Dutch MEP for GroenLinks Bas Eickhout, together with Germany’s Terry Reintke, will lead the European Greens during the upcoming EU elections. On Saturday, Green party members elected Eickhout and Reintke as so-called ‘Spitzencandidates’ during a party conference in Lyon.
This position can be seen as a kind of unofficial EU-wide party leader who is also a candidate in the distribution of the top European positions after the elections. The Greens traditionally put forward a duo that serves as a figurehead for the green election manifesto. But because voters vote nationally for the European elections, only Dutch people will actually be able to vote for Eickhout.
It is the second consecutive time that Eickhout is one of the green top candidates, after he was captain together with the German Ska Keller in 2019. In a response, Eickhout states that he is “very honored” and that he wants to “show that we are the antidote to the extreme right and show that a green, social and inclusive Europe is possible.” The elections for the European Parliament will take place from 6 to 9 June, in the Netherlands on Thursday 6 June.
In the European Parliament for 15 years
Eickhout was recently also elected as party leader of the joint GroenLinks-PvdA list. It is the first time that the two left-wing parties will participate in European elections with a single list. After the elections, the PvdA and GroenLinks nevertheless plan to rejoin their two different European families, the Social Democrats and the Greens respectively.
Eickhout has been in the European Parliament since 2009, making him one of the longest-serving Dutch members. In recent years he has grown into an influential player in the European climate and environment dossier. On behalf of the Greens, he oversaw the negotiations of all legislation in the so-called ‘Green Deal’, the plan with which the EU wants to become climate neutral.
The Greens are the second European party to appoint a Spitzen candidate, after it became clear last month that Luxembourgian Nicolas Schmit will become leader of the Social Democrats. In Brussels, current Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to announce in just over two weeks that she wants to continue for another term, after which she will become a Spitzen candidate for the Christian Democrats.