The European Greens will field a duo of top candidates (Spitzenkandidaten) for the next presidency of the European Commission. The Green family also grew by four new member parties: two Portuguese, one Slovenian and one Hungarian. Both decisions were taken on Saturday by more than 120 delegates from all 44 European Greens member parties, reunited in Vienna, Austria, for their 37th Congress. The Greens strongly condemned the alliance of conservative, liberal, and far-right political forces attacking European nature and climate legislation.
Mélanie Vogel and Thomas Waitz, Co-Chairs of the European Green Party, said:
“We are very happy with the huge majority of delegates who voted to put forward a duo of top candidates (Spitzenkandidaten) for the 2024 EU elections. In line with our feminist values, one of them at least should be a woman. For us Greens, transparency on the leading candidates is crucial to give citizens the democratic choice they deserve in the EU elections. As a citizen, you have the right to know who will be put in power as the next President of the European Commission with your vote. Backdoor horse-trading between the member states in the European Council for the EU’s top job can no longer be tolerated.”
The duo of Green top candidates will be elected at the Electoral Congress of 2 – 4 February 2024 in Lyon, France.
The Green family grows in the east and south of Europe
The Green family is growing in the east and south of the European Union. This started already in last year's Councils in Riga and Copenhagen. Today in Vienna, 4 political parties have become new members of the European Green Party at the Congress: The Slovenian party VESNA - zelena stranka, the Portuguese parties PAN and LIVRE and the Hungarian party Párbeszéd - A Zöldek Pártja.
“The social and climate urgencies affect every European citizen. Across Europe, people are rising to fight climate change and to protect democratic freedoms. Our continuous fight for climate and social justice attracts new parties. No less than 4 new parties from eastern and southern Europe are joining the Green family in the run-up to the 2024 European elections” said co-chairs Mélanie Vogel and Thomas Waitz.
Attacks on climate and nature policies
The EU Green Deal was born after the Green Wave in the 2019 EU elections, where the European Greens achieved a historic result following a campaign focused on climate protection and social justice. The Green Deal is crucial to fighting climate change, creating jobs through a just transition, and ensuring Europe's independence from Russian energy.
“In recent weeks, we have seen members of the European People’s Party (EPP) and Renew Europe join forces with the far-right in a backlash against nature at EU-level and across Europe. They peddle false far-right narratives and attack the Nature Protection Law, the EU Green Deal, and climate policies. We will protect these policies. It is time to focus on implementing them and phasing out fossil fuels now. So that our children and grandchildren can grow up in a Europe that is fair, just, and green", Mélanie Vogel and Thomas Waitz conclude.