Question for Wopke Hoekstra: which ambitious, binding and scientifically based European climate target for 2040 will he come up with, and a little quickly, please? How does he plan to restore nature that has been affected by nitrogen emissions? And oh yes: how does he plan to quickly get an internationally controversial climate damage fund for poor countries into operation?
No: the questions for Hoekstra will not be easy this Monday evening, when he appears for a hearing in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. For three hours, MEPs in the environment committee may fire a total of 25 questions at the former CDA leader, until recently Minister of Foreign Affairs.
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Hoekstra was nominated by the Netherlands at the end of August to replace Frans Timmermans as European Commissioner for Climate, who returned to the Netherlands this summer to become party leader of PvdA-GroenLinks. But first he must convince two-thirds of the members of the parliamentary committee of his qualities – no easy task.
Hoekstra does not know exactly what the questions will be. He can expect them to deal with tricky, sometimes hyper-technical topics such as emissions budgets and CO certification2storage or a potential ban on private jets, full of references to abbreviations such as ‘LULUCF’ (land use) or specific articles from the Paris climate agreement.
Mutual distrust
The CDA member has reportedly prepared extremely well in recent times, assisted by Diederik Samsom, former PvdA leader and Timmermans’ right-hand man in recent years. But what is more difficult to solve with some refresher lessons are the major doubts that exist in the European Parliament about his CV and credibility. And now that Brussels is also preparing for a campaign in the run-up to the European elections next June, his candidacy has also become the subject of a hard political game.
Especially because the departure of Timmermans, who has been primarily responsible for the European climate and environmental plans since 2019, coincides with a changing wind in Brussels. Even before the summer, it became clear that the large Christian Democratic party, of which the CDA is also a part, no longer simply agrees to green plans and can even oppose them with fierce campaigns – visible in the battle over the so-called ‘nature restoration law’.
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It has soured relations in the European Parliament and increased mutual distrust. In addition, all parties are profiling themselves politically in the run-up to the elections, and Hoekstra’s hearing is an excellent platform for this. The fact that the Christian Democrats in particular are providing a replacement for the bright green Timmermans is already causing great suspicion towards Hoekstra.
Hoekstra will have to reveal his colors to the skeptics: will he continue Timmermans’ ambitious course, or will he choose to place more emphasis on dialogue with industry, business and farmers? “We want to know: what line does he stand for?” says PvdA MEP Mohammed Chahim. “He will have to distance himself from what his own party has recently shown. Simply saying that he finds climate important, as he has done so far, is really insufficient. What concrete commitments can he make, for example on the climate target for 2040?”
Strict accountant
In answers to written questions of MEPs, Hoekstra showed his greenest side on Friday, expressed his full support for Timmermans and emphasized that as far as he is concerned, there is still room for improvement – even if that “entails difficult choices”. He also advocated “more action” to put an end to fossil subsidies and strongly supported the Nature Restoration Act, which his own CDA recently strongly opposed.
Hoekstra also quoted poet Lucebert’s ‘Everything of value is defenseless’ as motivation to protect the climate and emphasized the responsibility of parents to pass on the planet to their children. Exactly the kind of language that (green) MEPs like to hear. If he is smart, Hoekstra also shows some pathos on Monday evening and changes language at least once in his answer – also something that the EP likes.
Hoekstra’s most important task in the coming months will be representing the EU at the climate conference in Dubai at the end of November. It will be a crucial moment for global climate efforts. All the more so because Europe must take the lead in the extremely sensitive discussion about compensating climate damage in poor countries by rich countries.
Hoekstra can also expect tough questions about this. In his previous life as Dutch Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs, he was known as extremely frugal, also with regard to climate financing. Now Hoekstra must make it clear that he believes that EU countries should pay generously. In his written answers last week, Hoekstra advocated “unorthodox” financial solutions and “the broadest possible sources of financing”: quite a turn for the once strict accountant.
His frugal image also plays a role in the questions that Hoekstra can expect about his statements in the corona crisis. Then, as Minister of Finance, he criticized Southern European countries for their poor budget discipline – resulting in a storm of criticism. How fervently does your European heart beat, MEPs will ask him on Monday evening.
Past at Shell
The gist is, says GroenLinks MEP Bas Eickhout: “Do we dare to express our confidence that the climate is in good hands with him?” Within the European Greens, of which Eickhout is coordinator in the environment committee, the mood around Hoekstra is, according to him, “very negative”. “He really has to try very hard to get that up and running in those three hours.”
Without a doubt, Hoekstra will also be asked about his own past at Shell, something that has been emphasized in the opposition of environmental clubs to his appointment. A petition against Hoekstra has been signed more than a hundred thousand times in recent weeks. Chahim says he receives “hundreds” of emails every day from people asking him to stop Hoekstra.
At the same time, the pressure on MEPs to let him through is at least as great, also from major European capitals such as Berlin. After all, blocking Hoekstra would leave a crucial vacancy open at a time when Europe is preparing for an important role at the climate conference. In theory, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen could ignore such a blockade, but that would plunge relations between the European Parliament and the Commission into a crisis, at a time when major files such as migration need to be completed.
Moreover, there is also a party political side to a possible rejection of Hoekstra. The social-democratic Slovak Maros Sefkovic is also being interrogated by MEPs this week. He has been in the European Commission since 2009, but was recently appointed by President Ursula von der Leyen to take over the overview of the ‘Green Deal’ from Timmermans. Christian Democratic MEPs have recently threatened to also block Sefkovic if Hoekstra were to be exposed. That would make the impasse even worse.
Over the past few weeks, Hoekstra has tirelessly held preliminary discussions with numerous European Parliament members. Whether he can convince them should become clear after Monday evening – the environmental committee will make a decision within 24 hours. It is absolutely not impossible that the EP will ask him to come back one more time – mainly to make it clear that it will not simply agree.
That would not be the first time: it happened before, for example, in 2009 with the Dutch candidate European Commissioner for Digital Affairs Neelie Kroes. It would nevertheless be uncomfortable for Hoekstra and result in a scratch in advance. However, it seems very unlikely that MEPs will dismiss him after a second hearing, already penciled in for next Tuesday.
At the same time, everyone acknowledges: nothing is excluded. Accidents in the European Parliament are becoming more common. Hoekstra will, as he previously announced, have to do his “best”.
A version of this article also appeared in the October 2, 2023 newspaper.