Season’s greetings!

We hope that you and your loved ones are keeping warm and safe during the holidays.

In this email, we summarise our political year 2022 and take a look at what lies ahead next year. But before we do so, we need to talk about the investigations that shocked us all:

Zero Tolerance for Corruption

The Qatargate investigation continues to unearth a possible wide-scale corruption case at the heart of the EU institutions.

It is alleged that Qatar bribed a number of individuals to have them downplay the country’s human rights violations in official EU affairs.

This could be one of the biggest corruption scandals in the EU institutions in recent years.

Corruption and foreign meddling have no place in any democratic institution, whether national or European, and foster distrust from citizens.

The Greens call for zero tolerance for corruption. We stand for stricter rules to prevent corruption in the European Parliament, all other EU institutions, and on the national level.

The Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament have proposed a series of initial measures to investigate and end corruption in the European Parliament (learn more).

We also strongly appeal to the political parties and parliamentary groups involved in the current scandal to choose their candidates for public positions responsibly, and to set up internal mechanisms to prevent corruption and abuse of power.

“Green MEPs and Greens across Europe have always practiced strong transparency rules for themselves and we are happy if they are mainstreamed across institutions. We believe these rules are common sense for strong democracies, which demand trust between citizens and decision-makers.” Mélanie Vogel and Thomas Waitz, Co-Chairs of the European Greens

Solidarity with Ukraine!

2022 was marked by the war in Ukraine. The European Greens have been united in solidarity with the Ukrainian people since the beginning of the conflict.

From day one, we gathered our member parties and elected officials to work together on a strong common response to Putin’s attacks.

We have adopted two resolutions strongly condemning, and standing in undivided solidarity with Ukraine.

Putin’s efforts to weaponise our energy and food systems will not divide us.

His war has shown the importance of a united Europe that welcomes Ukrainian refugees, takes action to support the Ukrainian fighters, and imposes common sanctions against the Russian aggressor.

Notably, Green Foreign Ministers Annalena Baerbock (Germany) and Pekka Haavisto (Finland) have been at the forefront of the European effort to support Ukraine.

We hope that 2023 will bring peace to the people of Ukraine and that their suffering will come to an end. Our solidarity and support for them will never waiver.

2022 -> 2023

To close the year, we’re reflecting on our journey as Greens in 2022, and our successes along the way that made this trying year worthwhile.

Green leaders in Europe are continuing to push for a more just and sustainable Europe at the local and regional level, as well as in coalition governments and the parliament.

You can now read more about our electoral successes, political wins, and new exciting projects connecting with the Green family through our podcasts and film screenings.

We cannot win this fight alone!

Dear friends of the European Greens, we urgently need your support to fight for a more just and greener future. Your donations will go towards our preparation for the 2024 European Elections campaign – a crucial moment for the Green movement. Please donate now to help us make a difference.

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Looking back at 2022

Events

We have continued to host events gathering the Green family together for our statutory Councils, Party Leader Meetings, and Committee Meetings. Those were the first physical Council meetings after the Covid pandemic. Seeing everyone again in person was a great experience for us and for all participants.

We were very proud of the success of the Local Councillors Conference in Valencia, as well as our Councils and our seminal 6th European Green Party Congress which reunited close to 1000 participants from our Green family. It featured the largest gathering of Green ministers, as well as Keynote Speakers Pekka Haavisto, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Finland, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister, Iceland, and Yolanda Díaz Pérez, Second Vice-President and Minister of Labour and Social Economy.

Read the adopted resolutions here.

Green successes in 2022

In 2022, the Green Wave has continued to translate into an enlarged voter base and successful elections across Europe. We continue our work to push for a greener future for all in government in 8 countries in Europe!

Adopted resolutions in 2022

In 2022, we passed a total of 24 resolutions on crucial issues such as the war in Ukraine, abortion rights, protests in Iran and China, and the just transition (35th Council, 6th Congress).

New EGP Committee

At the Council in Riga, the European Greens elected a new leadership team that will lead us through the 2024 election campaign. Mélanie Vogel and Thomas Waitz were elected as Co-Chairs, Ute Michel (treasurer), Rasmus Nordqvist, Sibylle Steffan, Mina Jack Tolu, Małgorzata Tracz, and Vula Tsetsi are now members of the Committee. Benedetta De Marte is the new General Secretary of the European Greens.

44 member parties in 38 countries

At the 35th Council we welcomed new member parties Sustainable Initiative (Hållbart Initiativ) from the Åland Islands and the Progressives (Progresīvie) from Latvia. At the 6th Congress, we also welcomed URA from Montenegro as a new full member of the European Greens.

Projects

In 2022, we continued two projects, our Podcast Green Talking Heads and the Green Screen – films and debates to inspire a better future!

We also launched the Local Councillors Network, which now has many Local Councillors from all over Europe active on the platform.

At our Green Recovery Tour Green politicians, leaders and activists discussed the way forward to a Greener and fairer Europe.

Tilt

In 2022, our changemaking network TILT launched a dozen new campaigns on banning private jets, ensuring housing for everyone, stopping the first octopus farm in the world, and many other issues. We also saw successes with several TILT campaigns of previous years - in the fight against pesticides as well as with the decision to have a common phone charger in the EU. Thank you to everyone who took action with TILT!

New statutes

At our recent Council in Copenhagen, delegates revised and adopted the new statutes of the European Green Party. With the revision, we modernised and streamlined the internal functioning of our organisation to make it fit to face the political challenges of years to come. Read the adopted Statutes here.

Our vision for 2023

2023 will be a crucial year for the Greens, as we begin campaigning for the 2024 European elections.

We also anticipate key elections across the continent. In Poland we will work to defeat the far-right and build a plural government focused on democracy, environmental protection and solidarity. In Spain, Finland and Luxembourg we will fight to strengthen progressive governments.

We are also working hard to get our Green family together and continue to push for our Green values through our campaigns, projects, and events.

Behind every green success stand thousands of people with a vision. Among them are our incredible donors: citizens who believe in the Green mission we are working towards every single day.

Join the growing movement of Green supporters with a donation and help us fight climate crisis, demand social justice, and make sure no person is left behind.

The year 2023 is all about action, and it’s up to us to make the change!

Now, the team is slowing down its activities to recharge during the holiday season and make 2023 an even brighter year for the European Greens.

Happy holidays and see you in the New Year!