Groen (political party)

Groen (lit. 'Green', [ɣruːn] ⓘ), founded as Agalev (see Name below), is a green[2][4] Flemish political party in Belgium. Its French-speaking equivalent is Ecolo; the two parties maintain close relations with each other.

Green
Groen
PresidentNadia Naji and
Jeremie Vaneeckhout
Founded1982 (1982)
HeadquartersVan Orleystraat 5-11, 1000 Brussel, Belgium
Youth wingYoung Green
Membership (2018)Increase 10,000[1]
IdeologyGreen politics[2]
Pacifism
Progressivism
Political positionCentre-left
Regional affiliationSocialists, Greens and Democrats[3]
European affiliationEuropean Green Party
International affiliationGlobal Greens
European Parliament groupThe Greens–European Free Alliance
Francophone counterpartEcolo
Colours  Teal
Chamber of Representatives
8 / 88
(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
Part of a series on
Green politics
Sunflower symbol
Core topics
Four pillars
Perspectives
Organizations
Related topics

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 history
Groen candidates for Antwerp province (2014)

2010 federal election
Electoral arrondissementMain candidate
Chamber of Representatives AntwerpMeyrem Almaci
Brussels-Halle-VilvoordeTinne Van der Straeten
East FlandersStefaan Van Hecke
LeuvenEva Brems
LimburgToon Hermans
West FlandersWouter De Vriendt
SenateFreya Piryns

Party chairperson
Co-presidents Nadia Naji and Jeremie Vaneeckhout
Name From Until Vice-chairperson
1 Vera Dua 15 November 2003 10 November 2007 not applicable
2 Mieke Vogels 10 November 2007 25 October 2009 Wouter Van Besien (from 17 May 2008)
3 Wouter Van Besien 25 October 2009 15 November 2014 Björn Rzoska (until 19 January 2013)
Elke Van den Brandt (from 19 January 2013)
4 Meyrem Almaci 15 November 2014 11 June 2022[6] Jeremie Vaneeckhout (until 19 October 2019)
Dany Neudt (from 19 October 2019)
5 Jeremie Vaneeckhout and Nadia Naji 11 June 2022[7] Incumbent to be announced

Representation

In this table the election results of Agalev/Groen!/Groen in House of Representatives, Senate and European elections is represented, as well as the results of regional elections for Flanders and Brussels. The party's political leadership is represented as well. If it was part of the governing federal coalition, then its minister is listed.

Year Belgian Chamber Belgian Senate European Parliament Flemish Parliament Brussels Parliament Federal Cabinet Party president*
1979 0 0 0 n/a n/a extra-parliamentary unknown
1980 0 0 0 n/a n/a extra-parliamentary unknown
1981 2 1 0 n/a n/a opposition Leo Cox
1982 2 1 0 n/a n/a opposition Leo Cox
1983 2 1 0 n/a n/a opposition Leo Cox
1984 2 1 1 n/a n/a opposition Leo Cox
1985 4 2 1 n/a n/a opposition Leo Cox
1986 4 2 1 n/a n/a opposition Leo Cox
1987 6 3 1 n/a n/a opposition Leo Cox
1988 6 3 1 n/a n/a opposition Leo Cox
1989 6 3 1 na 1 opposition Leo Cox / Johan Malcorps
1990 6 3 1 na 1 opposition Johan Malcorps
1991 7 5 1 na 1 opposition Johan Malcorps
1992 7 5 1 na 1 opposition Johan Malcorps
1993 7 5 1 na 1 opposition Johan Malcorps
1994 7 5 1 na 1 opposition Johan Malcorps
1995 5 1 1 7 0 opposition Johan Malcorps / Wilfried Bervoets
1996 5 1 1 7 0 opposition Wilfried Bervoets
1997 5 1 1 7 0 opposition Wilfried Bervoets / Jos Geysels
1998 5 1 1 7 0 opposition Jos Geysels
1999 9 3 2 12 1 Magda Aelvoet Jos Geysels
2000 9 3 2 12 1 Magda Aelvoet Jos Geysels
2001 9 3 2 12 1 Magda Aelvoet Jos Geysels
2002 9 3 2 12 1 Magda Aelvoet Jos Geysels
2003 0 0 2 12 1 extra-parliamentary Jos Geysels / Dirk Holemans / Vera Dua
2004 0 0 1 6 1 extra-parliamentary Vera Dua
2005 0 0 1 6 1 extra-parliamentary Vera Dua
2006 0 0 1 6 1 extra-parliamentary Vera Dua
2007 4 1 1 6 1 opposition Vera Dua / Mieke Vogels
2008 4 1 1 6 1 opposition Mieke Vogels
2009 4 1 1 7 2 opposition Mieke Vogels / Wouter Van Besien
2010 5 2 1 7 2 opposition Wouter Van Besien
2011 5 2 1 7 2 opposition Wouter Van Besien
2012 5 2 1 7 2 opposition Wouter Van Besien
2013 5 2 1 7 2 opposition Wouter Van Besien
2014 6 3 1 10 3 opposition Wouter Van Besien
2015 6 3 1 10 3 opposition Meyrem Almaci
2016 6 3 1 10 3 opposition Meyrem Almaci
2017 6 3 1 10 3 opposition Meyrem Almaci

