The Class of 2009: Green Visions for Europe

In the 2009 elections, the Greens emerged, unexpectedly, as winners. Even though there are still no Green members from central and eastern Europe and southern Europe is clearly under-represented, the EGP member parties won 46 seats, their best ever result. The new Green Group is driven by a strong French-German motor and by the enthusiasm of many new, young parliamentarians. They will need perseverance, wisdom, imagination and a sense of reality to master the many difficult challenges ahead: climate change; the financial and economic crises; the expansion of the EU’s enlargement process; the further democratisation of the European institutions; a humane migration policy; the protection of civil rights and the role of the EU as an actor in foreign and security policy. But, the new group can start with a clean slate: the tug-of-war over the Lisbon treaty is finally over; new windows of opportunity have opened. In this spirit the European Union office of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung has invited eleven new Green Members of the European Parliament from five different countries to write about their ambitions for Europe.