BRUSSELS — The far-right Patriots for Europe group will be in charge of negotiating the bloc’s next climate target on behalf of the European Parliament, five officials and lawmakers told POLITICO.
The Patriots will field the so-called rapporteur, which drafts Parliament’s position and leads talks with EU governments on behalf of MEPs, on the bloc’s 2040 emissions-cutting target — giving the far right unprecedented influence over the EU’s next climate milestone.
The group — which includes the French National Rally, Italy’s Lega and Hungary’s Fidesz — strongly opposes the EU’s climate policies, with its chair, Jordan Bardella, pushing for the suspension of the bloc’s Green Deal.
Rapporteurships are effectively auctioned through a point system, with each group receiving points according to its size. The Patriots, Parliament’s third-largest faction, simply outbid all other groups, one Parliament official said. The official, like others, was granted anonymity to discuss the closed-door process.