Members of the European Parliament

After the 2004 European Parliament elections, the party has one representative in the European Parliament: Bart Staes. The Green! delegation is part of The Greens–European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament. Together with the two MEPs of the Dutch GreenLeft he forms one transnational delegation.

Municipal government

Green! participates in several municipal governments. The party is especially strong in university cities like Leuven and Ghent.

Electorate
The six biggest Flemish political parties and their results for the House of Representatives (Kamer). From 1978 to 2014, in percentages for the complete 'Kingdom'.

The support of Green! has strongly fluctuated recently. It draws most of its support from Flemish voters who do not feel bound to the strong social organizations and pillars. The party is strongest in urban areas with concentrated student populations like Ghent and Leuven.

Green!'s support is distributed in the following way between the electoral districts in the 2014 general election:

Province Votes (%) 2011 Result (seats) 2011 Votes (%) 2014 Result (seats) 2014
Antwerp 7.7% 2 9.9% 2
Flemish Brabant 9.8% 1 8.7% 1
Limburg 4.8% 0 6.0% 0
East Flanders 7.4% 1 9.1% 2
West Flanders 6.3% 1 7.9% 1

Electoral results

Chamber of Representatives
Election Votes  % Seats +/− Government
1977 2,435 0.0
0 / 212
 Extra-parliamentary
1978 5,556 0.1
0 / 212
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
1981 138,575 2.3
2 / 212
 Increase 2 Opposition
1985 226,758 3.7
4 / 212
 Increase 2 Opposition
1987 275,437 4.5
6 / 212
 Increase 2 Opposition
1991 299,550 4.9
7 / 212
 Increase 1 Opposition
1995 269,058 4.4
5 / 150
 Decrease 2 Opposition
1999 434,449 7.0
9 / 150
 Increase 4 Coalition
2003 162,205 2.5
0 / 150
 Decrease 9 Extra-parliamentary
2007 265,828 4.0
4 / 150
 Increase 4 Opposition
2010 285,989 4.4
5 / 150
 Increase 1 Opposition
2014 358,947 5.3
6 / 150
 Increase 1 Opposition
2019 413,836 6.1
8 / 150
 Increase 2 External support (2020)
Coalition (2020–)

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

Brussels Parliament
Election Votes  % Seats +/− Government
D.E.C. Overall
1989 4,821 1.1 (#12)
1 / 75
 Opposition
1995 3,906 1.0 (#11)
0 / 75
 Decrease 1 Opposition
1999[lower-alpha 1] 13,223 21.8 (#4) 3.1 (#8)
0 / 75
 Steady 0 Opposition
2004 6,132 9.8 (#5) 1.4 (#10)
1 / 89
 Increase 1 Opposition
2009 5,806 11.2 (#5) 1.3 (#10)
2 / 89
 Increase 1 Coalition
2014 9,551 17.9 (#5) 2.1 (#9)
3 / 89
 Increase 1 Opposition
2019 14,425 20.6 (#1) 3.1 (#7)
4 / 89
 Increase 1 Coalition

