An iron curtain in environmental policy

In France, the environmentalist Nicolas Hulot has been able to convince politicians of the need to appoint a "super minister" who watches over the effects of policies on the environment. Hungarian sociologist Gábor Erőss observes with envy the 'ecological pact' which has been signed, among others, by Nicolas Sarkozy. "As far as environmental policy is concerned there is still an iron curtain in Europe, although all Europeans are directly affected by climate change. One exception is the Czech Republic, where the Greens are part of the governing coalition... The Hungarian government will soon realise that in the 2010 elections voters who won't be satisfied with a month's extra pension and modernisation for the sake of modernisation and an infrastructure of steel and cement will be a factor for the first time. These new, self-assured voters are city dwellers: intellectuals, pensioners who stand around in queues for overcrowded buses and students who want to ride bikes safely."

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