* EU Greens hope to attract voters angry with main parties * Economic, domestic worries seen limiting Green success By Peter Griffiths LONDON, June 3 (Reuters) - The rise of climate change up the political agenda and widespread anger with mainstream parties will give Green parties a boost in European elections this week, although a spectacular breakthrough is unlikely. Green leaders hope to benefit from anger across Europe over the worst economic crisis since the 1930s, a factor they say will push voters towards fringe parties. They also see a boost from the environment's high profile, in part due to greater engagement from China and the United States, where President Barack Obama has pledged to do more to save a "planet in peril". However, the Greens' dream of winning more seats in Europe could be threatened by economic fears, voter apathy and a focus on domestic issues rather than the environment, analysts said. "The perception of the Greens, which I don't think is necessarily fair, is that they have an environmental standpoint but don't have a serious economic platform," said Andrew Russell, senior politics lecturer at Manchester University. Undaunted, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, a leader of the 1968 uprising in France who now leads a Green party in France, has campaigned on the economy. He has promised a "Green New Deal" that will make the system fairer and more environmentally-friendly. One opinion poll suggests the Green party list he heads in Paris might win as much as 15 percent of the vote, putting it in third place, well above its score in national ballots. More than 375 million people are eligible to take part in four days of voting across 27 countries. Greens have 43 seats in the 736-member chamber, dominated by Centrists. [nL211683] DOMESTIC ISSUES DOMINATE Climate change and the environment have taken a back seat to domestic concerns during much of the campaigning in Europe. In Britain, a scandal over expenses claims by lawmakers has "completely washed out" the EU elections, according to John Curtice, professor of politics at Strathclyde University. Caroline Lucas, Green Party leader in England and Wales, says it is hard to get her economic reform message across. "Although I completely understand the anger ... it is pushing other things off the agenda," she told Reuters. A poll on Tuesday put her party on 8 percent, two points up from 2004. In Germany, traditionally a "Green" stronghold in Europe, polls suggest the Greens will take about 12 percent of the European vote, similar to their 2004 result. Germany's main parties are using the European election as a dry run for a federal election in September and domestic issues surrounding the financial crisis have dominated. In a sign that Green parties across Europe face increasing competition from rival fringe parties, Austrian voters deserting the big parties are expected to vote for the far-right, polls say. Euroscepticism and concern over how the European institutions spend taxpayers' money are bigger issues than the environment in the Netherlands, while in countries such as Spain, Portugal and Slovenia, support for the Greens is minimal. (Additional reporting by Reuters bureaux in Europe)
An aerial view of a patch of deforested jungle close to Bacabal, in the northeastern state of Maranhao, in this May 13, 2009 file photo. While drier weather and deforestation combine ...
