European Commission to follow Wales’ future generations policy

Luke James, Brussels

Ursula von der Leyen has announced plans to follow Wales’ future generations policy as part of her second term as president of the European Commission.

Wales became the first country in the world to put the rights of future generations into law in 2015 and created a commissioner to oversee the law’s implementation a year later.

Today, von der Leyen was re-elected on a programme which includes a promise to “ensure that decisions taken today do not harm future generations and that there is increased solidarity and engagement between people of different ages.”

The German politician, who won a vote in the European Parliament by 401 to 284, said her new team would include a “Commissioner whose responsibilities will include ensuring intergenerational fairness.”

The commitment follows a campaign by NGOs in Brussels for the Commission to copy the Welsh policy in order to counter the backlash against the EU’s green policies.

Green policies

Farmers have blockaded the roads of Brussels in protest against new environmental conditions attached to the Common Agricultural Policy, resulting in von der Leyen abandoning, delaying or weakening some green policies.

“Short-termism is a scourge on Europe’s long-term prosperity, so it is a really positive sign that von der Leyen wants to strengthen the long-term perspective in her next Commission,” said Elizabeth Dirth of the ZOE Institute for Future-Fit Economies.

Alberto Alemanno, founder of the Good Lobby, had called for MEPs to reject von der Leyen’s re-election bid in response to her “u-turn” on green issues. But he said the creation of the new post was a “major win” for the campaign which “the Welsh commissioner has been and remains one of the major sources of inspiration.”

The Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, Derek Walker, and his team have also been working with others to encourage future generations representation in the EU institutions for several years.

He said von der Leyen’s announcement represented a “key moment in the growing global movement, which Wales has been leading on, to protect future generations.”

“I hope to see a similar commitment at the UN Summit of the Future in September, which is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the nations of the world to take action on the climate crisis and growing inequality,” he added.

“Ensuring that we improve lives and leave behind a liveable planet for our children, grandchildren and those not yet born requires an urgent global effort to act now for a better tomorrow.”

The position was one of half a dozen new roles which Ursula von der Leyen promised to create in an effort to secure the support of enough members of the European Parliament to be re-elected.

Concession

Her biggest concession to the second-largest socialist group was the appointment of a commissioner with responsibility for affordable housing, while other new portfolios include a commissioner for defence and another dedicated to the Mediterranean.

It remains to be seen though what importance will be given to each of the new roles.

Sophie Howe, Wales’ former Commissioner for Future Generations, called for von der Leyen “to give future generations the importance they deserve” by making the postholder one of her
Executive Vice Presidents.

“I know from experience how important it is to have a focal point for long-term thinking in the system,” she said. “But it requires leadership and commitment and a clear role.”

Howe’s tenure as Future Generations Commission between 2016 and 2023 wasn’t without controversy though. She was accused of hypocrisy last year after a freedom of information request revealed she had flown over 160,000 miles in five years after advocating for green taxes on frequent flyers.

The authors of ‘The Welsh Way: Essays on Neoliberalism and Devolution’ described the policy as a “piece of potentially useful legislation handed to a powerless Labour insider and rendered completely useless.”

There were fears Ursula von der Leyen could abandon the EU Green Deal in the wake of elections which saw far-right parties gain seats at the expense of the policy’s supporters in the green, socialist and liberal groups.

Pragmatism

In her speech, von der Leyen said that she would lead a Commission which “sticks to the targets of the European Green Deal with pragmatism.”

The policy has though been rebranded as the “Clean Industrial Deal” in an effort to show how Europe can “reduce our emissions while growing our economy.”

The majority of Green MEPs voted for von der Leyen’s re-election, along with those from the centre-right, socialist and liberal groups.

Bas Eickhout, the president of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament, admitted they had taken a “leap of faith” in choosing to back her.

“We have a responsibility to our voters, to the future habitability of our planet and we do not take this decision lightly,” he said. “Now Ursula von der Leyen must show that she is serious about making further progress on the Green Deal.”