Twenty years of European Greens, 1984-2004

Abstract

This project on "Twenty years of European Greens" was decided over two years ago by the Committee of the "European Federation of Green Parties". The two editors of the book decided to invite protagonists of European green politics over the past twenty years or so to put pen to paper and to jot down their impressions of this exciting political adventure into green politics. Per Gahrton, in charge of the period from 1984 till 1993, invited all the members of the Co-ordination Secretariat and some of the most frequent representatives of the parties, as well as some observers, to contribute their thoughts. Arnold Cassola asked to contribute to this book the members of the Co-ordination Secretariat that prepared the transition to the Federation, all Federation Committee members, the National Party delegates in Majvik, the party delegates present when their party entered the Federation, as well as the two Co-Presidents of the Greens in the EP. Of course, not everybody answered our call, but we are confident that the response has been a good one, and certainly more than sufficient to give our readers an idea of what green politicians have stood for during the years. One must keep in mind that the contributors have written their part at different times during the past twenty four months and therefore internal references in the text reflect the different periods when each individual contribution was written. Finally, as editors of this book, we would like to thank Cecile Lauwers, Jeanette Perman and Ann Verheyen, without whose painstaking editorial skills this publication would not have been possible.