PARIS — Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Teresa Ribera has landed a major cross-party endorsement in her quest to be named EU green chief.
Pascal Canfin, a member of European Parliament from the centrist Renaissance party of French President Emmanuel Macron, told POLITICO that if Ribera were to be put in charge of the EU’s Green Deal under the next European Commission: “I would find it very, very good.”
Canfin, a close ally of Macron, chaired the European Parliament’s powerful environment committee during the past five years. The nod from a French centrist is a win for Ribera, who is leading the Spanish Socialists’ campaign for June’s EU election.
Ribera is actively seeking a prime job in the next Commission, the EU’s executive, running a super department of climate, energy and environment. She has been deeply critical of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who she said has made concessions to the right on green policy.