Daniel Cohn-Bendit

Daniel Marc Cohn-Bendit (born April 4, 1945) was a leader of the student protesters during May 1968 in France. He is currently co-president of the group European Greens - European Free Alliance in the European Parliament.

European MP

In 1994, he was elected to the European parliament, although he had been placed on the eigth rank only on the electoral list, because of his support of military intervention in Bosnia, German Greens at the time not supporting the resuming of German military intervention abroad.

Related Topics:
1994 - Bosnia

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At the next European elections in 1999 he reentered French politics as the leader of the French Green Party (Les Verts) list. He found considerable support in the French media, who often feature him, even when he does not represent or is at odds with the French Green party. He reached percentage of 9,72 of votes, a score since then unequaled by French Greens.

Related Topics:
1999 - Les Verts

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In 2002 he became president of the Green parliamentary group, together with the European orthodox anti-leftist Monica Frassoni.

Related Topics:
2002 - Monica Frassoni

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Throughout the Nineties and early 2000's, Cohn-Bendit attracted controversy for his independent views, from the Right for being a strong proponent of freer immigration, the legalization of soft drugs, and the abandonment of nuclear power, from the Left for his pro-free market policies, supporting military interventions in Bosnia and Afghanistan, and frequent collaboration with centrist personalities (Bernard Kouchner, François Bayrou...).

Related Topics:
Nineties - 2000's - Immigration - Soft drug - Nuclear power - Free market - Bosnia - Afghanistan - Bernard Kouchner - François Bayrou

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His disregard for conventional European politics of Left and Right has made him more unpopular in France than in Germany. The French Green Party and the French Left in general remain more attached to these distinctions, whereas in the German Green Party, the moderate Realo wing had already won over the hardline Fundi wing, possible alliances with the Conservatives were no longer taboo, and "Blairist" policies under the center-left Schröder government, such as Agenda 2010 and the Hartz I - IV laws, found considerable support. He was also accused of not giving to the French party the percentage of income that all MEPs and other elected members are supposed to give to their party, although the party had officially agreed to exempt him before his first election in France. This, alongside his pro-European attitudes, led him to participate to the 2004 European elections on the German side, where he became the first male candidate on the list.

Related Topics:
French Green Party - German Green Party - Realo - Fundi - Schröder - Agenda 2010 - Hartz I - IV - MEPs - 2004

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In February 2004, in the context of the preparation of his electoral campaign and in the wider context of the final drafting of the European constitution, to which his friend Joschka Fischer directly participated as German minister of foreign affairs, he led the foundation of the European Green Party in Rome, which he described as the first stone of European citizenship. Other commentators described this new structure as a mere adaptation of the former Federation of European Green Parties, only delegates from national parties being allowed to vote, individual supporters being only entitled to receive information, and all other federations of European parties having had to adapt their statuses later in 2004 to the newly edicted regulations from the European Commission about European political parties in order to continue receive public fundings. However Cohn-Bendit as usual was early and energetic in presenting this innovation to the media.

Related Topics:
2004 - European constitution - Joschka Fischer - European Green Party - European Commission - European political parties

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During this congress in Rome he also confirmed his involvement in favour of free software. He publicly confessed not understanding much about computer terms, but supporting license-free software as part of a stronger market economy.

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In 2005 he took an active part in the campaign in favour of the European constitution during the French referendum. The treaty was considered by a large part of the Left as the European version of globalization, and Cohn-Bendit became loathed by the campaigners against the treaty as one of the symbols of Center-Left leaders collaborating with neo-liberalism through international institutions, along with Pascal Lamy from the Socialist Party. He also singled himself out by appearing publicly with right-wing leaders, contrarily to the tactics adopted by the French Green party and the Center-Left during that campaign.

Related Topics:
2005 - European constitution - Globalization - Neo-liberalism - Pascal Lamy - Socialist Party - French Green party

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