It will maintain Its climate agenda
This week, the European Commission confirmed that it will maintain its climate roadmap unchanged despite the formal withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement, a decision made by President Donald Trump on January 20.
In its written response to the parliamentary question posed by more than thirty MEPs from the Patriots for Europe (PfE) group, Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra reiterated that the EU will continue with the Green Deal as a “growth strategy.”
Instead of revising its regulatory direction in response to the competitive imbalance this situation may create for European industries—especially energy-intensive ones—the Commission has reaffirmed its commitment to an ideological agenda that imposes increasing burdens on the productive fabric. In the words of the European Executive, its priority will be “to encourage and create the right conditions for companies to decarbonize and strengthen their competitiveness.”
The institutional response comes amid growing pushback against the climate policies imposed from Brussels. The United States’ exit from the Paris Agreement—which exempts its industry from bureaucratic and regulatory obligations imposed by the global climate agenda—has been interpreted by the MEPs of Patriots for Europe as an opportunity for the EU to rectify its course. President Trump’s decision will allow U.S. companies “to be exempt from the bureaucratic burdens and legal requirements tied to the previous climate policy.”
The MEPs from Patriots warn that this “ideological drift” is leading Europe into a strategic disadvantage compared to powers like China or the United States, which are adopting pragmatic models to protect their industrial base. They also call for the urgent revision of the “Fit for 55” legislative package, whose measures they deem “suffocating” for businesses and citizens, and consider its withdrawal or mitigation as essential.
