The Greens' Terry Reintke has pitched her party as the antidote to "right-wing, authoritarian" forces that are trying to water down climate action as she campaigns ahead of June's European elections.
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00:00Keeping the European Green Deal on track is of paramount importance for the European Greens.
00:10Lead candidate for June's European elections, Teri Reitke, told Euronews about her party's
00:16goals and ambitions for the next five years.
00:19So what I would like to do is obviously convince people that we need to stay on course for
00:27climate neutrality because this is in everyone's interest.
00:30We are already seeing the dire consequences that the climate crisis has today, and especially
00:35in Europe, because Europe is the continent in the world that is heating up the fastest.
00:41But making the European Green Deal a reality is, for the Greens, also important in other
00:47ways.
00:48When it comes to security, the deal could make the continent less dependent on unfriendly
00:52regimes for their economic survival.
00:55However, with the bloc now lagging behind China and the U.S. when it comes to green
01:00investment, Reitke says Europe needs to catch up.
01:03They know that only with a European strategy, only with a European model, we can compete
01:09with China, also with the U.S. right now.
01:11But for that, we need to make the right calls.
01:14And for me, having a massive investment program from the European level that incentivizes
01:19member states to go down that road, that also makes some of the planning processes easier
01:24because the money is coming from a European pot together and it's not member states only
01:29pushing for their interest, will be crucial.
01:33Reitke did acknowledge the instrumental role EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
01:38has played in making the European Green Deal a political reality.
01:44But in recent times, von der Leyen has not committed herself enough to the project.
01:50For me, it is quite clear that she has done good, that she has moved forward things in
01:57the last legislature, but it is absolutely unclear whether she will continue to do that,
02:02especially towards the end of the legislature.
02:05She really lost traction, especially because of the resistance that she faced from her
02:12own party, the European People's Party, who were more and more attacking the Green Deal,
02:17going out of progressive pro-European majorities in the European Parliament, even when we talk
02:22about the nature restoration law.
02:26Despite recent polls indicating the Greens could have around 20 seats less in the next
02:32parliament, Reitke is confident that a vigorous election campaign, which is now ongoing,
02:37can boost their numbers.
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