- EGC delegate in Majvik, Finland 1993
- EFGP Committee Member 1994 - 2000
In 1993, again, the elections for the European parliament are prepared exclusively on the EC level, as if a greater open Europe did not exist. The Greens, having in mind this pan-European relevance for the future of Europe, are communicating beyond borders and focussing on the diversity of European cultures and regional political experiences in order to achieve common aims. It is time now to give the chance to an active and relevant political body to influence the existing logic of development and to use new freedoms. In the preparatory phase, we live exciting and visionary moments of mutual approach, ranging from Luxembourg to Georgia, from Norway to Spain, concentrating in particular on programmatic workshops on eco-development, peace and new citizenship; our specialists on party statutes organise the shift from a coordination towards a federation with clear rules, tools and equal opportunities!
This was a process of dialogue on equal footing, based on transparency, (regional) networking and the joint will to promote a common political future of solidarity, quality of life and peace. This dialogue process bridged the gap in different areas, between our different electoral systems; the marginalisation in the national context and the beginning of mainstream politics; the lack of finances and diverging national experiences: Gender quota for Portugal, the issue of abortion for Malta, minority rights for Slovakia, NATO-membership for Ukraine, nuclear energy for Bulgaria – these are only some examples from the many fields of enlightening political debates. As a result, the new guidelines of the 23 members of the EFGP could not satisfy everybody but the participants in this historical process were full of optimism when they celebrated their common convictions in a mid-summer night on the Finnish sea shore.
It is true that while we thought we were part of a historical moment in the green history, this instead remained widely unknown in our own countries, and that the delegates in Helsinki and Vienna often resulted in being a kind of “unrecognised prophets” in their own country. “Normal” political life is made of electoral calenders and media events rather than of long-term processes and sustainable concerns.
For some years, in this slipstream, the EFGP expanded the common ground, developing more and more concrete alternative visions and proposals to counter growing neoliberalism and militarisation and it built up contacts in Europe and other parts of the world. By networking, looking for consensus, organising creative events, the EFGP was more of a cultural movement than a piece of mosaic in a political power game. The whole process was probably sometimes sustained more by idealism than by pragmatism, even though profiling the Greens as a political family that makes politics differently and brings about a historical wind of change.
It was of course an important period for the Greens in Europe and really inspiring for me personally
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Che sarà? This is an open question of the “Helsinki Green hymn” for the future – but nevertheless: Greening Europe has only just begun!
