Freedom to Live Better: Building a Green and Social Europe

A warm home in a safe community. A diverse society where everyone’s rights are respected. A strong EU united for international law and global coalitions on climate, health and nature.

A leader in the green transition – pursuing ambitious targets in line with the Paris Agreement. A society that proves that social justice, green transition and competitiveness can go hand in hand. A caring society that finds solutions to everyday problems.

This is where the EU can and should be going.    

A warm home in a safe community. A diverse society where everyone’s rights are respected. A strong EU united for international law and global coalitions on climate, health and nature.

A leader in the green transition – pursuing ambitious targets in line with the Paris Agreement. A society that proves that social justice, green transition and competitiveness can go hand in hand. A caring society that finds solutions to everyday problems. This is where the EU can and should be going. 

Yet when people wake up, they see a world out of control. One day, President Trump imposes tariffs on long-standing allies. The next, wildfires rip through homes, while disinformation – one of the most serious threats to European democracy, social trust and security – spreads rapidly and poisons politics. 

This stream of crises is not random. It is the most serious ideological challenge the EU has faced. The MAGA White House, Europe’s far-right radicals, an ever more aggressive China, and Putin’s blood-soaked regime share an agenda: to undermine everything the European project stands for.

The EU is a political community built on human dignity, freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human rights. Globally, it stands up to the Big Tech and fossil fuel lobbies.

Today, however, authoritarian forces are increasing their influence on the political forces leading the EU: 

• The European People’s Party (EPP) has shown itself willing to work with the far right to undermine climate protection, social rights, justice, rule of law and democratic principles. 

• The European Commission must defend green and social progress against short-sighted deregulation, that would leave much of society and the business community behind. Key elements of the European Green Deal are under attack and the EU has caved into direct pressure from the US.  

• Backsliding has global consequences: the EU lacked the ambition to push forward a transformative global climate agreement at COP 30 in Belém. 

• This dangerous game led to an unprecedented low point. With the vote on weakening the corporate sustainability due diligence legislation, the EPP inexcusably broke the cordon sanitaire, counting on a majority with the extreme right to pressure and blackmail the pro-European, democratic groups into following the EPP line instead of negotiating a compromise. This calculated decision marks a dangerous turning point bringing chaos and instability at a time when the EU needs to act in unity.

We face a critical choice. Pursue the far-right’s destructive, anti-European agenda or fight for a free Europe.

We need a Europe united to protect itself against military and hybrid threats and act for peace with civil means. This includes strong cooperation with like-minded allies and building European preparedness combining both conventional and civilian approaches. Ending Russia’s aggression is essential for ensuring a peaceful, democratic, and green Europe in the long term.

We stand in full solidarity with Ukraine, which must be able to defend itself and negotiate from a position of strength. There must be nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine and we demand a peace based on sovereignty, self-determination, and territorial integrity.

What does a free Europe mean? For us it means, a Europe that focuses on real and fair solutions to shared problems. A Europe that invests together in a competitive green and social economy. We are strongest when we stand in solidarity.

It means freedom from expensive imported and unsustainable energy and unaffordable rents. It means freedom from distorted elections and hybrid threats. Most importantly, it means the freedom to live in a community where everyone looks out for each other. 

The Time Is Now 

This is why we are fighting for the next step in European integration. The time for excuses and half-measures is over. Europe cannot wait.

We call on all pro-European forces to work together and take responsibility. We need investment to reduce the cost of living and protect our climate. We need to safeguard shrinking democratic space and act with unity in an insecure world.

We need to make the European Green Deal the basis for our future shared prosperity, not roll back our environmental and social commitments.

We are committed to keeping our European industry in Europe and supporting it through the green transition. We also call for reinforcing the Buy European approach to increase our strategic autonomy and secure shorter, more sustainable supply chains. Our divisions, the fragmentation of our Single Market, and the lack of coherent industrial policies and investment strategies, are causing our businesses to fall behind in the race for future sustainable industries.

We need massive investment in the just transition: that means an ambitious next EU budget, joint borrowing, and reformed fiscal rules.

We need a reformed EU that takes democratic decisions without being held back by national vetoes.

