EUKI Interview: Bridging the Gap Between European and National Climate Action 

While climate policy is largely decided at the EU level in Brussels, it is implemented nationally and locally in the member states.
How would you describe the relationship between the EU and institutions in the member states with regard to climate policy? 

From my experience working on EU policy in Brussels, I understand the European Parliament’s and Commission’s appetite to improve their connection and engagement with the member states. There is a real and a perceived distance between what is happening in Brussels and what is happening on the ground in the member states.

Many people working in the national environmental and climate context think that the EU is a “nebulous thing”, even though around 80 per cent of environmental legislation originates from the EU rather than member states. Countries transpose European directives into national law and apply the regulations adopted by the EU. Climate change and environmental protection are big, cross-border challenges. It therefore makes sense for climate and environmental issues to be solved with EU coordination.

Those legislating at the EU level also feel this distance and want to mitigate the physical and mental disconnect in order to decrease this ‘democratic deficit’. Much of the EU institutional apparatus is organised around closing that democracy gap.

Is this democratic deficit equally significant in all member states? 

I think that the distance is more strongly felt in Central and Eastern Europe. Members of Parliament and the Commission want to ensure that they represent the interests of all EU citizens as well as possible and are therefore keen to engage with civil society organisations and think tanks from Central and Eastern Europe and to learn about their priorities and concerns first-hand. Unlike their Western European counterparts, these organisations do not have the geographic privilege of quick and easy access to the Brussels and Strasbourg-based institutions. Events such as the EUKI study tour in Brussels are great opportunities to bridge this gap.

Where do you see European climate action heading in the next few years? 

We are at an interesting juncture. The last five years have been relatively optimistic in Brussels. In 2019, we had the school strikes for climate and the impression of real change, and of course, there came the European Green Deal. Now, however, we are witnessing an unravelling of that progress. Every day, you wake up to another story pushing us further into what feels like a downward spiral.

Yet many organisations in Central and Eastern Europe have been on this rollercoaster ride for much longer. They have been working in almost parallel worlds: dealing with the optimistic climate actors at the EU level, but also operating in their domestic context where things were not going that well. So environmental civil society actors in Brussels can learn a lot from them!

During the EUKI study tour in Brussels, I spoke to many civil society representatives from Central and Eastern Europe and I really admire their mix of pragmatism, optimism, passion and dedication. During the tour, they asked the high-level Parliament and Commission representatives some very good and critical questions. This was very much in line with how the EEB sees its role as an advocacy organisation: we want to build a good relationship with Members of Parliament and the Commission and at the same time push them on what they are working on.