Groen (political party)

Green Groen
President	Bart Dhondt
Founded	1979;46 years ago (1979)
Headquarters	Van Orleystraat 5-11, 1000 Brussel, Belgium
Youth wing	Young Green
Membership (2018)	10,000 [1]
Ideology	Green politics [2] Pacifism Progressivism
Political position	Centre-left
Regional affiliation	Socialists, Greens and Democrats [3]
European affiliation	European Green Party
European Parliament group	The Greens–European Free Alliance
International affiliation	Global Greens
Francophone counterpart	Ecolo
Colours	Teal
Chamber of Representatives	6 / 87 (Flemish seats)
Senate	4 / 35 (Flemish seats)
Flemish Parliament	14 / 124
Brussels Parliament	4 / 17 (Flemish seats)
European Parliament	1 / 12 (Flemish seats)
Flemish Provincial Councils	21 / 175
Mayors	1 / 300
Website
www.groen.be
Politics of Belgium Political parties Elections

Groen ( [ɣrun] ^ⓘ ; lit. 'Green'), founded as Agalev, is a green ^{[2] [4]} Flemish political party in Belgium. The main pillars of the party are social justice, human rights, and ecologism. ^[5] Its French-speaking equivalent is Ecolo; the two parties maintain close relations with each other.

History

Agalev

In 1979, the green party was founded by name of "Agalev", an acronym of "Anders Gaan Leven" ("Towards Different Living"). ^[6] During the eighties, the party was known for being against nuclear weapons, and for being pro-Europe. ^{[5] [7]}

In 1992 Agalev was asked to support a constitutional change called the Sint-Michiels agreement, which would make Belgium a federation. This change required a two-third majority, so the majority needed to convince some parties of the opposition to proceed. Both Agalev and Ecolo agreed, in exchange for a tax on bottles, the first ecotax in Belgium. However, after the constitutional change was voted in, the ecotax was cancelled and replaced by a watered-down concept. ^{[8] [9]}

In the elections of 1999, Agalev scored 7% federally and 11% regionally (in Flanders). The Dioxin affair, a scandal surrounding dioxine in for-consumption chickens just before the elections, played an important role in the Greens' performance. ^[10] The Greens joined the first Verhofstadt government as part of the "purple-green" federal coalition from 12 July 1999 until 18 May 2003. Representing Agalev in this federal government, Magda Aelvoet was Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Public Health and the Environment. She tabled legislation on gay marriage, making Belgium the second country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage. ^[11] Within the same legislature, Magda Aelvoet left her position due to her opposition of a Belgian arms delivery to Nepal, and was succeeded by fellow party member Jef Tavernier. ^[12]

Also following the elections of 1999, the party joined the Flemish Government, which was composed of the same parties. Agalev supplied two ministers: Mieke Vogels became responsible for Wellbeing, Health and Equal opportunities, and Vera Dua for Agriculture and Environment.

Renaming to Groen! (2003)

In the federal elections of 2003, Agalev scored less than 5% and lost all their seats (on the federal level). The next day, Jos Geysels resigned as party leader. ^{[13] [14]} The sitting ministers in the Flemish government Mieke Vogels and Vera Dua stepped down, and were replaced by Adelheid Byttebier  [ nl ] and Ludo Sannen  [ nl ] respectively.

Vera Dua got elected as chairperson, and on the same day, the party's name was changed to Groen! (Green!). ^[15] The party got between 5 and 10% of the votes through the elections of the early 00's. They did not participate in a governmental coalition (on any level higher than local).

Groen (2012–present)

In 2012 the party decided to drop de exclamation mark of their name.

After the local and provincial elections of 2014, Groen had a mandate for the first time in the province of Flemish-Brabant. In 2018 the province of East-Flanders followed. The results in Flemish-Brabant had improved though Green wasn't part of the coalition anymore after these elections.

