In the eye of the storm? The European Parliament, the environment and the EU’s crises

The European Parliament (EP) has a long-established reputation as an ‘environmental champion’. Yet environmental policy has potentially been profoundly and negatively affected by the conglomerate of crises that has beset the European Union since the late 2000s. There has been a swing to the right within the Parliament in recent elections, and the entry of a range environmentally-sceptic states to the EU, which may have led to weakening policy ambition. This article uses a mix of quantitative and qualitative data to analyse whether there has been a shift in the EP’s treatment of legislation, such that it has tried to weaken the policy ambition of proposals since the late 2000s. The analysis finds limited evidence of a general trend to deliberately water down legislation, and overall suggests that despite a less favourable policy context the EP still can and does exercise a positive influence over EU environmental policy.