The born-again environmentalist

There is no doubt the EU has become greener. Fears over the reliability of energy imports from politically sensitive areas and a series of high-profile reports on climate change have pushed environmental issues up the agenda of every diplomat and politician in Europe today.

Even next week’s European Council (8-9 March) will be remembered for the targets EU leaders agree to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the use of renewable power.

Political commentators have marvelled at a change in emphasis by the European Commission which, just two years ago, was determined to make economic competitiveness the focus of its five-year mandate.

One topic to receive less attention is the almost simultaneous greening of Europe’s Environment Commissioner, Stavros Dimas.

EU environmentalists groaned when a Greek lawyer was chosen to replace Swedish Socialist Margot Wallström as environment commissioner in 2004. His time spent as industry minister, and no proof of interest in the environment before he took on the Commission job, not to mention the impressive number of environmental infringements stacked up by Greece, left green lobby groups in no doubt that Dimas was bad news for their sector.

It now seems clear that they were wrong, although the evidence took a while to emerge.

The first sign that Dimas would be tougher than expected came when second round national allocation plans (NAPs) for carbon dioxide (CO2) emission trading were due in Brussels, last summer. Even environmentally friendly Wallström was criticised for allowing member states to be over-generous with emission allowances handed out to industry for the first trading period (2005-07). Dimas made it clear he would not make the same mistake for trading in 2008-12.

"I’ve said repeatedly that the Commission will be tough…in our evaluation of the NAPs," Dimas warned ministers last October, as the first allocation plans arrived for Commission approval. He was true to his word. Of the 14 countries which have so far submitted NAPs, only two (Slovenia and the UK) won approval for their requested emission allowances.

He has also taken on some of Europe’s most powerful industry interests in the name of environmentalism. The first ever proposals for binding targets for CO2 emission reduction for the fuel and automotive sectors have, in recent weeks, emerged from the Commission environment department, in the face of stiff opposition.

It could be argued that Dimas has just been in the right place at the right time and that none of his proposals would have seen the light of day without a major shift in political priorities across Europe. But he has proved he can play the political game, reportedly scaling down car CO2 targets in return for the bigger prize of a more climate-friendly German NAP.

His friends also say that, unlike some of his colleagues, Dimas cannot be accused of jumping on the green bandwagon for easy political glory. They admit environmentalists were right to think Dimas knew little about green policies in 2004, but add that he lost no time making up the deficiency and soon convinced himself that environmentalism matters.

His priorities therefore have all the ardour of newfound convictions. Colleagues were saying Dimas had chosen climate change as the top priority for his time in Brussels and the most serious threat to the future of Europe, long before a report from UK economist Nicholas Stern had every politician worrying about the cost of unchecked global warming.

And his choice of priorities seems to owe more to personal feelings than to calculating what will grab EU headlines. Dimas has made no secret of his support for a ban on the import of wild birds, even though the decision was in the end taken by the Commission’s health department. A similar push to ban imports of seal products to the EU is expected soon.

Like every new believer, Dimas could at times be accused of a lack of discrimination, with his absolute faith in the Stern report bordering on the naive. His speaking skills are also not yet on a par with those of the media-friendly Wallström, but they are far from the worst in the Commission.

"Dimas has really grown into his job," said one seasoned Brussels environmental campaigner. "You can tell now he knows what he’s doing."

There is no doubt the EU has become greener. Fears over the reliability of energy imports from politically sensitive areas and a series of high-profile reports on climate change have pushed environmental issues up the agenda of every diplomat and politician in Europe today.