Is far-right ecologism going mainstream? A comparison of right-wing groups in the European Parliament

This paper investigates the so-called ‘far-right mainstreaming’ thesis in environmental politics, implying that the far-right discourse has permeated mainstream right-wing politics and that the line between far-right and centre-right ideology has become increasingly blurred due to the influence of far-right talking points. To this end, we identify ideological similarities and differences in environmental arguments across the right-wing spectrum by analysing the voting records and parliamentary speeches of three major right-wing party groups in the European Parliament: the European People’s Party (EPP), the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), and various far-right party groups, across EP terms since 2009. The findings reveal some mainstreaming of the far right in the ECR positioning since the mid-2010s and especially in the post-pandemic era. However, the shared environmental positions of the different right-wing groups, such as pro-people protectionism, subsidiarity, and balancing competitiveness with environmental policies are overshadowed by more significant ideational and contextual differences.