green primary

At 11h00 CET tomorrow, we will announce our two leading candidates for the upcoming Green European election campaign. This duo will head our campaign across the EU, and present our vision for Europe's future. Europe needs Green change, and the change we will bring is a more sustainable, fairer and democratic EU.

The four contenders in the Green Primary will be taking part in two separate debates this week, in Rome and Paris. The Rome debate, hosted by Green Italia – Verdi will take place on Monday 20 January. The Paris debate, hosted by Europe Écologie - Les Verts will take place the next day, on Tuesday 21 January.

As populist parties push an anti-immigration, anti-European, eurosceptic message, along with driving the reemergence of nationalism across Europe, these Green Primary debates are a vital opportunity to show that the Greens reject this philosophy and have a better, more coherent and inclusive vision for Europe's future. Europe isn't just a group of separate nations - We Are Europe.

On Wednesday 15 January, we held our third live chat with one of our Green Primary contenders. This time Monica Frassoni was the person behind the keyboard, answering questions from all four corners of Europe: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Monica's home country of Italy, Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain. Both the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom were well represented, reflecting the debates that we'll be holding there on Friday 17 January (Prague) and Saturday 18 January (London) – you can find out more about those debates here.

The four contenders in the Green Primary will be taking part in two separate debates this week, in Prague and London. The Prague debate, hosted by the Czech Green party Strana zelených will take place on Friday 17 January. The London debate, hosted by the Green Party of England and Wales, will take place the next day, on Saturday 18 January.

The four Green Primary contenders are debating across Europe, to make sure people make an informed decision when they vote. The 5th debate took place in Berlin on January 10 was the 5th, with five more primary debates to go until the eventual winners emerge as the Green Leading Candidates.

At the Green Primary debate in Madrid on Wednesday December 18, Jose Bove, Monica Frassoni, Rebecca Harms and Ska Keller launched a pleas for more solidarity in Europe, and an end to austerity that has had a devastating effect on countries in Southern Europe.

The European Green Party and EQUO, the Spanish Green party, are holding the first debate with Green Primary Contenders in Southern Europe.

When: Wednesday, 18 December (12h00 CET)
Where: Madrid, Spain (Círculo de Bellas Artes, Alcalá 42, 28014 Madrid – Map)

You can follow a live stream of the debate on greenprimary.europeangreens.eu

The French Green party, EELV, have selected their electoral lists for the European Elections next year. The eight regional lists are headed by a strong group of candidates.

José Bové took part in the second of the Green Primary live chats on 10 December, to answer questions and explain to voters why he should be one of the two Green Leading Candidates in next year's European Elections.

Groen, the Flemish-speaking Green party in Belgium, held their electoral congress on December 7, and elected the candidates that will lead them in next year's European Elections. The party have elected sitting MEP Bart Staes as first on the list, followed by Dirk Holemans.