Flemish Parliament
Election Votes  % Seats +/− Government
1995 267,155 7.1 (#6)
7 / 124
 Opposition
1999 451,361 11.6 (#5)
12 / 124
 Increase 5 Coalition
2004 308,898 7.6 (#5)
6 / 124
 Decrease 6 Opposition
2009 278,211 6.8 (#7)
7 / 124
 Increase 1 Opposition
2014 365,779 8.7 (#5)
10 / 124
 Increase 3 Opposition
2019 428,696 10.1 (#5)
14 / 124
 Increase 4 Opposition

European Parliament
Election Votes  % Seats +/−
D.E.C. Overall
1979 77,986 2.3 (#5)
0 / 24
1984 246,712 7.1 (#5)
1 / 24
 Increase 1
1989 446,539 12.2 (#4)
1 / 24
 Steady 0
1994 396,198 10.7 (#5)
1 / 25
 Steady 0
1999 464,042 12.0 (#6) 7.5
2 / 25
 Increase 1
2004 320,874 8.0 (#5) 4.9
1 / 24
 Decrease 1
2009 322,149 7.9 (#6) 4.9
1 / 22
 Steady 0
2014 447,391 10.6 (#5) 6.7
1 / 21
 Steady 0
2019 525,908 12.4 (#5) 7.8
1 / 21
 Steady 0
  1. In coalition with SP

Elected politicians

Current
Chamber of Representatives
Constituency Name Notes
Antwerp Province Antwerp Meyrem Almaci
Antwerp Province Antwerp Kristof Calvo
East Flanders East Flanders Stefaan Van Hecke
Flemish Brabant Leuven Eva Brems
West Flanders West Flanders Wouter De Vriendt
Senate
Type Name Notes
Directly elected Freya Piryns
Community Senator Mieke Vogels
European Parliament
Type Name Notes
Directly elected Bart Staes
Flemish Parliament
Type Name Notes
Antwerp Province Antwerp Imade Annouri
Antwerp Province Antwerp Wouter Van Besien
Antwerp Province Antwerp Ingrid Pira
Brussels Brussels-Capital Region Elke Van den Brandt
East Flanders East Flanders Elisabeth Meuleman
East Flanders East Flanders Björn Rzoska
Limburg (Belgium) Limburg Johan Danen
Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant An Moerenhout
West Flanders West Flanders Bart Caron

Provincial councilors

  • 2012–2018:
  1. Antwerp Province Greet Bockx
  2. Antwerp Province Tom Caals
  3. Antwerp Province Koen Kerremans
  4. Antwerp Province Diederik Vandendriessche
  5. Antwerp Province Loes Van Cleemput
  6. Antwerp Province Karin Van Hoffelen
  7. East Flanders Yasmina Beldjoudi
  8. East Flanders Inge De Bal
  9. East Flanders Elisabet Dooms
  10. East Flanders Jan Fiers
  11. East Flanders Rik Franck
  12. East Flanders Riet Gillis
  13. Flemish Brabant Stephan Boogaerts
  14. Flemish Brabant Luc Debraekeleer
  15. Flemish Brabant Luc Robijns
  16. Flemish Brabant Tie Roefs
  17. Flemish Brabant Sarah Sneyers
  18. Flemish Brabant Bernadette Stassens
  19. Flemish Brabant Erik Torbeyns
  20. West Flanders Alex Colpaert
  21. West Flanders Herman Lodewyckx
  22. West Flanders Gerda Schotte
  23. West Flanders Maarten Tavernier

Past

Chamber of Representatives

  • 1987–1991 (6):
  1. Jozef Cuyvers
  2. Wilfried De Vlieghere
  3. Jos Geysels
  4. Hugo Van Dienderen
  5. Wilfried Van Durme
  6. Mieke Vogels
  • 1991–1995 (7):
  1. Magda Aelvoet (until 20 July 1994) → Lodewijk Steenwegen
  2. Luc Barbé
  3. Wilfried De Vlieghere
  4. Vera Dua
  5. Jos Geysels
  6. Hugo Van Dienderen
  7. Mieke Vogels (until 11 January 1995) → Peter Luyten
  • 1995–1999 (5):
  1. Frans Lozie
  2. Jef Tavernier
  3. Hugo Van Dienderen
  4. Lode Vanoost
  5. Joos Wauters
  • 1999–2003 (9):
  1. Eddy Boutmans (until 12 October 1999) → Leen Laenens
  2. Anne-Mie Descheemaeker
  3. Kristien Grauwels
  4. Simonne Leen
  5. Fauzaya Talhaoui
  6. Jef Tavernier (until 28 August 2002) → Liliane De Cock
  7. Peter Vanhoutte
  8. Lode Vanoost
  9. Joos Wauters
  • 2007–2010 (4):
  1. Antwerp Province Meyrem Almaci
  2. West Flanders Wouter De Vriendt
  3. Brussels Tinne Van der Straeten
  4. East Flanders Stefaan Van Hecke
  • 2010–2014 (5):
  1. Antwerp Province Meyrem Almaci
  2. Flemish Brabant Eva Brems
  3. Antwerp Province Kristof Calvo
  4. West Flanders Wouter De Vriendt
  5. East Flanders Stefaan Van Hecke

