Jutta Paulus is to move into the European Parliament for the Rhineland-Palatinate Greens. The 56-year-old was elected to the top spot on the list for entry into the European Parliament at the state delegates’ meeting in Idar-Oberstein on Saturday with a very large number of votes. Paulus has been a member of the European Parliament since 2019.
The next European elections will take place in June next year. The Greens want to draw up a federal list at a federal delegates’ conference in November. The top spot from Rhineland-Palatinate counts as the vote of the state association for this list. The aim of the Rhineland-Palatinate Greens is to be represented again in the European Parliament with at least one person from the state association.
In addition to Jutta Paulus, Romeo Franz also applied for the top spot in the Rhineland-Palatinate Greens. Franz, who has been a member of the European Parliament since 2018, received 20 votes at the state assembly of delegates. Paul received an approval of 170 votes. There were two abstentions. The Greens state association has around 5000 members.
The Rhineland-Palatinate Minister of Integration and Deputy Prime Minister Katharina Binz called on the party base not to give up despite the current political headwind, but to stand up for the goals of the party. The EU asylum compromise hurts. But that doesn’t mean the Greens have given up on their beliefs. In Rhineland-Palatinate, too, the Greens do not have to make themselves small. The party has achieved more climate and environmental goals than were agreed in the coalition agreement with the SPD and FDP.
The Greens’ federal chairman Omid Nouripour said on the debate about the EU asylum compromise that he often heard that the party members “can go along very well if we explain the compromises and, above all, present the perspectives”. At the meeting in Idar-Oberstein, Nouripour explained that he did not very often hear from the members that the Greens were losing their core because of the debate.
“We agree that the conditions at the external borders are intolerable,” emphasized the Green politician. Now there is an agreement “which is certainly not historical”. It is a compromise that also includes tightening asylum law of a larger nature, which the Greens rejected. But there are also things that are going in the right direction. Now it’s about making improvements, for example in distribution. It is also necessary that all families with children are taken out of the so-called border procedure.
At the beginning of June, the EU states voted in favor of comprehensive reform plans. Asylum applications from migrants who come from countries of origin with a recognition rate of less than 20 percent are to be examined within twelve weeks at the EU’s external borders. During this time, they want to oblige those seeking protection to stay in strictly controlled reception facilities. Those who have no chance of asylum should be sent back immediately. The Greens in particular, but also the SPD, have criticized the compromise.
After intensive debate, the leading motion on Europe by the state executive committee chaired by Natalie Cramme-Hill and Paul Bunjes was accepted with a large majority. The paper is entitled “Rhineland-Palatinate: We in the heart of Europe”.
Live stream for the state delegate assembly of the Greens in Rhineland-Palatinate Agenda for the state delegate assembly of the Greens in Rhineland-Palatinate
