German Greens' leader in parliament says Macron set bad policy example

The parliamentary group leader of the German Greens, Anton Hofreiter, has criticised French President Emmanuel Macron's policy approach of environmental protection measures that would burden people with low incomes disproportionally. Macron had “antagonised many people by not holding companies accountable while costs are set to rise for the vast majority, for example by increasing the eco tax”, Hofreiter said in an interview with Handelsblatt. “Macron has set an example for how not to handle this issue,” he said, adding that an “ecologic transformation” could only succeed if social considerations are taken into account.
Protest by the so-called yellow vests (“gilets jaunes”) in France, initiated by higher petrol prices, have put the social dimension of environmental policies in the spotlight. In light of the upheaval in neighbouring France, a commission proposal to cut Germany’s transport emissions by increasing petrol prices had been rejected by the country’s transport ministry.