‘We want to roll back the Green Deal’ – The far-right Patriots for Europe and climate obstruction at the EU level

Climate change has become one of the most salient political issues in recent EU politics, culminating in the European Green Deal introduced by the European Commission in 2019. Among the main opponents of this policy package are the parties behind the newly formed far-right parliamentary group, Patriots for Europe. This focus aligns with the far right's increasing mobilization against climate action. However, research has also highlighted that a minority of far-right parties in Europe are supportive of specific aspects of climate action, such as the expansion of solar energy. Given the broad scope of the Green Deal, it offers political parties opportunities to strategically focus on specific elements, such as the economy, land restoration, or renewable energy. This article asks: How do far-right parties frame the European Green Deal? What are the similarities and differences in their approaches? What explains their homogeneity or heterogeneity? Studying these questions contributes to three strands of literature: (a) debates on the homogeneity of the far-right party family, (b) Euroscepticism, and (c) far-right climate obstruction. Empirically, the study provides early research on the activities of the new far-right parliamentary group in the European Parliament. Methodologically, the comparative analysis will focus on an examination of party manifestos and speeches in the European Parliament.