In 2019, there were elections on the regional, federal and European level. At this time the school strike for climate movement had dominated the media, so the party Groen was expected to grow substantially. An total victory didn't happen, though the party gained seats on all levels. ^[16]

On the regional level of Brussels-Capital, Groen participated in a red-green-blue coalition. ^[17] Elke Van den Brandt became Minister of Mobility, Public Works, and Road Safety. ^[18]

On the federal level, a new government wasn't formed until 17 March 2020, when the coronavirus outbreak urged a minority government with extra plenary powers to be formed. After 6 months a 'regular' majority government was formed and the Vivaldi coalition was sworn in with 2 Groen ministers. ^[19] Petra De Sutter became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Civil Service, Public Enterprises, Telecommunication and Postal Services, as Europe's first transgender deputy prime minister. ^[20] Tinne Van der Straeten holds the Ministry of Energy. ^[21]

In 2022 the members of Groen elected new party leaders: the duo Nadia Naji and Jeremie Vaneeckhout, and the logo changed from green only to a more colourful background. ^[22]

Political views

Groen is a progressive Flemish party that, as the name itself suggests, considers environmental and climate policy very important. The party wants to combine this with attention to social justice, equal opportunities, human rights and quality of life. In other words, the party wants to protect the planet, but wants to do so by paying attention to the weakest in society. The party therefore wants good and affordable health care and to tackle poverty. In order to afford these initiatives, the party expect the richest people and the biggest polluters in society to contribute more. ^[5]

Party chairperson

Chairperson Bart Dhondt

Name		From	Until	Vice-chairperson	Comments
1	Leo Cox	28 March 1982	7 January 1989	not applicable	Spokesperson [23]
2	Johan Malcorps	7 January 1989	6 June 1995	not applicable	Spokesperson [23]
3	Wilfried Bervoets	6 June 1995	24 July 1998	not applicable	Spokesperson. [23] Passed away in function. [24] During his illness, Jos Geysels was acting spokesperson.
4	Jos Geysels	8 June 1998	21 June 2003	not applicable	Spokesperson [23]
5	Dirk Holemans	21 June 2003	15 November 2003	not applicable	Spokesperson [23]
6	Vera Dua	15 November 2003	10 November 2007	not applicable [23]
7	Mieke Vogels	10 November 2007 [25]	25 October 2009	Wouter Van Besien (from 17 May 2008)
8	Wouter Van Besien	25 October 2009 [26]	15 November 2014	Björn Rzoska (until 19 January 2013) Elke Van den Brandt (from 19 January 2013)
9	Meyrem Almaci	15 November 2014 [27]	11 June 2022 [28]	Jeremie Vaneeckhout (until 19 October 2019) Dany Neudt (from 19 October 2019)	Re-elected
10	Jeremie Vaneeckhout and Nadia Naji	11 June 2022 [29]	19 December 2024	not applicable
11	Bart Dhondt	19 December 2024 [30]	Incumbent	Natacha Waldmann

Current mandates

European politics

European Parliament [31]
Name	Committees
Sara Matthieu	International Trade Employment and Social Affairs

Federal politics

Chamber of Representatives [32]
Name	Notes
Wouter De Vriendt	Faction leader
Kim Buyst
Kristof Calvo
Barbara Cremers
Eva Platteau
Dieter Van Besien
Stefaan Van Hecke
Kathleen Pisman

Senate [33]
Type	Name	Notes
Co-opted Senator	Fourat Ben Chikha  [ nl ]	Second vice president of the Senate
Community Senator	Stijn Bex  [ nl ]
Community Senator	Soetkin Hoessen  [ nl ]
Community Senator	Chris Steenwegen  [ nl ]

Belgian Federal De Croo Government [34]
Public Office	Name	Function
Deputy Prime Minister	Petra De Sutter	Minister of Civil Service, Public Enterprises, Telecommunication and Postal Services
Minister	Tinne Van der Straeten	Minister of Energy

Regional politics: Flanders

Flemish Parliament [35]
Meyrem Almaci	Imade Annouri  [ nl ]	Stijn Bex
Johan Danen	Ann De Martelaer	Celia Groothedde  [ nl ]
Elisabeth Meuleman  [ nl ]	Ann Moerenhout	Staf Aerts
Bjorn Rzoska	Mieke Schauvliege  [ nl ]	Chris Steenwegen
Tine van den Brande	Jeremie Vaneeckhout

Regional politics: Brussels

Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region [36]
Name	Notes
Juan Benjumea Moreno  [ nl ]
Lotte Stoops  [ nl ]
Soetkin Hoessen  [ nl ]
Arnaud Verstraete  [ nl ]	Faction Leader

Brussels Regional Government Vervoort II [37]
Public Office	Name	Function
Minister	Elke Van den Brandt	Mobility and Public Works

