Bruno Tobback (born 22 August 1969) is the former president of the Flemish

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

party

Vooruit Vooruit ( , ) is a historic complex in Ghent, Belgium. Vooruit was originally the festival and art centre of the Ghent-based labour movement, with a ballroom, cinema, theatre, etc. It is now mainly used for concerts and other cultural events ...

from 2011 to 2015. He was Minister of Environment and Pensions in the

Belgian federal government The Federal Government of Belgium ( ; ; ) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretaries of state ("junior", or deputy-ministers who do not sit in the Council of Ministers) drawn from the politi ...

from 2004 until 2007. He is the son of former minister and former mayor of

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

Louis Tobback. He is a Licentiate in Law (

Vrije Universiteit Brussel The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Dutch language, Dutch, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated VUB) is a Dutch- and English-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has four campuses: Brussels Humanities, Science and Engine ...

, 1992) and a Licentiate in Social and Economic Law ( UGent, 1994). He was a member of the

Flemish Parliament The Flemish Parliament (Dutch language, Dutch: , formerly called Flemish Council or ''Vlaamse Raad'') constitutes the legislature, legislative power in Flanders for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic reg ...

from 1995 to 2004. Bruno Tobback wishes to ban old-fashioned

incandescent light bulb An incandescent light bulb, also known as an incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe, is an electric light that produces illumination by Joule heating a #Filament, filament until it incandescence, glows. The filament is enclosed in a ...

s, and thinks the ban on incandescent light bulbs should be included in the list of measures under the

Kyoto Protocol The was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that global warming is oc ...

. He has a master's degree in Law (VUB, 1992) and a master's degree Social and Economic Law. He was the leader of the SP.a group in the Flemish Parliament. He was responsible for environment, conservation of nature and mobility. On 18 September 2008, he was badly injured after a fall during mountain climbing in Austria, after which he was taken to hospital with several cracks in the skull and multiple fractures. His girlfriend Vicky Willems managed to encounter his fall, as they were linked to each other with a cord. On 2 July 2009, he followed Peter Vanvelthoven, who was the new leader of the sp.a group in the Flemish Parliament, as the group leader of sp.a in the federal Chamber of Representatives. In 2011, he was a candidate to succeed Caroline Gennez as the president of sp.a. Being the only candidate, he was elected on 18 September 2011 in Nieuwpoort at a congress, with 96.6% of all votes. In the June 2015 leadership election, following the party's poor results in the 2014 general elections, he was defeated by John Crombez.

Honours

* Grand Officer Order of Leopoldarrêtés royaux du 21 mai 2014

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tobback, Bruno 1969 births Flemish politicians Ghent University alumni Living people Members of the 52nd Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the 53rd Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the Flemish Parliament MEPs for Belgium 2024–2029 Vrije Universiteit Brussel alumni Vooruit (political party) MEPs Vooruit (political party) politicians