Europe hit by green wave

(EurActiv, 26 May 2019) The mobilisation of young people for climate change is accompanied by a growing sense of urgency, which was reflected at the ballot boxes in several European countries on Sunday (26 May). EURACTIV France reports.

With double-digit scores across Europe’s biggest countries including a stunning 20% in Germany, the Greens bagged record gains in EU elections on Sunday, with younger voters leading calls for action to halt global warming.

The environmental party doubled its score in Germany from the last EU elections in 2014, knocking the Social Democrats off their traditional second place.

In France, the Greens were number three with 12%, while in Austria, Ireland and the Netherlands, they garnered double-digits.

In Britain, they were on 12.4%, nearly double their previous score, and beating the ruling Conservatives into fifth place.

Surprise rise in France

French Green party Europe Ecologie les Verts came in third in the election with 13.1% of the votes, behind the far-right Rassemblement National (23.5%) of Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron’s centrist La République En Marche party (22.5%).

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EurActiv, 26 May 2019: Europe hit by green wave