10 Nov 2019

The European Green Party elects new leadership and executive committee

PRESS RELEASE

Brussels

10 November 2019

Evelyne Huytebroeck and Thomas Waitz have been elected as the new European Green Party co-chairs following a vote by delegates gathered in Tampere, Finland for our bi-annual Council meeting. They take over from Monica Frassoni and Reinhard Bütikofer who reach the end of their term.

An executive Committee from across Europe’s geographical regions has also been elected and will take office with immediate effect. They sit alongside the co-chairs and include Secretary General Mar Garcia, Treasurer Ute Michel and Committee members, Michal Berg, Jean Lambert, Vula Tsetsi, Oras Tynkkynen and Mélanie Vogel.

Speaking after their elections the co-chair Evelyne Huytebroeck said:

“My sincere gratitude goes out to the delegates who elected me today as the co-chair of the European Green Party alongside Thomas Waitz at this critical time in our history.

“It is essential that we come together as Green parties across Europe to tackle climate destruction and biodiversity loss and build on our recent Green Wave successes. I will continue to work together with Thomas and Green parties everywhere to strengthen our ties to civil society and support all those pushing for a real transformation of society that is both just and Green.

“I have been engaged in Green politics in Belgium since the early 1980s at various levels, including as a government minister. My aim will be to build on this experience to support our elected officials and activists across Europe.”

European Green Party co-chair Thomas Waitz said:

“It is a huge honour for me to take on the role of co-chair of the European Green Party alongside Evelyne Huytebroeck and I’m sincerely grateful for the support I received. Both Evelyne and myself come from countries - Austria and Belgium - where the Green Wave has moved the general political discourse toward climate friendly, sustainable and socially just solutions.

“In the months ahead, we will work together with civil society and beyond ideological concerns so that we can help deliver concrete policies across Europe that secure proper living conditions for the next generation. We need to readjust our economy and way-of-life so that we can create a future that does not depend on the exploitation of people, our resources and nature.

“Through Europe-wide campaigning, we will strengthen the prospects of Green ideas and parties everywhere, especially in southern and eastern Europe. The daily needs and concerns of European citizens will always be our number one priority so that we can reach a critical mass of changemakers to turn the ship around towards a green future.”

EGP co-chair Evelyne Huytebroeck profile: Ms. Huytebroeck, from Belgium, is a local councillor in the Forest municipality of Brussels and European Green Party committee member in charge of ‘green and sustainable cities’ and ‘local and regional councillors’. She has a background in journalism and served as co-chair of Belgium Green Party Ecolo between 2002-2004, a Member of Parliament for the Brussels regional assembly between 2014-2019 and was Minister for Energy, Environment and Social Affairs for a decade between 2004-2014, also in the Brussels’ regional assembly.

EGP co-chair Thomas Waitz profile: Mr. Waitz is an organic mountain farmer, forester and beekeeper based in the Stajersca region in southern Austria on the border with Slovenia. He has engaged in Green politics from local to European level and recently completed his mandate as an MEP for the Austrian Green Party Die Grünen. He also holds a so-called ‘Brexit seat’ for the current mandate which means he would return to the European Parliament as an MEP if the UK leaves the European Union. He specializes in a range of ecological topics, including food safety, regional and organic farming, animal welfare, fair trade and environmental protection.