About Thomas Waitz - Thomas Waitz

About Thomas Waitz

The EU will face unbelievable challenges in the coming decades. The next ten years will be decisive in whether we will manage to contain the effects of the climate crisis. This is why I am wholeheartedly fighting for a green, socially just and progressive Europe.

As the son of a railwayman, I grew up in a working-class family in Vienna. Since 1994 I have been working on a mountain farm in southern Styria. The first coalition of the Conservative party ÖVP with the far-right party FPÖ motivated me to get in touch with the Green Party Austria for the first time. As one of three MEPs, I have been representing the Greens Austria in the European Parliament since 2017. Prior to that, I was a green activist for years, on the board of the Green Education Foundation in Styria and chairman of the Green Farmers’ Association.

I have always been interested in European politics, and so in 2004 I became a delegate for the Greens at the annual congress of the European Green Party (EGP) for the first time. The EGP is the federation of all green parties in Europe. I always loved working on European issues together with people all over Europe, in different working groups and networks, and to find common green positions. In 2019 I was elected co-chair of the European Green Party.

One of the primary drivers of my work is the respect for my fellow human beings, the environment, and all other fellow creatures. My topics range from climate protection, the agricultural turnaround and good food, biodiversity, protection of our forests and rivers, animal welfare and the fight against animal transport, to EU foreign and peace policy, especially regarding relations with the Western Balkans.

When I’m not attending committee meetings in the European Parliament, I work and live on my farm, where my partner and I produce organic honey from more than 70 beehives.

 

» Every product imported into the EU has to fulfil the same standards as European products, which should be in line with environmental protection, pesticide use and fair wages for workers, «

- Thomas Waitz in euractiv am 2020-07-08

My Team

Mona Sefen

Foreign Policy Advisor

Western Balkan Delegations

Ricarda Pfingstl

Digital Communications

Clara Schweighofer

Head of Office Vienna

Policy Advisor for Animal Transport

Simon Bauer

Policy Advisor for Agriculture

Climate and Environment

Matea Zlatković

Social Media Officer



driven km per train since 2017-11-17

News

New Report on EU military greening …

When assessing the effectiveness of military greening policies in the EU the military is commonly excluded from discussions on environmental performance indicators

Better european rules for animals …

The European Commission has added the topic of live animal transport to its agenda. The European Parliament and NGOs must continue to...

Revealed: Suffering on Pig-Farms

In 2021, 141 million pigs were kept on farms in the EU. A large proportion of them live at least part of...