Greens/EFA Group elects Bas Eickhout and Terry Reintke as Co-Presidents
Press Point at 14.00 today (19 June)
Today, the Greens/EFA Group elected Bas Eickhout, and re-elected Terry Reintke, as Co-Presidents of the Group. We will hold a press point with Terry Reintke and Bas Eickhout at 14.00 today outside the Greens/EFA Group room (JAN6Q2) where they will be taking questions.
Terry Reintke, Greens/EFA President, comments:
“I am very happy and honoured to be re-elected to lead the Greens/EFA Group for this upcoming legislature. I would like to thank my group for their trust and confidence. I congratulate my new co-chair Bas Eickhout, and am excited to work with him in this new role. I have known Bas for many years, he is an experienced and committed Green politician.
“Now it's time to get to work, European citizens expect European solutions from us and many challenges lie ahead. The first is to secure a reliable and democratic majority in the European Parliament for the upcoming five years. That must not include the far-right.
“The shift to the right in this house and in many places in Europe is very worrying, and the Greens/EFA Group will fight tirelessly for democratic values, rule of law and fundamental rights. But we cannot do this alone, it is a shared responsibility that all democratic groups in the European Parliament have. We stand ready.”
Bas Eickhout, Greens/EFA President, comments:
“I am very thankful to my colleagues for putting their trust in me. Together with my co-chair Terry Reintke, who I congratulate on her re-election, I look forward to using our common energy to build and shape Europe's Green and progressive agenda. With the future of the Green Deal at stake, and the war raging on in Ukraine, we will approach the coming five years with responsibility and commitment. I will dedicate all my energy and experience to this.
“We firmly believe that our Green agenda of investments in jobs and a sustainable industrial strategy is one that fosters economic security and will make the EU stronger and more secure. We also want to be the antidote to the far right. We want to protect the rights of women, LGBTI people and everyone who wants to live freely in Europe, under strengthened rule of law and healthy, vibrant democracies.”
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Terry Reintke has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2014, and Co-President of the Greens/EFA group since October 2022. When she was first elected, she was the youngest woman in the Parliament. She has been Vice-President of the Group since 2019. Terry Reintke has been an active member of the Green movement with the Federation of Young European Greens and as a member of the board of the German Green Youth.
Bas Eickhout has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2009. He’s been Vice-President of the Group since 2012, and head of the Dutch delegation since 2013. Bas is a leading figure in climate policy, before getting into politics he co-authored the IPCC report which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017. He chaired several delegations of the European Parliament to COP.
