The Politics of the Environment: Ideas, Activism, Policy, 2nd Edition

PARTIES AND MOVEMENTS

5.4 The political programme of the German red–green coalition

After the 1998 federal election the SPD–Green

coalition negotiations underlined the

importance to the Greens of a broad

left-libertarian agenda, rather than an exclusive

concern with environmental issues. The final

programme outlined three priorities (Lees 2000 :

112):

1. reduction of unemployment by up to one
   million over four years;


2. rapid withdrawal from use of nuclear power
   and a parallel programme of eco-tax reform;


3. reform of citizenship laws to reflect the
   multicultural reality of German society.

By the 2002 federal election, this programme

had achieved mixed results: underlying

structural unemployment had continued to

grow; a (long-term) nuclear closure

programme had been agreed; and the

citizenship laws had been radically liberalised.

The 2002–5 government was dominated by

traditional material issues: rising

unemployment, growing public debt and

Chancellor Schr ̈oder’s efforts to implement a

major economic and welfare reform

programme, Agenda 2010. In short,

environmental issues were of marginal

importance.

government. In France, although the fast-breeder Superphenix nuclear

power station was closed down, the Green environment minister, Dominique

Voynet, failed to prevent production of Mox, halt reprocessing of nuclear

wasteorevenimpose a moratorium on the construction of new nuclear

plants, and she provoked huge grassroots discontent by accepting a govern-

ment decision in favour of underground storage of nuclear waste (Boy 2002 :

68–9).

Another important theme was eco-taxation, where results were also mixed.

An extensive range of eco-taxes was introduced in Germany: in particular,

atax on electricity and fuel was intended to lower energy consumption,

whilst the revenues would be used to stabilise the social security system and

stimulate job creation (see Chapter 12 ). Although unpopular with the public

and the business community, these taxes have contributed to reductions in

energy consumption and, to a lesser extent, in labour costs (Rudig ̈ 2003 :

259–61). The Finnish Green League played its part in achieving a shift in

taxation away from labour and onto energy consumption (Paastela 2002 : 30–

1). However, in France, where Voynet emphasised eco-tax reform, her plans

toreform taxation of water pollution, introduce an energy consumption tax

and raise diesel fuel taxes were either abandoned or drastically diluted in the

face of strong and effective opposition (Szarka 2003 :104–7). More generally,

Green ministers have had little impact on the critical issue of transport

policy: Voynet failed to stop plans to expand airport capacity, whilst German

Greens were unable to prevent a series of new road-building programmes.

Green ministers have had most success where their ambitions have been

more moderate. Voynet and her Italian counterpart, Ronchi, achieved sig-

nificant increases in staff and resources for their environment ministries.

Ronchi greatly improved the effective implementation of EU initiatives and

existing government legislation that had been on the statute books but