PiS wants to reject the Green Deal. Changes are possible, but “there is no alternative but to implement it”

The Green Deal is becoming a target of the right before the European Parliament elections. The Confederation is attacking him, and PiS politicians are trying to “defend Poland” against the effects of the EU’s climate policy. Jerzy Buzek, MEP and former prime minister, spoke on several panels of the European Economic Congress in Katowice, including a discussion on critical raw materials. He emphasized that there is no turning back from the Green Deal, although it is possible to change how exactly it will be implemented.

Buzek said that – contrary to accusations, green policy leads to “getting rid of industry from Europe” – the issues of raw materials, support for industry and business are and will be one of the key issues for the EU. He admitted that a few years ago it was not expected that critical raw materials – such as rare metals – would be one of the priority topics for the EU. However, this was changed by, among others, The Green Deal and geopolitical turmoil, from the pandemic to the war in Ukraine.

During his term in the European Parliament, Buzek dealt largely with topics related to the energy transformation. Now he emphasizes that the direction the EU has set itself when creating the Green Deal will not change – but specific policies may change.

Perhaps some of the tasks defined in the European Green Deal will be slowed down, some may even be sharpened if there are simple ways to implement them.

– he said. He added that over the last year the EU has focused more on “guaranteeing the competitiveness of the European economy” than on creating “orders and prohibitions resulting from the Green Deal”.

“Those who denied the Green Deal agreed to it themselves”

– We are going to the European Parliament to reject the Green Deal, to reject the migration pact – said PiS president Jarosław Kaczyński at the April party convention as part of the campaign for the European Parliament. Meanwhile – as Buzek recalled – the new climate policy was created when PiS was in power, and Poland, together with other countries, accepted its framework.

The Green Deal has been confirmed by all European countries and I wanted to say it loudly. Those who today propose denying the Green Deal agreed to it themselves and de facto formed this order.

According to the former prime minister, “there is no other option” than implementing the Green Deal. – But at the same time, we must provide certainty for the European economy. The war had dramatic effects here, earlier during the pandemic we felt how dangerous it was to interrupt supply chains, he said. He emphasized that new European Union initiatives are trying to respond to these calls and strengthen the industry and provide raw materials needed to carry out the green transformation. – If we do not want to slow down our green, just transformation, wise management of critical raw materials is crucial – he said.

Poles open to changes in the Green Deal

The majority of Poles – especially PiS and Confederation voters – are critical of the Green Deal and European climate policy. This is shown by the new Opinia24 and IPSOS for the More in Common Polska organization. However, concerns do not mean that most want to reject the Green Deal altogether.

The vast majority of Polish women and men are afraid of climate change and its effects, and are also convinced of the need to counteract the progress of global warming. 45 percent respondents also believe that action to stop climate change should be a priority for the European Union.

At the same time, even every second of us – again, primarily among PiS and Confederation voters – is afraid that only the richest will benefit from climate policy, and not all citizens. Almost three out of four people fear that we will have more losses than benefits from EU policy.

The key conclusion of the study is that despite concerns and doubts related to the current shape of the Green Deal, we do not want to reject it. 40 percent believes that efforts to combat climate change should even be increased, and 31 percent would leave them at their current level. Only 20 percent thinks we should limit them. In addition, the majority (68%) are convinced that investments in renewable energy sources will lead to a decline in energy prices in the long term and improve our energy security.

Almost every second person in the survey (47%) believes that the European Green Deal should be implemented after introducing certain changes. 11 percent has no opinion, while 38% are in favor of rejecting it in its entirety. subjects. 5 percent it would not change anything in the EU’s climate policy. The authors of the study write:

People should be put at the center of climate policy – so that citizens can see that climate policy works for them, and not they work for climate policy. So that they clearly notice its positive impact – not only on nature and climate protection, but also on everyday life: energy prices, food quality and costs, health, economy and new jobs, as well as energy security and sovereignty.