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Wopke Hoekstra’s bid to run Europe’s climate policy is running into resistance.
The Dutch choice to replace Frans Timmermans as commissioner is set to face a difficult grilling in the European Parliament, where key lawmakers greeted his nomination with skepticism on Friday.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will interview Hoekstra on Tuesday, spokeswoman Dana Spinant said. If she approves, he’ll have to convince MEPs in a parliamentary hearing.
Left-leaning MEPs, however, have major reservations.
“It’s not guaranteed that Parliament will back him,” said Mohammed Chahim, vice president of the center-left Socialists & Democrats (S&D), the assembly’s second-largest group.
“The probability of us supporting him depends on whether he surprises us at the hearing. But we’re not very keen on him,” he added.
Timmermans, an S&D member, resigned as executive vice president responsible for the European Green Deal this week to run for prime minister of the Netherlands in the country’s November 22 election.
Von der Leyen has tasked Maroš Šefčovič, another S&D politician who currently serves as commissioner for interinstitutional relations, with overseeing the Green Deal as a whole — but said the climate action portfolio would be reassigned.
It’s not certain that the Dutch nominee would get the climate job, but Hoekstra on Friday affirmed his ambition to take on the green portfolio, calling global warming “one of the biggest themes of our time.”
The S&D described Hoekstra’s political affiliation — the outgoing Dutch foreign minister is a Christian Democrat — as a problem, saying it doesn’t want to see EU climate policy in the hands of a member of the center-right European People’s Party (EPP), which has been pushing to slow down green lawmaking.
The conservatives this summer also ran a fierce campaign against elements of the Green Deal, including the Commission’s embattled nature restoration law.
“Against the backdrop of the conservative EPP’s recent cynical and populist maneuvers to water down the Green Deal … it is crucial for our group that the climate portfolio remains in the hands of the Socialists and Democrats family,” the S&D group said in a statement Friday.
Chahim, a Dutch Socialist like Timmermans, said Hoekstra’s appointment would “unbalance” the Commission. “The last thing we need is another EPP commissioner,” he said.
‘Not a done deal’
If nominated for the climate job by von der Leyen, Hoekstra will face a hearing in the Parliament’s environment committee. While MEPs don’t have the power to veto a specific commissioner, they can ask for the candidate to be assigned a different portfolio. A negative vote has also prompted candidates to withdraw in the past.
The environment committee has been split down the middle in recent key votes, meaning the outcome could depend on convincing one or two MEPs.
Besides the S&D, Green lawmakers also expressed skepticism about Hoekstra.
Michael Bloss, a German Green who sits in the environment committee, said he was “not very enthusiastic” about the nomination, adding: “I worry he’s not taking the climate crisis seriously enough.”
Dutch Green MEP Bas Eickhout said Hoekstra could “expect a tough hearing,” noting that as finance minister the Dutch politician had “failed to show a European vision on the investment needs of Europe” — referring to Hoekstra’s attempts to block joint EU debt plans intended to share the financial burden of the pandemic.
“And recently his party fought against crucial elements of the Green Deal,” Eickhout added. “All this together puts serious question marks on whether he is suitable for the job … his hearing is not a done deal at all.”
Sophie in ‘t Veld, a liberal lawmaker, asked: “Why should we as liberals support an EPP candidate, someone sent to sink the climate agenda”
Martin Hojsík, who sits on the environment committee for the centrist Renew Europe group, said his first question for Hoekstra would be on “how the Commission is preparing for the COP,” referring to the U.N. conference in Dubai where the climate action commissioner would represent the EU.
“COP is definitely one of the biggest stress tests in the coming months,” said Elisa Giannelli, program lead on climate governance and EU politics at think tank E3G. Hoekstra, she noted, has “very limited experience on climate policy and politics.”
Asked for comment on Hoekstra’s nomination, an EPP spokesperson said the group welcomes “the opportunity to restart a less polarizing and more realistic climate policy for Europe.”
Party affiliation aside, Chahim said his group’s support for Hoekstra as climate commissioner would depend on his answer to one question.
“There are two schools of thought in Europe right now, one that wants to accelerate climate action to save industry and the planet, and one that thinks we need to put our foot on the brakes. Which one do you choose?”
Nicholas Vinocur contributed reporting.
