Parliament doubts whether green Wopke Hoekstra is really different from the Shell and McKinsey man: decision postponed | Politics

Normally, after a hearing, an advice is immediately formulated for the plenary meeting, but that was not possible late on Monday evening. Just before midnight it was therefore decided to meet again on Tuesday at two o’clock. The advantage is that the other European Commissioner, who takes over a number of tasks from Frans Timmermans, has now also been interrogated by the same parliamentary committees. That could provide more clarity, Bas Eickhout (GroenLinks) said afterwards.

Hoekstra expressed regret on Monday evening for his harsh attitude towards Southern European countries that insisted on European corona support and spoke out in favor of continuing and even tightening the policy pursued by his predecessor. The CDA politician has been nominated by the Dutch government as the new European Commissioner, now that Frans Timmermans has exchanged Brussels for the party leadership of the PvdA/GroenLinks combination.

But parliamentarians from left-wing parties said they found it difficult to take his words. They continued to point out his past at Shell and McKinsey. “I hear a lot of promises for the climate, and that is of course also allowed by a climate commissioner,” said Mohammed Chahim (PvdA). “Or do we now see you falling back on your role as a consultant and only telling what a large part of parliament wants to hear?”

Hoekstra: “I am motivated to the core. I could have made it easy and stayed Foreign Minister for another year. But everything we discuss here, I want to work on it tomorrow!”

Hoekstra immediately started talking about his position in the corona crisis at the beginning of the evening itself. “I have always tried to bring together national and European interests,” he said in a packed room in Strasbourg. “And yet I want to acknowledge that this has not always gone well. At the start of the pandemic, I did not pay enough attention to the difficulties faced by some Member States. I would like you to know that I think I should have done it differently.”

As Minister of Finance, he had taken a strict stance towards the southern member states during the corona crisis. At a time when the north of Italy in particular was hit hard by the pandemic and asked for help, Hoekstra said that they could have saved better in better times. This caused him great indignation at the time.

It was just as important on Monday that the Dutch commissioner-designate showed his greenest side. He argued for a worldwide tax on kerosene, because it is “absurd” that motorists pay taxes when they refuel, but airlines do not. He repeatedly emphasized that he wants to continue the line of his predecessor Frans Timmermans. In fact, he does not simply want to continue the current European climate goals, but even set a stricter intermediate goal. The 2040 target should be at least a 90 percent reduction in CO2 emissions, he said. “We have to make that feasible for citizens and companies.”

Hoekstra started with his own statement in which he talked about how his parents instilled in him a love for European history and culture. “I am a child of Europe,” he said. “Wherever I am in Europe, I feel at home.” He then switched to English and German, something that always works well in Brussels and Strasbourg. Later that evening he even tried his hand at Italian.

He also spoke about his children: “At least once a week my children ask me about two things: the war in Ukraine and climate change. Whether these children are sitting at my kitchen table, yours, or honestly somewhere else in the world: they deserve a future,” Hoekstra said. “I will be the voice of the future generation.”

His task was not easy: Hoekstra must convince the left that he will continue the existing climate policy, while the right wants him to weaken it. For example, the Christian Democrats, to which Hoekstra himself belongs, have fought tooth and nail against the so-called Nature Restoration Act, the last major proposal from Frans Timmermans as European Commissioner. The Dutch government also has serious doubts about this law, which aims to prevent the deterioration of the soil, water and air. The Social Democrats and Greens kept asking who is the real Hoekstra: the consultant and the Shell man from the past, or the man who showed up here tonight?

Chahim: “Is the Nature Restoration Act an essential condition for achieving the climate goals? And in this context, how do you see the call from your political family to distance yourself from this and press a pause button? Do you distance yourself from this?”

Hoekstra: “Independence can be expected from a European Commissioner. You have to look at the triangle of climate, nature and health, because those three things touch each other.” He said he wants to bring the nature restoration law to a successful conclusion. Member states and parliament are still negotiating about this.

The liberal Jan Huitema asked for assurances about the other side: “I don’t have a question about your CV, but about the people watching this hearing. How will you ensure that European industries and companies can navigate increasingly complex regulations and attract the necessary investments that will enable their green transition?”

We have to make sure we make it simpler, Hoekstra said. “I would also like to discuss with you how we can best implement this. And I would like to base this on the experiences of real entrepreneurs.”

Not everything went smoothly. When he wanted to answer a questioner in her own language, as his predecessor Frans Timmermans used to do, and he started in German, she said: “I am Danish.”