Belgian Greens slam De Croo for echoing Macron’s climate law break call

Belgium’s Green Party, including  Climate and Environment Minister Zakia Khattabi, criticised Prime Minister Alexander De Croo’s call for a regulatory break on EU climate that echoes French President Emmanuel Macron’s call, also condemned by national Greens.

Companies should not be “overloaded” by legislation, De Croo (Open VLD, Renew) told LN24 on Wednesday (24 May), citing the standards for biodiversity, nitrogen, and targets for CO2 emissions as examples.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a priority for him, though environmental measures could concern the industry, which he says needs breathing room to keep up with new EU climate measures.

“I want to keep an economy in Belgium, an industry, be sure that our SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) will still be able to create jobs, as we will need that to achieve reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.

While De Croo says his position is the same as the one Belgium adopted at the EU level, his Climate and Environment Minister, Zakia Khattabi (Ecolo/Greens/EFA), says this is not the case.

“This is not the position of the Belgian government!” Khattabi wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

“The comments of this Open Vld representative are very surprising” Ecolo co-president Rajae Maouane tweeted on Tuesday, calling on the prime minister to react and recall the government’s position.

While the Flemish government said it was against the proposal for a law on Nature Restoration, the federal government has not yet made its official position on the matter public, Belga reported.

With his call for a regulatory break, De Croo joined Macron’s position, which was criticised by the Greens and the left at a national level.

As for Belgian liberals, they tend to agree with De Croo’s comments.

“We must therefore legislate intelligently and not out of dogmatism. Does the left want misery and famines?” the Reformist Movement (Renew Europe) president Georges Louis Bouchez said on Twitter.

(Anne-Sophie Gayet | EURACTIV.com)

cover photo:While De Croo says his position is the same as the one Belgium adopted at the EU level, his Climate and Environment Minister, Zakia Khattabi (Ecolo/Greens/EFA), says this is not the case. [EPA-EFE/FILIP SINGER]