 As European Greens, we are calling for a green and social Europe to: 

• Lead climate action by reaching climate neutrality by 2040

• Build a fully circular economy: the clean tech revolution can re-industrialize Europe, create well-paying jobs and drive innovation

• Ensure clean air, food and water free from toxic pollutants

• Accelerate efforts to restore and protect biodiversity, ecosystems and nature, in line with the EU Biodiversity Strategy and the Montreal/Kunming protocol, because healthy nature is essential for human wellbeing and climate resilience

• Implement stronger protection for European industry against imports manufactured without comparable environmental, social or labour standards, including from the United States and China

• Develop a common Buy European approach to ensure sustainable production and protect labour standards, fair competition and long-term economic resilience of our economy

• Provide access to quality public goods: from renewable energy to affordable and sustainable housing

• Ensure decent employment, fair wages and workers’ rights and make the ultra-rich, multinationals and polluters pay their fair share

• Invest in resilience to protect people, nature and infrastructure from extreme weather

• Continue to deepen the Single Market so that European businesses can unleash their potential for innovative, green products, whilst protecting social rights

• Implement economic and fiscal tools to encourage investment over the issuance of dividends

• Develop coherent green industrial policies and sustainable investment strategies

We are calling for a democratic Europe that: 

• Upholds the protections against disinformation and manipulation that civil society fought for by enforcing European law

• Invests in education, free and independent media, and European digital infrastructure

• Strives for a meaningful and representative inclusion of young people, ethnic minorities, racialized people, women and other under-represented groups in policy-making

• Stands in solidarity with protest movements and NGOs and protects civic space and the right to freedom of speech, assembly and expression

• Ensures transparent, honest and corruption-free governance, with strict limits on hidden lobbying and full accountability in political decision-making

• Counters the global anti-rights campaign that is engulfing our societies with deliberate and coordinated assaults on LGBTQIA+ rights, women’s reproductive rights and democratic values

• Offer accession countries a future as they stand up against authoritarianism

We are calling for a global Europe that: 

• Recognizes the right to self-determination of Palestinians and Israelis, works towards a just political solution for a lasting peace, including the immediate recognition of the State of Palestine, as an important step towards the two-state solution, advocates for the dismantling of all oppressive systems of apartheid and illegal occupation, as stated in the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice

• Accounts for war crimes and the genocide against the Palestinian people*

• Continues to stand in solidarity with Ukraine against Russia’s illegal war of aggression

• Supports Ukraine’s struggle as a defence of freedom, peace and European security and its future within the EU

• Insists that Ukraine and Europe are fully represented in all negotiations on ending the war

• Helps Ukraine in documenting and prosecuting the full scale of Russia’s crimes, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, the abduction and forced transfer of Ukrainian children, and the deliberate destruction of nature amounting to ecocide

• Insists that Russia pays for the damage it has caused, including through the use of frozen Russian assets, in line with international law

• Continues to stand in solidarity with Sudanese civilians, refugees and civil society, supports all humanitarian aid programmes and diplomatic efforts, and condemns the United Arab Emirates’ support for the Rapid Support Forces

• Continues to stand in solidarity with civilians living in North Kivu and South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo threatened by M23 armed group and supports all humanitarian aid programmes and diplomatic efforts

• Deepens security and resilience cooperation on capabilities, synergies and enhanced crisis preparedness, grounded in a human security approach, recognizing that effective defence and deterrence as well as diplomacy and peacebuilding are environmentally responsible in the long term, as they prevent the devastating ecological and climate impacts of war

• Defends a migration policy based on fundamental rights and solidarity so European countries remain havens for those fleeing war and persecution

• Reinforces international law and strengthens institutions such as the International Criminal Court, the United Nations, the Council of Europe and EU human rights instruments as guarantees of democracy and security

• Promotes multilateralism, green industry, fair transition and environmental stewardship, particularly in cooperation with actors in Africa, Asia and Latin America, while preventing exploitation and resource plundering

We are ready to create this momentum. This is the free green Europe we are fighting for. 

*  Bündnis90/Die Grünen, Die Grünen - Die Grüne Alternative and Grüne / Les Vert.e.s recognize that an increasing number of international law experts come to the conclusion that the Israeli government's military action in Gaza accounts for serious war crimes and genocide against the Palestinian people but hold the stance that a judgement about genocide has to be made by the International Court of Justice.