Generating 100 percent of energy from renewables by 2050, improving drinking water infrastructure, guaranteeing a “green” job to every adult . . . the radical policies of the Green New Deal have already become talking points across the US political spectrum. Polls tell us that the measures proposed by democratic-socialist congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the grassroots Sunrise Movement already enjoy the backing of 81 percent of registered voters. Now the enthusiasm for this ambitious project is spreading to the Left across the Atlantic.

However, with elections for the European Union’s Brussels parliament slated for May 23-26, the call for a Green New Deal is not yet part of mainstream debate in the old continent. Indeed, despite the process of economic integration, European politics largely remain divided up along national lines — even when it comes to dealing with civilizational challenges like climate catastrophe.

If in Germany and the Scandinavian countries ecologist parties are well-established, this is far from true everywhere. In Spain, before the 2008 crisis, mainstream politicians were too busy promoting property speculation to worry about the environment. Then the Great Recession became the top priority, much as in Greece and Italy. In France, less hard-hit by the crisis, the center-left Europe Ecologie-Les Verts (EELV) backed François Hollande’s government in 2012-17, but achieved little notable progress. More widely, the European Union’s crisis in the face of rising nationalisms and Brexit casts doubt on its ability to take decisive action on the climate.