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The Maturing of Europe's Greens

Jamie Dettmer

   Europe's Green political parties appear to be coming of age. This
   month, Austria's Greens joined the governing coalition in Vienna, led
   by the right-wing conservative People's Party, a coupling that would
   have been unthinkable a few years ago.

   Germany's Greens are becoming more confident and say no future ruling
   coalition will likely be formed in Berlin without their participation.
   They are watching closely what happens to their Austrian counterparts
   in government, believing they, too, are more likely to enter government
   with the center-right rather than the center-left after federal
   elections due in Germany in a year's time.

   The German newspaperBildeditorialized recently that Austria's
   conservative-green coalition could serve as an "example for Germany, an
   example for the whole of Europe."

   Fringe players

   Until recently the Greens were seen as insignificant, impractical
   fringe players, but as climate change and environmentalism are
   increasingly taking center stage in Europe, with voters placing climate
   action high on their list of political priorities, that's starting to
   change.

   In May 2019, Green parties enjoyed a surge of support in continentwide
   elections for the European Parliament, especially among young urban
   voters. The continent's conservative populists fell short of their
   hopes for major gains, mainly because of growing support across the
   continent for the Greens as well as for smaller pro-EU liberal parties,
   most of which also advocated strong climate action.

   In Germany, the Greens made major gains at the expense of the country's
   left-wing Social Democrats, making a historic breakthrough with more
   than 20 percent of the vote. Since then, they have consistently
   outpolled the Social Democrats in opinion surveys, coming just behind
   Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats.

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