Elections

Once again, the Dutch politician Geert Wilders and his far-right party, the PVV (Freedom Party), found themselves in the headlines. At an election meeting Wilders made racist remarks and stood by them. It is a distasteful development that will have consequences beyond the Netherlands.

In the run-up to the 2014 European elections, all citizens of Europe had the opportunity to select the two leading candidates for the European Green Party. The winners of this ‘Green Primary’ were Ska Keller and José Bové, both Members of the European Parliament. What links do they see between Europe’s history and its politics?

Citizens are demanding more direct democracy, something that the political parties are resisting. However the economic crisis has changed everything and made the status quo no longer sustainable. In its wake, a number of new movements are challenging how political decisions are being made.

The German coalition agreement contains many empty phrases and few concrete suggestions. There is absolutely no sign of a European idea, let alone vision.

Despite being only a small part of their manifesto, the German Greens’ policy of ‘veggie days’ gave them the unfortunate appearance of being the party that ‘wants to ban things’.

Angela Merkel fell just a few MP’s short of getting an absolute majority in the German Bundestag. The ironic title of “the Queen of Europe” doesn’t sound too ironic after these elections.

A first analysis of the Greens’ campaign in the German Federal elections and of the role played by finance policy.

On 29 September 2013, Austria went to the polls. The results gave the Greens 12,4% of the vote, a plus of 2%.

The mistakes of the campaign should be a chance for the Greens to learn and develop a new story. Ten theses are presented to start the discussion.

When looking at the disappointing result for the Greens in last week’s German elections, can some of the blame be placed on them downplaying their long-standing position as the pro-Europe party?