anyway. Nine additional authorisations are expected in the coming weeks.

How did the car industry manage to undermine EU pollution limits?

The dangers of technocratic decision-making on public health and the environment

Despite an EU law limiting the amount of pollution that cars could emit, the car industry - together with complicit EU governments - managed not only to delay the implementation of the rules, but to insert massive loopholes that essentially rendered the new pollution limits meaningless. How this happened is a scandal that is yet to be fixed.

Why dangerous hormone-disrupting chemicals are still everywhere

...and why we need to reform comitology

In your shampoo, in your sports bottle, in your bathroom air freshener, in your cleaning products, in your food and its packaging, in the pesticides the local farmer uses near your children’s school, even in nappies... endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are everywhere, omnipresent, like a monster from a horror movie. And a broken EU decision-making process is letting them slip through and continue to poison us.

EU must change from a kerosene tax paradise to a global pioneer for climate action

Aviation/CO2 tax

The non-governmental organisation "Transport and Environment" today published a study, kept secret by the European Commission, on the consequences of a kerosene tax on aviation.

Climate protection should not be a footnote

Sibiu/Future of the European Union

On the 9th May, heads of states and governments of the European Union Member States will meet in Sibiu to discuss the future of the EU. They are due to agree to a 10 point declaration on the future of Europe.

Urgent action needed to prevent mass extinction

Biodiversity/IPBES Report

Bas Eickhout, Greens/EFA spokesperson climate and lead candidate in the European elections for the European Green Party, comments, "from insects to bees, birds to beasts, hundreds of thousands of species across our planet teeter on the edge of extinction."

Greens/EFA call for strong new law on social rights

Social Union

On the 1st of May, all over Europe we will celebrate worker’s and social rights. On this occasion, the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament are putting on the table a series of demands for a real Social Union.

Greens/EFA demands for a Social Union

Greens/EFA are convinced that we urgently need clear steps towards the sustainable transformation of our economy and the creation of quality, long-term jobs. Europe needs a plan to face the challenges of climate change and a just transition roadmap that fairly distributes the benefits as well as the effort required to get to a resource-efficient future economy.

New CO2 emissions standards for trucks and heavy goods vehicles

Quote from Bas Eickhout MEP

Today, the European Parliament voted by a large majority to approve the new CO2 emissions standards for trucks and other heavy goods vehicles. The CO2 emission standards for new heavy-duty vehicles regulation will see new trucks and heavy goods vehicles reduce their CO2 emissions by 15% by 2025, and...