Inspired by Bartek and Juan

“Stronger parties could put at least one candidate from a new member country on their European list in 2009, thus giving Greens from other countries like ours an opportunity to have a seat in the European Parliament”.Excellent idea, and practiced with success already, as we know: Czech MEP Milan Horacek was elected on the German Bündnis 90/Grüne list – and then strongly contributed to the Greening of the Czech Republic, with Martin Bursik becoming the first Green Minister in the East.

Of course, it was Daniel Cohn Bendit and Monica Frassoni, the two chairpersons of Greens/EFA in European Parliament, who set an example by successfully standing as E.P. candidates first in one country (France respectively Belgium), then in another (Germany resp. Italy).

For 2009 we should go a step further – and at the same time stay more firmly rooted on the ground. A realistic proposal could be to ask ALL our national EGP member parties to put at least one man and one woman (not necessarily VIP’s but persons with a credible special relationship to more than one -preferably neighbouring- country), on their national lists, not necessarily everywhere on the most prominent positions – but nonetheless conveying a strong message common to all EGP member parties:

A special sense of pan-European Green consensus, i.e. the message that MEPs and party leaders together with us individual national party members finally are on their way to forcefully and credibly present themselves, and our common themes, in 2009 with real panache as the most European and the most inspiring of all Parties:

THE border-crossing European Party as it presentend itself at the EGP founding congress in Rome, igniting the Green 2004 European election campaign. Slightly ante litteram, one might observe. Ma non è mai troppo tardi, to use a more recent Roman saying, it’s never too late (to put into practice what one has promised).

Thank you, Juan, if in striving for this objective you manage to keep European Greens at least one step ahead of all other Parties! With some help from Herleen’s independent-minded idealists all over Europe you might just make it!