Election results

Chamber of Representatives

Election	Votes	%	Seats	+/−	Government	Elected members of parliament
1977	2,435	0.0	0 / 212		Extra-parliamentary
1978	5,556	0.1	0 / 212	0	Extra-parliamentary
1981	138,575	2.3	2 / 212	2	Opposition	Ludo Dierickx, Fernand Geyselings
1985	226,758	3.7	4 / 212	2	Opposition	Ludo Dierickx, Mieke Vogels
1987	275,437	4.5	6 / 212	2	Opposition	Jozef Cuyvers, Wilfried De Vlieghere, Jos Geysels, Hugo Van Dienderen, Wilfried Van Durme, Mieke Vogels
1991	299,550	4.9	7 / 212	1	Opposition	Magda Aelvoet (until 20 July 1994) → Lodewijk Steenwegen, Luc Barbé, Wilfried De Vlieghere, Vera Dua, Jos Geysels, Hugo Van Dienderen, Mieke Vogels (until 11 January 1995) → Peter Luyten
1995	269,058	4.4	5 / 150	2	Opposition	Frans Lozie, Jef Tavernier, Hugo Van Dienderen, Lode Vanoost, Joos Wauters
1999	434,449	7.0	9 / 150	4	Coalition	Eddy Boutmans (until 12 October 1999) → Leen Laenens, Anne-Mie Descheemaeker, Kristien Grauwels, Simonne Leen, Fauzaya Talhaoui, Jef Tavernier (until 28 August 2002) → Liliane De Cock, Peter Vanhoutte, Lode Vanoost, Joos Wauters
2003	162,205	2.5	0 / 150	9	Extra-parliamentary
2007	265,828	4.0	4 / 150	4	Opposition	Meyrem Almaci, Wouter De Vriendt, Tinne Van der Straeten, Stefaan Van Hecke
2010	285,989	4.4	5 / 150	1	Opposition	Meyrem Almaci, Eva Brems, Kristof Calvo, Wouter De Vriendt, Stefaan Van Hecke
2014	358,947	5.3	6 / 150	1	Opposition	Meyrem Almaci, Kristof Calvo, Stefaan Van Hecke, Evita Willaert, Wouter De Vriendt, Anne Dedry
2019	413,836	6.1	8 / 150	2	External support (2020)	Kim Buyst, Kristof Calvo, Barbara Creemers, Wouter De Vriendt, Jessica Soors (until 2020) → Eva Platteau, Stefaan Van Hecke, Dieter Van Besien, Kathleen Pisman
					Coalition (2020–2025)
2024	324,608	4.7	6 / 150	2	Opposition

Senate

Election	Votes	%	Seats	+/−
1977	3,270	0.1	0 / 106
1978			0 / 106
1981	121,016	2.0	1 / 106	1
1985	229,206	3.8	2 / 106	1
1987	299,049	4.9	3 / 105	1
1991	314,360	5.1	5 / 70	2
1995	223,355	3.7	1 / 40	4
1999	438,931	7.1	3 / 40	2
2003	161,024	2.5	0 / 40	3
2007	241,151	3.6	1 / 40	1
2010	251,605	3.9	1 / 40	0

Regional: Brussels

Election	Votes	%		Seats	+/−	Government	Elected Members of parliament
		D.E.C.	Overall
1989	4,821		1.1 (#12)	1 / 75		Opposition	Dolf Cauwelier
1995	3,906		1.0 (#11)	0 / 75	1	Opposition
1999 [a]	13,223	21.8 (#4)	3.1 (#8)	0 / 75	0	Opposition	Adelheid Byttebier (until 6 June 2003; replaced Mieke Vogels as Flemish minister) → Anne Van Asbroeck (SP.A)
2004	6,132	9.8 (#5)	1.4 (#10)	1 / 89	1	Opposition	Adelheid Byttebier
2009	5,806	11.2 (#5)	1.3 (#10)	2 / 89	1	Coalition	Bruno De Lille (became Brussels-Capital Region state secretary) → Elke Van den Brandt, Annemie Maes
2014	9,551	17.9 (#5)	2.1 (#9)	3 / 89	1	Opposition	Bruno De Lille, Annemie Maes, Arnaud Verstraete
2019	14,425	20.6 (#1)	3.1 (#7)	4 / 89	1	Coalition	Elke Van den Brandt (became minister ) → Soetkin Hoessen, Arnaud Verstraete, Lotte Stoops, Juan Benjumea Moreno
2024	18,345	22.82 (#1)		4 / 89	0	TBD

