Uphill Battle

Is climate change set for a comeback as a top EU priority, after a deadly summer of record-breaking heatwaves across Europe? The fight against global warming is expected to feature prominently in a key policy speech by EU chief Ursula von der Leyen this month, after two years critics say were marked by major environmental rollbacks.

After years as a leading EU cause, climate concerns have taken the backseat to defence and industry goals over the past couple of years. The bloc has notably watered down new green rules for businesses and proposed abandoning a ban on the sale of new internal combustion engine cars by 2035. Yet some hope the September 16 speech could signal a rebalancing of priorities in Brussels.

Green Deal rollback

The kind of ambitious climate legislation that defined von der Leyen's first five years in office, known as the Green Deal, is a hard sell in Brussels these days. Green parties lost out in the 2024 European elections, and the business-friendly centre-right now holds sway in a European Parliament where climate sceptics on the far-right also have a bigger say.

"It's going to be an uphill battle," said Green leader Terry Reintke. Her group was nevertheless going to "push very, very hard" to have von der Leyen lay out concrete climate actions in her speech. "We are talking about existential situations here," she told AFP. The EU's 27 commissioners are scheduled to meet Swedish climatologist Johan Rockstrom for a post-summer seminar in Brussels on Friday.