After the EU Environment Commission gave the green light, the EU Parliament has now also voted for the Dutchman Hoekstra as the new climate commissioner. Initially there were discussions about his appointment.
The EU Parliament has confirmed Dutchman Wopke Hoekstra as the new EU Climate Commissioner. In Strasbourg, 279 MEPs supported the 48-year-old’s appointment as EU Commissioner for Climate Policy. 173 expressed their opposition and 33 abstained, as Parliament announced. EU states still have to agree on personnel, which is considered a formality.
Sefcovic as representative of the “Green Deal”
MEPs also decided, with 322 votes, that Slovak EU Commissioner Maros Sefcovic would take over oversight of the so-called “Green Deal” within the Commission. Behind this is the EU’s goal of becoming climate neutral by 2050. 158 parliamentarians voted against the Slovaks and 37 abstained. Parliament’s Environment Committee had already given the green light to both staff
The vice-president of the European Commission, Maros Sefcovic, will in future be responsible for supervising the so-called “Green Deal”.
Sefcovic will assume responsibility for the “Green Deal”, in addition to his previous tasks. He is already deputy commissioner to President von der Leyen and is currently responsible for interinstitutional relations.
As a representative of the climate protection package, the 57-year-old is expected to present proposals for the Commission’s pending legislative proposals in the field of climate policy. These include, among other things, the new edition of the Chemicals Directive and regulations for animal welfare and microplastics.
Commission examines candidates
Hoekstra, 48, was surprisingly proposed for the role of EU climate commissioner by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte – as a successor to his compatriot Frans Timmermans. The president of the European Commission, von der Leyen, then appointed him. Timmermans left the European Commission to run as the main candidate of a red-green electoral alliance in parliamentary elections in his home country.
After his appointment, there was a long debate about Hoekstra among EU parliamentarians. Critics criticized the Christian Democrat mainly because of his professional past, including at the oil company Shell. The Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals also feared that Hoekstra, together with his party colleagues in parliament, could significantly weaken the EU’s climate objectives.
Hoekstra and Sefcovic spoke at the hearing in favor of the EU having to avoid or offset at least 90 percent of its CO2 emissions compared to 1990 levels by 2040. Hoekstra also wants a tax on kerosene. Subsidies for fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas must be abolished.
The world climate conference in Dubai is coming
The vote in parliament also paves the way for Hoekstra to attend the UN World Climate Conference in Dubai in two months’ time for the EU. The former Dutch foreign minister has more experience in international negotiations than climate policy. The qualified lawyer was also a former Minister of Finance.
“It is important that the European Union is able to act before the important climate conference in Dubai,” said MEP Peter Liese (CDU) after the vote in Strasbourg. As a former foreign minister, Hoekstra has “the qualification most needed right now: diplomacy.”
SPD MEP Tiemo Wölken said Hoekstra’s responses in the Environment Committee made it clear that environmental policy would continue to be pushed forward. A break in the law, which the Christian Democrats had called for, is out of the question. Green MP Michael Bloss said: “I have no doubt the promises will be kept. We have assurances from the top of the EU Commission.”