Groen (political party)

Green Groen
President	Nadia Naji and Jeremie Vaneeckhout
Founded	1982 (1982)
Headquarters	Van Orleystraat 5-11, 1000 Brussel, Belgium
Youth wing	Young Green
Membership (2018)	10,000
Ideology	Green politics Pacifism Progressivism
Political position	Centre-left
Regional affiliation	Socialists, Greens and Democrats
European affiliation	European Green Party
European Parliament group	The Greens–European Free Alliance
International affiliation	Global Greens
Francophone counterpart	Ecolo
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
Politics of Belgium Political parties Elections

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

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.

Party history

Groen candidates for Antwerp province (2014)

2010 federal election

	Electoral arrondissement	Main candidate
Chamber of Representatives	Antwerp	Meyrem Almaci
	Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde	Tinne Van der Straeten
	East Flanders	Stefaan Van Hecke
	Leuven	Eva Brems
	Limburg	Toon Hermans
	West Flanders	Wouter De Vriendt
Senate		Freya 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	Jeremie Vaneeckhout (until 19 October 2019) Dany Neudt (from 19 October 2019)
5	Jeremie Vaneeckhout and Nadia Naji	11 June 2022	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	0	Extra-parliamentary
1981	138,575	2.3	2 / 212	2	Opposition
1985	226,758	3.7	4 / 212	2	Opposition
1987	275,437	4.5	6 / 212	2	Opposition
1991	299,550	4.9	7 / 212	1	Opposition
1995	269,058	4.4	5 / 150	2	Opposition
1999	434,449	7.0	9 / 150	4	Coalition
2003	162,205	2.5	0 / 150	9	Extra-parliamentary
2007	265,828	4.0	4 / 150	4	Opposition
2010	285,989	4.4	5 / 150	1	Opposition
2014	358,947	5.3	6 / 150	1	Opposition
2019	413,836	6.1	8 / 150	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	1
1985	229,206	3.8	2 / 106	1
1987	299,049	4.9	3 / 105	1
1991	314,360	5.1	5 / 70	2
1995	223,355	3.7	1 / 40	4
1999	438,931	7.1	3 / 40	2
2003	161,024	2.5	0 / 40	3
2007	241,151	3.6	1 / 40	1
2010	251,605	3.9	1 / 40	0

Regional

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	1	Opposition
1999	13,223	21.8 (#4)	3.1 (#8)	0 / 75	0	Opposition
2004	6,132	9.8 (#5)	1.4 (#10)	1 / 89	1	Opposition
2009	5,806	11.2 (#5)	1.3 (#10)	2 / 89	1	Coalition
2014	9,551	17.9 (#5)	2.1 (#9)	3 / 89	1	Opposition
2019	14,425	20.6 (#1)	3.1 (#7)	4 / 89	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	5	Coalition
2004	308,898	7.6 (#5)	6 / 124	6	Opposition
2009	278,211	6.8 (#7)	7 / 124	1	Opposition
2014	365,779	8.7 (#5)	10 / 124	3	Opposition
2019	428,696	10.1 (#5)	14 / 124	4	Opposition
2024	304,688	7.17	9 / 124	5	TBD

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	1
1989	446,539	12.2 (#4)		1 / 24	0
1994	396,198	10.7 (#5)		1 / 25	0
1999	464,042	12.0 (#6)	7.5	2 / 25	1
2004	320,874	8.0 (#5)	4.9	1 / 24	1
2009	322,149	7.9 (#6)	4.9	1 / 22	0
2014	447,391	10.6 (#5)	6.7	1 / 21	0
2019	525,908	12.4 (#5)	7.8	1 / 21	0

Elected politicians

Current

Chamber of Representatives
Constituency	Name	Notes
Antwerp	Meyrem Almaci
Antwerp	Kristof Calvo
East Flanders	Stefaan Van Hecke
Leuven	Eva Brems
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	Imade Annouri
Antwerp	Wouter Van Besien
Antwerp	Ingrid Pira
Brussels-Capital Region	Elke Van den Brandt
East Flanders	Elisabeth Meuleman
East Flanders	Björn Rzoska
Limburg	Johan Danen
Flemish Brabant	An Moerenhout
West Flanders	Bart Caron

Provincial councilors

• 2012–2018:

1. Greet Bockx
2. Tom Caals
3. Koen Kerremans
4. Diederik Vandendriessche
5. Loes Van Cleemput
6. Karin Van Hoffelen
7. Yasmina Beldjoudi
8. Inge De Bal
9. Elisabet Dooms
10. Jan Fiers
11. Rik Franck
12. Riet Gillis
13. Stephan Boogaerts
14. Luc Debraekeleer
15. Luc Robijns
16. Tie Roefs
17. Sarah Sneyers
18. Bernadette Stassens
19. Erik Torbeyns
20. Alex Colpaert
21. Herman Lodewyckx
22. Gerda Schotte
23. 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. Meyrem Almaci
2. Wouter De Vriendt
3. Tinne Van der Straeten
4. Stefaan Van Hecke

• 2010–2014 (5):

1. Meyrem Almaci
2. Eva Brems
3. Kristof Calvo
4. Wouter De Vriendt
5. 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. Vera Dua
2. Jos Geysels
3. Johan Malcorps
4. Ludo Sannen
5. Jos Stassen
6. Ria Van Den Heuvel
7. Cecile Verwimp

• 1999–2004 (12):

1. Magda Aelvoet (until 12 July 1999; became federal minister) → Ann De Martelaer
2. Veerle Declercq
3. Jos Geysels
4. Eloi Glorieux
5. Dirk Holemans
6. Johan Malcorps
7. Frans Ramon
8. Ludo Sannen (until 26 May 2003; replaced Vera Dua as Flemish minister) → Flor Ory (until 17 February 2004) → Ludo Sannen
9. Jos Stassen
10. Ria Van Den Heuvel
11. Jo Vermeulen
12. Vera Dua (became Flemish minister) → Isabel Vertriest (until 26 May 2003) → Vera Dua

• 2004–2009 (6):

1. Rudi Daems
2. Vera Dua
3. Eloi Glorieux
4. Jos Stassen
5. Jef Tavernier
6. Mieke Vogels

• 2009–2014 (7):

1. Bart Caron
2. Elisabeth Meuleman
3. Dirk Peeters
4. Hermes Sanctorum
5. Luckas Vander Taelen
6. Mieke Vogels
7. Filip Watteeuw (until 31 December 2012)

Provincial councilors

• 1985–1991:

1. Province of Brabant Johan Hamels

• 2006–2012:

1. Rita Boden
2. Ethel Brits
3. Tom Caals
4. Diederik Vandendriessche

See also

• Ecolo the Walloon (Francophone) green party
• Green party
• Green politics
• List of environmental organizations

External links

Media related to Groen (party) at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Dossier Groen!—collection of news articles and video fragments at VRTnieuws.net (in Dutch)
• Dossier Groen!—collection of newspaper articles and their results in the 2004 elections at De Standaard (in Dutch)