Stress testing the European Green Deal: the ‘securitisation’ of energy, food and climate

The implementation of the Green Deal, the ongoing pandemic and the war in the Ukraine all represent interrelated “stress tests” of the European Union and its processes. This short piece discusses a particular policy narrative that has come to the fore in relation to these three interlinked stress tests: the perceived clash between, and therefore inevitable prioritization of, security interests over environmental goals. Most notably, when framed as matters – national and/or European – ‘security’, policy objectives, such as energy or food supply (Ukraine) and/or the viability of the healthcare system (pandemic), are seen as legitimately overriding, or even voiding, environmental or climate objectives. We show the need to recognize climate change as an equally important matter of national security, as well as the importance of having a more democratic and inclusive approach to imposing the appropriate measures to tackle such threats.