Next Wednesday December 2, will mark the start of the 32nd European Green Party (EGP) Council, which will be held entirely online over a period of 5 days, from December 2-6, 2020. Co-organized with the help of the Polish Greens (Partia Zieloni), the 32nd EGP Council will discuss Europe’s transition from the health and economic crisis to a resilient Green recovery, and will be broadcasted online from Warsaw and Brussels.
The European Greens have released a detailed schedule outlining the main programme as well as the sessions, interactive workshops, exhibitions, and speakers that will be featured throughout the ambitious event. Some of the issues that will be discussed over the 5-day-long Council include countering the backsliding of the rule of law in Europe; the importance of a just transition for the European Green Deal; support for the cultural sector and the future of work in the post-Covid-19 economy; and the continued fight for the human rights of all Europeans.
Preparations for the upcoming EGP Council began in late October with the delegates’ technical introduction to the Council and will continue through to November 26 for the additional training of delegates. While the initial days of the Council will be reserved for various amendment sessions and finance and statutory meetings for delegates and members of Green Parties only, Saturday December 5 will be dedicated to an open program of the Council, during which everyone is welcome to register as an online participant.
The European Greens encourage all Green Party members and delegates to mark their calendars and join the EGP Council from December 2-6, while asking Green activists and friends to join them online for the Public Conference Day on December 5, to “ensure you are fully engaged in continuing to build the momentum of the Green Wave on the road towards a more resilient, healthier, and fairer future”.
Following the opening of the Council on Public Conference Day (Dec 5), the European Green Party will afford online participants a chance to meet the Polish Greens. The Polish Green Party was founded in 2003 by an alliance of environmentalist, feminist, LGBT, and anti-war activists, and has long been the most progressive political party in Poland. The hosts of the 32nd EGP Council are expected to introduce themselves and present their history, political successes, and local governments. Moreover, the Polish Greens will discuss the importance of having a “radical youth wing” comprised of local youth who are members of the Polish branch of European Young Green organizations alongside the party, and will introduce two Polish Young Greens speakers to the online audience.
Laura Kwoczała, activist, board member & spokesperson of Polish Young Greens, member of the Education Team of the Consultative Council of the Polish Women’s Strike, ambassador of the Youth LGBT+ Forum, and graduate student is expected to join the Polish Greens as a speaker together with Wiktor Miazek, the current chairperson of the Polish Young Greens, and high school student who is also one of the youngest leaders among European Young Green organizations.
For those who will not be able to attend the full program, the European Green Party has promised that the main plenary sessions, including panels will be live-streamed on their social media platforms. In addition, recordings of the streams will be available on the European Greens’ website after the event as well as on their Youtube channel.
For those interested in joining the 32nd European Green Party Council, registration is now open and can be accessed through the hyperlink. The 32nd EGP Council is expected to be a highly dynamic, thorough, and accessible event, unique in its kind, stemming from the European Green’s “outmost priority” to promote inclusion and participation, and to enable everyone, regardless of location, “to have a complete and immersive Council experience, without having to leave the comfort and safety of their home.”
The 31st EGP Council
The 32nd European Green Party Council will be the second EGP Council to be held online this year following the onset of the coronavirus global pandemic. As expressed in their own words, in these unique circumstances the European Greens are taking “all necessary steps” to ensure the party’s agenda can continue without interruption while ensuring “the highest measures for public health”. The 31st EGP Council was held fully over the Internet for the first time ever last June, and its focus was on the notion that a resilient future is unmistakably a Green future.
Meant to provide “the opportunity to continue developing answers that work”, the 31st EGP Council was centred on the idea that now is the time for the Green movement to successfully lead the way towards a more resilient future and a more resilient Europe. Acknowledging that the task at hand for the Green movement all across the globe is “monumental”, the European Greens maintained throughout their 31st party Council that 2020 “was meant to be a turning point for climate action” and that Greens in Europe must remain “at the forefront” of recovery efforts to continue designing solutions that answer the need for economic recovery and long-term climate action.
Among the topics that were discussed during the last EGP Council were a fair, just, and sustainable economic recovery plan and steps to mend the wounds to the European project “from lack of solidarity during the crisis”. The European Greens’ Youtube channel contains several brief extracts from parallel sessions held during last June’s Council, such as the one below. Topics range from local responses to the consequences of the Covid-19 crisis to gender perspectives on the labour and gender pay gap following the onset of the pandemic.
As acknowledged by the European Greens themselves, “the European Green Party and the Green family at large will not be short of battles to choose”, and the upcoming 32nd EGP Council promises to be a reflection of just that.
Sources: https://europeangreens.eu/warsaw-online-2020; https://europeangreens.eu/onlinespring2020; https://europeangreens.eu/onlinespring2020/programme;
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