Groen (political party)

History

Agalev

The party's origins can be traced to the early 1970s, specifically the village of Viersel near Antwerp, where Luc Versteylen, a Jesuit priest, led a youth group. Through this he came to hear about the stress children were suffering from due to an increasingly competitive education system. From this, he and his co-thinkers developed a critique of consumerism inspired by the values of early Christianity as an alternative to the modern Catholic church, rejecting competition and consumption in favour of peace, frugality and community. This critique became central to Anders Gaan Leven (meaning "to go and live differently", a Flemish environmental movement. The movement then established Agalev, a working group formed to contest elections, which eventually became Groen.

Agalev first stood candidates in the 1976 local elections in Antwerp Province, before running across Flanders in the 1978 general election, scoring 0.1 percent of all votes in Belgium. The party's popularity gradually grew, taking 2.33 percent of the Flemish vote in the first European Parliament elections the following year, before making a breakthrough in the 1981 federal election, where they first entered Parliament with two Representatives and a Senator. In the simultaneous provincial elections they took seven seats, with four in Antwerp, two in East Flanders and one in West Flanders. Following this, Agalev officially became a separate entity from Anders Gaan Leven in March 1982, though the two organisations maintained close ties. That year the party won 44 seats in 64 communes in municipal elections, electing 28 councillors in Antwerp, seven apiece in East Flanders and the Province of Brabant, and two in West Flanders and obtaining an average of 5.6 percent of the vote where it stood. The party also co-operated with other ecologists to elect another 12 Agalev endorsed councillors. In the 1984 European elections Paul Staes was elected with 7.08 percent of the vote in Flanders and 9.25 percent of the vote in Antwerp Province. In the 1985 Belgian general election scored 6.3 percent of the Flemish vote, electing four Representatives and three Senators.

In the 1987 Belgian general election the party won 4.5 percent and 4.9 percent of Belgian votes to the Chamber of Representatives and Senate respectively, electing six members of the former and five of the latter. During the eighties, the party was known for being against nuclear weapons, and for being pro-Europe. According to Sara Parkin, much credit for Agalev's early steady progress and absence of internal conflict has been given to the party's political secretary Leo Cox, who was able to balance the demands of different factions within the party whilst also being able to successfully respond to external political developments.

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.

In the elections of 1999, Agalev scored 7% federally and 11% regionally (in Flanders). The Dioxin affair, a scandal surrounding dioxins in for-consumption chickens just before the elections, played an important role in the Greens' performance. 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. 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.

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. The sitting ministers in the Flemish government Mieke Vogels and Vera Dua stepped down, and were replaced by and respectively.

Vera Dua got elected as chairperson, and on the same day, the party's name was changed to Groen! (Green!). 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.

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

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. 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. Tinne Van der Straeten holds the Ministry of Energy.

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.

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.

Party chairperson

Current mandates

European politics

Federal politics

Regional politics: Flanders

Regional politics: Brussels

Election results

Chamber of Representatives

Senate

Regional: Brussels

Regional: Flemish Parliament

European Parliament

References

References

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