EU climate chief Frans Timmermans quits to run in Dutch elections

Departure of Green Deal’s ‘visionary mastermind’ was anticipated after collapse of the Netherlands’ coalition

Frans Timmermans, the mastermind of the EU’s environment policies, is to quit the European Commission to return to national politics in the Netherlands.

The departure of the veteran Dutch politician was widely anticipated after the collapse of prime minister Mark Rutte’s coalition government in a row over migration.