In particular, he pushed both parties to support the Commission’s recommendation for a 90 percent reduction in planet-warming emissions and persuaded a reluctant SPD to consent to the use of international carbon credits — a controversial mechanism that would allow the EU to meet part of its 2040 target by paying for climate projects in poorer countries.
Hoekstra was successful: The final coalition agreement, published in early April, endorsed the 90 percent figure provided that foreign carbon credits were included. The support has proved crucial. Germany’s position now serves as the baseline for EU-level discussions, two of the sources said.
“These talks took place, and they had a big influence,” Peter Liese, the EPP’s lead lawmaker on environmental issues in the European Parliament, told POLITICO.
“I worked with Wopke Hoekstra to address the SPD’s concerns about international carbon credits, because I knew he was already thinking along those lines — and he had to think along those lines because otherwise there won’t be sufficient support for the 2040 target,” Liese added.
The 2040 target is meant to serve as the stepping stone between the EU’s existing 2030 target — which binds EU countries to reduce their collective emissions 55 percent below 1990 levels — and the net-zero goal in 2050.
The Commission was set to present its formal proposal for a 90 percent cut — which both Hoekstra and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised to back — by the end of March. But the EU executive postponed publication when it became clear the headline figure lacked majority support among EU governments. It’s now expected in early July.
