The European Green Deal in the age of volatility

This chapter serves as a moment to take stock after five years of the European Green Deal (EGD). What has the EGD achieved and has it held up in our ‘age of volatility’? By discussing three major shocks to the international system – the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s war in Ukraine and the growing discord between the United States and China – this chapter argues that the EGD has fundamentally shaped the EU’s response to crises and challenges associated with an emerging new geopolitical reality. Moreover, the EGD is now increasingly becoming the raison d'être of the Union and shaping its longer-term political and economic project. Despite its remaining flaws, the EGD should be nurtured, as it holds the key to the Union maintaining geopolitical and economic relevance in the decades to come.