Abandon the dogma: The Green Deal makes EU colder, poorer and weak

A few days ago, Greta Thunberg sailed to Gaza with her comrades, only to end up in a taxpayer-funded rescue by the Greek government. Once again, the “how dare you” girl made headlines. And this is a problem, because – her stunts aside – Greta’s core business gospel, the EU’s green agenda, is not a show. It is an obsession leaving Europe colder, poorer, weak and miserable, and Europeans victims to profiteering and policies that history will mock as folly.

Greta’s ideals cost Europe dearly. The EU’s Green Deal, aiming for net-zero by 2050, demands €1 trillion by 2030, according to the European Commission. This is no less than €2,000 per citizen a year, which could go to welfare, healthcare, or pensions. Eurostat’s 2025 data shows that 22 per cent of Europeans – 95 million people – are already at risk of poverty, with real wages down 1.2 per cent since 2022. In Germany, 30 per cent of SMEs risk bankruptcy due to green compliance costs. Subsidising wind turbines and electric cars does not fill empty stomachs. It starves schools and hospitals.

The absurdity of EU green policies is staggering. Take agriculture, for example. The Farm to Fork strategy slashes pesticide use 50 per cent by 2030, ignoring 2024’s 12 per cent drop in EU crop yields. Farmers in the Netherlands, choked by nitrogen caps, saw 20 per cent of livestock farms close since 2022. Food prices? Up 15 per cent in 2025, says Eurostat. Households suffocate. Meanwhile, the EU bans new diesel cars by 2035, forcing reliance on EVs, costing €40,000 on average, and unaffordable for 60 per cent of Europeans, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association.

Industry suffers under the green regime. The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) taxes imports to “level” emissions, driving costs for steel up 25 per cent and cement up 30 per cent. Manufacturers flee to China, where coal plants smoke freely, as global CO2 output rises. As a result, EU industrial output has so far fallen 4.8 per cent in 2025, with 50,000 jobs lost in Germany alone. The green dogma closes down factories while preaching salvation.

Energy costs, spiked by Ukraine’s war and Russian sanctions, make the whole thing lethal. Gas prices hit €120/MWh in 2025, triple pre-war levels. Having rejected Russia’s pipeline gas – once €30/MWh – Europe now buys US LNG at €100/MWh, per Bloomberg. Households face 20 per cent higher bills. Fifteen million Europeans cannot heat their homes, per Eurofound. Renewables? Wind and solar cover 22 per cent of EU energy, but battery storage lags, causing blackouts in Germany’s 2024 winter.

The transport sector is another casualty. The EU’s Fit for 55 package orders 55 per cent emission cuts by 2030, pushing airlines to “sustainable” fuels costing three times more, per IATA. Ticket prices soar. Ryanair fares went up 18 per cent in 2025. Shipping faces EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) taxes, raising freight costs by 10 per cent, thus inflating prices of almost any kind of goods, from milk to microchips. Consumers pay, while Brussels boasts “climate leadership” on a warming planet.

We are pouring trillions into a black hole that turns our sacrifices into profits for particular businesses. The waste of funds is outrageous. The Green Deal’s €680 billion spent by 2025 could have fixed crumbling hospitals, schools, or infrastructure, not chased windmills. Instead, 40 per cent of EU youth face unemployment risks, as green jobs, promised at two million, deliver no more than 200,000 positions.

Brussels’ green fixation, Greta’s siren song, lures Europe to its downfall. China, pumping 32 per cent of global CO2, laughs as its coal plants multiply, while our industries choke. And as the EU’s commitment to war spikes energy costs, elites mock the sacrifices of Europe’s workers, farmers, families and youth. Abandon this dogma, Brussels, or we shall pass down to our children poverty and chaos in a dystopian old continent.