Regional: Flemish Parliament

Election	Votes	%	Seats	+/−	Government	Elected representatives
1995	267,155	7.1 (#6)	7 / 124		Opposition	Vera Dua, Jos Geysels, Johan Malcorps, Ludo Sannen, Jos Stassen, Ria Van Den Heuvel, Cecile Verwimp
1999	451,361	11.6 (#5)	12 / 124	5	Coalition	Magda Aelvoet (until 12 July 1999; became federal minister) → Ann De Martelaer, Veerle Declercq, Jos Geysels, Eloi Glorieux, Dirk Holemans, Johan Malcorps, Frans Ramon, Ludo Sannen (until 26 May 2003; replaced Vera Dua as Flemish minister) → Flor Ory (until 17 February 2004) → Ludo Sannen, Jos Stassen, Ria Van Den Heuvel, Jo Vermeulen, Vera Dua (became Flemish minister) → Isabel Vertriest (until 26 May 2003) → Vera Dua
2004	308,898	7.6 (#5)	6 / 124	6	Opposition	Rudi Daems, Vera Dua, Eloi Glorieux, Jos Stassen, Jef Tavernier, Mieke Vogels
2009	278,211	6.8 (#7)	7 / 124	1	Opposition	Bart Caron, Elisabeth Meuleman, Dirk Peeters, Hermes Sanctorum, Luckas Vander Taelen, Mieke Vogels, Filip Watteeuw (until 31 December 2012)
2014	365,779	8.7 (#5)	10 / 124	3	Opposition	Imade Annouri, Bart Caron, Johan Danen, Elisabeth Meuleman, Ann Moerenhout, Ingrid Pira, Bjorn Rzoska, Hermes Sanctorum (until 2016; became independent), Wouter Van Besien, Elke Van den Brandt
2019	428,696	10.1 (#5)	14 / 124	4	Opposition	Meyrem Almaci, Jeremie Vaneeckhout, Johan Danen, Björn Rzoska, An Moerenhout, Stijn Bex, Mieke Schauvliege, Chris Steenwegen, Imade Annouri, Celia Groothedde, Elisabeth Meuleman, Ann De Martelaer, Staf Aerts, Tine Van den Brande
2024	304,688	7.17	9 / 124	5	Opposition

European Parliament

Election	List leader	Votes	%		Seats	+/−	EP Group
			D.E.C.	Overall
1979	Paul Staes	77,986	2.33 (#5)	1.43	0 / 24	New	−
1984		246,712	7.08 (#5)	4.31	1 / 24	1	RBW
1989		446,539	12.20 (#4)	7.57	1 / 24	0	G
1994	Magda Aelvoet	396,198	10.73 (#5)	6.64	1 / 25	0
1999	Patsy Sörensen	464,042	11.98 (#6)	7.50	2 / 25	1	Greens/EFA
2004	Bart Staes	320,874	7.99 (#5)	4.94	1 / 24	1
2009		322,149	7.90 (#6)	4.90	1 / 22	0
2014		447,391	10.62 (#5)	6.69	1 / 21	0
2019	Petra De Sutter	525,908	12.37 (#5)	7.81	1 / 21	0
2024	Sara Matthieu	450,781	10.00 (#5)	6.31	1 / 21	0

1. In coalition with SP

See also

• Environment portal
• Ecology portal

• Ecolo the Walloon (Francophone) green party
• Green party
• Green politics
• List of environmental organizations
• European Green Party
• Global Greens