Brussels Parliament

  • 1989–1995 (1):
  1. Dolf Cauwelier
  • 1999–2004 (1):
  1. Adelheid Byttebier (until 6 June 2003; replaced Mieke Vogels as Flemish minister) → Anne Van Asbroeck (SP.A)
  • 2004–2009 (1):
  1. Adelheid Byttebier
  • 2009–2014 (2):
  1. Bruno De Lille (became Brussels-Capital Region state secretary) → Elke Van den Brandt
  2. Annemie Maes

European Parliament

  • 1984–1989 (1):
  1. Paul Staes
  • 1989–1994 (1):
  1. Paul Staes
  • 1994–1999 (1):
  1. Magda Aelvoet
  • 1999–2004 (2):
  1. Patsy Sörensen
  2. Bart Staes (left Spirit for Groen! in July 2002)
  3. Luckas Vander Taelen (until 2002) → Jan Dhaene (left Groen! for SP.A in January 2004)
  • 2004–2009 (1):
  1. Bart Staes
  • 2009–2014 (1):
  1. Bart Staes

Flemish Parliament

  • 1995–1999 (7):
  1. East Flanders Vera Dua
  2. Antwerp Province Jos Geysels
  3. Antwerp Province Johan Malcorps
  4. Limburg (Belgium) Ludo Sannen
  5. East Flanders Jos Stassen
  6. Antwerp Province Ria Van Den Heuvel
  7. Flemish Brabant Cecile Verwimp
  • 1999–2004 (12):
  1. Flemish Brabant Magda Aelvoet (until 12 July 1999; became federal minister) → Ann De Martelaer
  2. West Flanders Veerle Declercq
  3. Antwerp Province Jos Geysels
  4. Flemish Brabant Eloi Glorieux
  5. East Flanders Dirk Holemans
  6. Antwerp Province Johan Malcorps
  7. West Flanders Frans Ramon
  8. Limburg (Belgium) Ludo Sannen (until 26 May 2003; replaced Vera Dua as Flemish minister) → Flor Ory (until 17 February 2004) → Ludo Sannen
  9. East Flanders Jos Stassen
  10. Antwerp Province Ria Van Den Heuvel
  11. Antwerp Province Jo Vermeulen
  12. East Flanders Vera Dua (became Flemish minister) → Isabel Vertriest (until 26 May 2003) → Vera Dua
  • 2004–2009 (6):
  1. Antwerp Province Rudi Daems
  2. East Flanders Vera Dua
  3. Flemish Brabant Eloi Glorieux
  4. East Flanders Jos Stassen
  5. West Flanders Jef Tavernier
  6. Antwerp Province Mieke Vogels
  • 2009–2014 (7):
  1. West Flanders Bart Caron
  2. East Flanders Elisabeth Meuleman
  3. Antwerp Province Dirk Peeters
  4. Flemish Brabant Hermes Sanctorum
  5. Brussels Luckas Vander Taelen
  6. Antwerp Province Mieke Vogels
  7. East Flanders Filip Watteeuw (until 31 December 2012)

Provincial councilors

  • 1985–1991:
  1. Province of Brabant Johan Hamels
  • 2006–2012:
  1. Antwerp Province Rita Boden
  2. Antwerp Province Ethel Brits
  3. Antwerp Province Tom Caals
  4. Antwerp Province Diederik Vandendriessche

See also

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. "Waar staat Groen voor?" (in Dutch). VRT NWS. 2024-04-15.
  6. "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"]. vrtnws. 2022. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
  7. "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.

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