You can draw piles of files, books and papers in a solid office interior – the work rooms in the European Parliament in Brussels. Not with MEP Lena Schilling (24): climate posters on doors and cupboards. Cardboard plates and green stickers, with texts such as: “One struggle, one fight“And” another world is possible. ”
Anyone who enters her office on the sixth floor of the European Parliament can only see the climate activist in her. In the home country of Austria, she caused a furore as a spokesperson during the occupation of three major construction sites in Vienna. To make a new highway possible, the Lobautunnel should be laid in the Donau-Auen nature reserve. The climate movement fought against and won for more than a year: the construction of the tunnel was blocked at the end of 2021 by the then Minister for Sustainable Mobility, Leonore Gewessler. “I learned that the right people can make a change in the right position and at the right time,” says Schilling from behind her Brussels agency. Her well-cared for makeup and business clothing are almost out of tune with the activist cardboard plates around her.
As a “face of the climate movement in Austria”, she was asked to apply for the Greens more than a year later, as a 22-year-old political sciences at the University of Vienna [Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative] In the run -up to the European elections. “I have been awake about it for nights. Only when two young women approached me in Vienna, I was struggling to do it to inspire other women, I was.”
Schilling left-with a suitcase and her two cats Rosa and Clara-per night train from Vienna to Brussels, where in 2024 she took office as the youngest MEP in Opmaat to the Von der Leyen-II committee. Pinzend: “It is sometimes lonely, but if more young women choose this path because I did it, it has been worth all setbacks.
A few doors away in the ‘green’ wing on the sixth floor, Bas Eickhout, someone with whom she occasionally sparts, just like Sara Matthieu, also from De Groenen. “Bas is one of the people who familiarize me in Brussels – because being chosen does not mean that you immediately know everything it works …”
MEO Lena Schilling Was rather climate activist in Austria.
Photo Ans Brys
What is it like to compete as a pronounced link politician for De Groene Zaak in a highly righte political climate?
“The responsibility I feel is great. When I started to speak out for the climate, I knew myself by millions of young people in more than 150 countries [Schilling begon haar protest in 2019 met Fridays for Future, de internationale schoolstakingsbeweging, gestart door de Zweedse activiste Greta Thunberg]. The systems have now changed in many of those countries. The repression became stronger, strike more dangerous for the climate. Trump has been chosen again … ”
That seems like a tough fight.
“I move between hope and fear. I know from experience that it is possible to achieve our goals through climate action, hard work, faith and dedication. That is the hopeful side. But the reality is: many people do not want this now. I am afraid that the EU is not taking responsibility at the moment. It is not about what I want to ignore the green fraction or the progressives: Climate crisis is no longer so important and that is exactly what is happening in parliament. ”
What is your political strategy?
“Politics happens in society. I go to citizens, companies and organizations as much as possible to listen and recharge: talking to doers gives hope. At the moment it would be easy to be the opposition that says,” No, we are against everywhere. We don’t want to do it. ” But we work on every file, try to make agreements at the negotiating table to get good policy.
“I work a lot with the social field, which is not always appreciated by everyone in parliament.” By that she means more traditional politicians: “They believe that politics works differently, and operate more from a sense of power or authority. For me, politics is particularly woven with society and the street.”
Is that extra difficult because it is not always clear in the current political climate how cooperation can be done?
“Indeed. The big question is whether there is still a majority for Von der Leyen within the European People’s Party (EVP) and whether we can work with that group at all. The EVP must decide whether she is back on science-based politics, behind the Prodemocratic and Pro-European parties, or if they want to collaborate with the last, last-right.”
Politics is also compromising.
“We sometimes have to make unpleasant compromises. That sometimes goes to my activist heart. One of the dilemmas that I was struggling with was the question of whether I had to vote for the current committee chairman. I finally said that Ursula von der Leyen said a number of very painful things. 90 percent would reduce compared to 1990. Now I am no longer sure that we are going to make it. ”
Does the climate movement still see you as one of them?
“I still feel connected to it. But my role is now different. Of course there are people who drop out as a result, such as the extreme left-wing people who are not in favor of parliaments. On the other hand, I work closely with people from NGOs.
