Authored by Alberto Alemanno, this paper argues that European Green parties are facing not just an electoral setback but a deeper crisis of identity and purpose. While Greens have achieved significant political success over the past two decades, including helping shape the European Green Deal and entering government in several EU countries, they have struggled to adapt to a rapidly changing political environment.
The author highlights that Europe today faces interconnected challenges including geopolitical instability, energy dependence, technological domination by large corporations, democratic backsliding, climate impacts, and demographic decline. These issues create new opportunities for Green politics, but Greens have failed to explain how their values and policies address people’s everyday concerns.
At the heart of the problem is what the paper calls a “translation problem.” Greens have strong policy proposals but have been unable to turn them into a simple, compelling political story that connects with citizens. As a result, voters often perceive Green politics as technical, urban, and disconnected from issues such as security, affordability, health, jobs, and family life.
The paper identifies several reasons for this decline. Greens have lost some of their ideological distinctiveness, becoming harder to distinguish from mainstream centre-left parties. While in government, they focused on policy delivery rather than political persuasion, struggled to respond to attacks on climate and energy policies, and became increasingly detached from working-class and rural voters. The Green Deal itself became associated with regulation rather than a broader vision of prosperity, freedom, and security.
Looking ahead, the author argues that Greens must answer four key questions: how environmental protection, health, and sovereignty are connected; how they position themselves on security and defence in an increasingly unstable world; what an ecological economy should look like; and how they define political responsibility toward future generations and the natural world.
The paper’s central recommendation is that Greens need a new unifying political narrative or “organising concept” that ties together climate action, health, democracy, economic wellbeing, and European integration. Concepts such as freedom, security, independence, or affordability are suggested as possible frameworks. Whatever the choice, it should provide a clear political identity and guide strategic decisions.
Ultimately, the paper argues that the future of Green politics depends on moving beyond environmental policy alone and presenting a broader vision of European renewal. The Greens should position themselves as the political force that can deliver a more sovereign, democratic, healthy, and resilient Europe. Their challenge is not to invent new ideas, but to communicate their existing ideas in a way that people can understand, support, and rally behind.
Read the reflectation paper by Alberto Alemanno here.
