Bart Hubert Wilfried Marcel Staes (; born 7 August 1958), is a Belgian politician who served as a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

for

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

from 1999 until 2019. He is a member of

Groen Groen or de Groen is a surname of Dutch people, Dutch origin, meaning ''green''.European Greens The European Green Party (EGP), also referred to as European Greens, is a transnational, European political party representing national parties from across Europe who share Green values. The European Greens works closely with the Greens–Eur ...

. After studying in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and qualifying as a teacher (Dutch/English/Economics), Staes turned to politics, beginning his political career in the Volksunie, which later became Spirit. Following the formation of the electoral alliance (''cartel'') between Spirit and the

Socialistische Partij Anders Vooruit (, Dutch language, Dutch for Forward) is a Flanders, Flemish Social democracy, social democratic list of political parties in Belgium, political party in Belgium. It was formerly known as the (Flemish) Socialist Party (1978–2001: ''Soci ...

(sp.a) in 2002, Staes moved to join Agalev (as it was then known; today, Groen). He has been a Member of the European Parliament continuously since 1999, at first for the Volksunie, later Spirit and now Groen. His particular interests are the environment and peace movements.

European Parliament

Staes was first elected into the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

and was reelected, as only member from his party, in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

. During his time in parliament, he was part of

The Greens–European Free Alliance ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

transnational political group together with MEPs for the

GreenLeft (, ; GL) is a green political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and the ...

. He served on the

Committee on Budgetary Control The Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) is a Committees of the European Parliament, committee of the European Parliament. with 30 permanent members. It can be seen as the European Union's internal "political watchdog", seeking to identify undesi ...

and the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.

Political career

His political career started with membership of the Volksunie. With the collapse of that party in 2002 he joined Agalev, as it was then known, now Groen. His party roles and Parliamentary service record include the following: *Member Party Council VolksunieJongeren (1980–1981) and (1984–1987) *Member of the VU-party-council (1984–1987) and (1995–2001) *Second follower VU-senate list (1995–1999) *Member Spirit-party presidency (2001–2002) *Mandatory of Agalev/Groen (July 2002 - ) *Member of party council of Groen (2003 - ) *Member of European parliament (1999 - ) *Member of fraction Greens/European Free Alliance (Groenen/Europese Vrije Alliantie) *Member of Budget Control Commission *Instant member of Commission Environmental gestion, Public Health and Food security *Member of Parliamentary cooperative commission EU-Russia *Instant member of Parliamentary cooperative commission EU-Central-Asia *Initiator of the Intergroup Chechnya *Author of manifesto from the Gravensteengroep

Timeline

*13 June 1999 – : Flag of Europe

Member of European Parliament

Publications

*Published ''Het vlees is zwak'' with , Hadewijch, Antwerp, 1996 *''Echo's voor een ander Europa'', Houtekiet, Antwerp, 2004 *''Voor een ander Europa'', Houtekiet, Antwerp, 2009 *''GGO's: Droom of werkelijkheid'', Houtekiet, Antwerp, 2012

External links

* * 1958 births Living people People from Izegem Groen (political party) MEPs Groen (political party) politicians MEPs for Belgium 1999–2004 MEPs for Belgium 2004–2009 MEPs for Belgium 2009–2014 MEPs for Belgium 2014–2019 {{Flanders-politician-stub