Marc Botenga (born 29 December 1980) is a Belgian politician of the

Workers' Party of Belgium The Workers' Party of Belgium (PTB-PVDA) is a Marxist and socialist political party in Belgium. It is the only Belgian party represented in parliament that is a fully national party, representing both Flanders and Wallonia. Having historically be ...

''(PVDA-PTB)''. In 2019, he was elected as member of the

Ninth European Parliament The ninth European Parliament was elected during the 2019 European Parliament election, 2019 elections and sat until the tenth European Parliament was sworn in on 16 July 2024. Major events *23–26 May 2019 **2019 European Parliament elec ...

as part of

The Left in the European Parliament The Left in the European Parliament (The Left) is a left-wing Political groups of the European Parliament, political group of the European Parliament established in 1995. Prior to January 2021 it was named the European United Left/Nordic Green L ...

party group. Botenga is the first MEP to be chosen for the PVDA-PTB.

Biography

Botenga studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

at the

Université libre de Bruxelles The (French language, French, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated ULB) is a French-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has three campuses: the ''Solbosch'' campus (in the City of Brussels and Ixelles), the ''Plain ...

. In 1998 he engaged in the movement advocating for the step-down of then Belgian Minister of the Interior

Louis Tobback Louis Marie Joseph Tobback (born 3 May 1938) is a Belgian politician. Tobback is a Flemish social democrat and member of the political party SP.A. He was the mayor of Leuven (1995–2018) He graduated in Romance philology at the Vrije Univer ...

, following the killing of asylum seeker Semira Adamu by police officers. Later, he participated in workers' mobilization against the close-down of the ''Forges de Clabecq'' iron works. In the wake of the

European debt crisis The euro area crisis, often also referred to as the eurozone crisis, European debt crisis, or European sovereign debt crisis, was a multi-year debt crisis and financial crisis in the European Union (EU) from 2009 until, in Greece, 2018. The e ...

beginning in 2010, Botenga began to become more involved in European politics, participating in actions of political support for

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. In 2016, he became the political advisor of the European GUE/NGL parliamentary group. He is a member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and the delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.

Member of the European Parliament

Botenga is 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 ...

since the

2019 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2019. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems has a calendar of upcoming elections around the world, and the National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections in cou ...

with The Left group. He is member on the

Committee on Industry, Research and Energy A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

and the Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.

References

MEPs for Belgium 2019–2024 MEPs for Belgium 2024–2029 Workers' Party of Belgium MEPs 1980 births Living people Workers' Party of Belgium politicians {{Belgium-MEP-stub

Biography

Member of the European Parliament

See also

References