“Many companies ask mainly for stability. So even changing rules day after day and giving the impression that nothing is sure because you can change it is problematic,” he said.
Until he beat the only challenger, far-right MEP Roman Haider, by a large margin to become chair last month, Maran was not even a member of the Environment Committee.
Still, he can claim some experience in green policymaking, having worked on environmental issues as a city councillor and recently serving as the internal market committee’s lead lawmaker on recycling rules for cars.
His work on the car recycling file, he says, has left him “optimistic” that majorities can be built to support ambitious green policies even in this more right-wing European Parliament.
“I think there is a space, after people loudly talk about their ideological positions, to find an agreement among persons of common sense,” he said.
As chair, he represents all MEPs on the committee, and insists he’s not shutting out the far right. “If they want to be open to cooperation for good results, of course, the door is open.”
But he has no patience for politicians who deny or downplay climate change. “It’s normal we have different positions on how to face this problem, but whoever says it doesn’t exist is outside of reality.”