References

1. "Open VLD heeft de meeste leden en steekt CD&V voorbij". deredactie.be. 30 October 2014.
2. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "Flanders/Belgium". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
3. "Politieke fracties". Benelux Parliament (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 August 2023.
4. Bale, Tim (2021). Riding the populist wave: Europe's mainstream right in crisis. Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 36. ISBN   978-1-009-00686-6. OCLC   1256593260.
5. "Elections 24: what do the Flemish ecologists of Groen stand for?". vrtnws.be. 2024-04-28. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
6. "Integraal verslag van de plenaire vergadering op donderdag 29 okt 2015" (PDF) (in Dutch and French). Belgische Kamer van volksvertegenwoordigers. 2015-10-29. Rouwhulde Wilfried Van Durme (één van de oprichters van Agalev).
7. "Belgium || Bomspotting. 2,000 Protest Against Nuclear Weapons". International Socialist Alternative. 2002-10-07. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
8. "Groen". Encyclopedie Vlaamse Beweging (in Dutch). Retrieved 1 July 2024.
9. "Misnoegde brief van de bever aan De Wever" [displeased letter of the beaver to De Wever]. MO* Magazine (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-07-01.
10. "Het falen van Agalev bij de verkiezingen van 18 mei 2003" [Agalevs failure in the 18 May 2003 elections]. www.sampol.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-07-01.
11. "Belgium celebrates 20 years of same-sex marriage". The Brussels Times. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
12. "Belgium arms sale row deepens". BBC. 27 Aug 2002. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
13. "Jos Geysels neemt ontslag als politiek secretaris Agalev" [Jos Geysels resigns as Agalev political secretary]. De Standaard (in Dutch). 19 May 2003. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
14. "Waar staat Groen voor?" [What does Groen stand for?] (in Dutch). VRT NWS. 2024-04-15.
15. "De terugkeer van Groen!" [The comeback of Groen!]. Sampol (in Dutch). Retrieved 1 July 2024.
16. "Groen boekt winst, maar grote sprong vooruit blijft uit" [Groen makes progress, but falls short of big victory]. VRT NWS (in Dutch). 2019-05-26. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
17. "Akkoord voor Brusselse regering is rond: mét Open VLD, zonder MR". VRT NWS (in Dutch). 2019-07-17. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
18. "De onopvallende minister-president, de brouwer en de vrouw achter paars-groen: dit is de nieuwe Brusselse regering" [The unremarkable minister-president, the brewer and the woman behind purple-green: this is the new Brussels government]. vrtnws.be (in Dutch). 2019-07-18. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
19. "Why did it take so long to form Belgium's new 'Vivaldi' coalition?". euronews. 2020-10-07. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
20. "Green MEP Petra De Sutter to be named deputy Belgian PM". POLITICO. 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
21. "Wie is Tinne Van der Straeten, de nieuwe minister van Energie?" [Who is Tinne Van der Straeten, the new minister of Energy?]. Bruzz (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-07-01.
22. "Groen heeft nieuw voorzittersduo: Jeremie Vaneeckhout en Nadia Naji halen het in de eerste stemronde" [Groen has two new chairpeople: Jeremie Vaneeckhout and Nadia Naji succeed in one voting round]. vrtnws.be (in Dutch). 2022-06-11. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
23. "Van Agalev over Groen! naar Groen zonder meer" [From Agalev to Groen! to downright Groen]. VRT NWS (in Dutch). 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
24. "Le décès de Wilfried Bervoets endeuille les Verts". Le Soir (in French). 1998-07-27. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
25. "Mieke Vogels volgt Vera Dua op als voorzitster Groen!" [Mieke Vogels succeeds Vera Dua as chairperson Groen!]. Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). 2007-11-10. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
26. "Wouter Van Besien verkozen als nieuwe voorzitter van Groen!" [Wouter Van Besien elected as new chairperson Groen!]. Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). 2009-10-25. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
27. "Meyrem Almaci verkozen tot voorzitter van Groen". VRT NWS (in Dutch). 2014-11-15. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
28. "Meyrem Almaci stopt als voorzitter van Groen: "Het is nu aan andere mensen, dat zal Groen deugd doen"" [Meyrem Almaci quits as president of Groen: "Up to other people now, which will benefit Groen"]. VRT NWS. 2022. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
29. "Groen heeft nieuw voorzittersduo: Jeremie Vaneeckhout en Nadia Naji halen het in de eerste stemronde" [Groen has new presidential duo: Jeremie Vaneeckhout and Nadia Naji win already in first round of elections]. vrtnws. 2022-06-11. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
30. Michiels, Cisse (19 December 2024). "Bart Dhondt is nieuwe voorzitter van Groen: maak kennis met de West-Vlaamse Brusselaar die zijn partij 'fierheid' wil bijbrengen". vrt.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 29 December 2024.
31. "Full list of MEPs". European Parliament (official website). Retrieved 2024-07-01.
32. "Kamerleden | Zittingsperiode 55" [Members of the Chamber | Legislation period 55]. De Belgische Kamer van volksvertegenwoordigersa. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
33. "Lijst van de senatoren" [List of senators]. Belgische Senaat. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
34. "Composition of the Belgian federal government". belgium.be. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
35. "Volksvertegenwoordigers" [Representatives]. Vlaams Parlement (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-07-01.
36. "Volksvertegenwoordigers" [Representatives]. Parlement Bruxellois Brussels Parlement (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-07-01.
37. "The Government of the Region". Brussels-Capital Region. Retrieved 2024-07-01.

External links

Media related to Groen (party) at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Overview of Groen at the VRT in the context of the 2024 elections