“Dialogue is leading for me: I try to explain why I do what I am doing. Sometimes there is skepticism about the movement or about parliament. There are also plenty of questions about the climate movement now that the Green Deal is being watered down. I think politicians should stay with their decisions, that they have to explain why they should always be the criticism of people who are not with them. Very careful try to be with decisions I make. ”
Although Schilling made a young career, it didn’t go without a struggle. In 2024, the Austrian Dagblad published Der Standard Some articles about Schilling and its “problematic relationship with the truth.” It was claimed that she came up with accusations about others – such as about sexual harassment by a journalist, that she was gossiping and also that she was not loved in activist circles. The Austrian and German tabloids called her “Lying Lena” and “Gossip Girl”. Also claimed Der Standard The newspaper, based on chat messages that would have been seen, that Schilling wanted the Greens after the elections exchange For the left -wing group in the European Parliament.
Schilling received support, many people spoke of a slander campaign. The Federal President of Austria, Alexander van der Bellen, recorded it for her: “Politics is one thing, and private is something else.”
Schilling itself had it in response to questions from the press about ‘rumor“But at the order of a judge, Schilling also made a settlement with a former girlfriend and his partner to entitle gossip that she had spread over them by” making a written statement to different people “.
On the door of her office in Brussels there is an image of a kitten on a skateboard with the text: “Life is hard, but I’m harder.”
The affair has been finished, but will always cast a shadow over your career. How do you look at that?
“My ambition was not to become a politician, my motivation was the big planetary crisis. During the election campaign I did not succeed in talking about the climate, I still find it very sad. It should not be about me. If we look back, what will be left? Can we really change things that many people?”
“The Austrian press council decided that Der Standard has acted incorrectly [de krant zou ethische normen hebben overschreden door voornamelijk anonieme bronnen op te voeren, red.]. When politicians become emotional by the things that journalists write about them, we undermine the sovereignty of the press. We must be professional, good politicians, even though that is sometimes difficult. ”
Do you miss activism?
“Yes, and especially the collective energy of the climate movement. I also miss the time to think about many things, because here it is always a bit rushed. I know why I sometimes became activist. During our occupation in Vienna, we were there day and night. One of my most beautiful memories is the rise of the spand of spares, while we on the spand of spares while we on the Spand of Spoeken, while we see on the spand of the spand of there on the other on the binding. side of the world. ”
“It is in my DNA: my mother is a social worker and took me to demonstrations from the age of third. Now we have to go a step further and bring the protest from the street to the institutions. So many brave people have risen. And that is what we also have to do in parliament: the power of all progressive people in the various political groups.”
Where are your biggest worries?
“Whether we will achieve the climate goals. But I am also worried about sustainability legislation. Simplification of this should not mean that we are just weakening goals for years. [Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, een EU-richtlijn die bedrijven verplicht tot maatschappelijk verantwoord ondernemen door in hun hele keten onderzoek te doen naar mensenrechten, arbeidsomstandigheden en impact op klimaat en natuur, red.]. ”
Many large companies think the same way.
Laughs: “Yes, I get messages from Ikea and Nestlé, of which I always thought ‘those are the Bad Guys‘, who argue for frameworks and legislation to become better. In Austria, even the largest concrete companies are in favor of this anti-way viewing law. ”
But Europe hesitates.
“After five years of negotiation, Europe comes to a point that the laws have to be implemented, and then scribbles back. That is an unstable course that is not good for the economy, the climate or social justice. It also raises questions such as: when we negotiate, how can we be sure that the agreements made are not being opened again?”
Is the credibility of Brussels at stake?
“Absolutely, I am not very optimistic in that regard. We cannot write in a resolution that we are the leaders of the world in terms of climate change and then not follow our own mapped climate path. If we are credible partners, we follow that path: comfortable or not.”
The left seems to be struggling with an answer to the right -wing narrative. What do you think should be the story?
“If only we had the silver bullet … I think it is important to make clearer what the climate crisis means and who it touches. That is a social issue, a matter of safety. People who have little money are most affected by it. People who live in a little green environment, older people. That requires more empathy. We should not be overwhelmed.”
How do we do that?
“There must be a direct connection between climate policy and improving the daily lives of people. People who live close to a source of renewable energy, for example, should pay less for that energy. If it does not give you anything, it is easy to be against climate policy. If politicians we have to build up trust again. Impossible things can become possible if we work together.” We can win again. ”