Green wave over Europe – but Brexit blow

It is less than four months to the EUROPEAN elections. This chilly night has Green partigruppen in the european Parliament, invited the Brussels journalists to its annual dinner.

The greens ' poster child for the elections, the German To Keller, takes the floor:

– A great year lies ahead of us. Full of opportunities, " she says.

the Belgian Philippe Lamberts, one of the two chairman of the partigruppen, fill in:

– When the major political parties backing it will be green influence is greater. In the next parliament they will be forced to do more with us, " he says confidently.

on the home front. In Belgium and Germany and commute the green, which is not included in the governments, around 20 per cent in the polls.

It is not given that it rubs off on the EU-level. For example, the Brexit a setback when six british parliamentarians will leave partigruppen. The Swedish green party's poor poll lowers the forecast further. The last EUROPEAN elections, 2014, was fantastic for MP, with over 15 per cent of the votes.

A compilation of opinion polls indicate that the Greens can be reduced by a total of ten members to 42.

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in the european Parliament is Petra De Sutter from the flemish Groen. She is first on the list and believe that the mandates can be doubled compared with the last. Just as bright, it looks for systerpartiet in the Walloon region.

Politics becomes more polarized and the voters feel that we have the solutions to the problems that exist in society. We take from the social democrats, which unfortunately means that we fish in the same pond, " says Petra De Sutter.

Groen has been in the same seat as the Swedish green party.

– After we got into government in 1999 we were not even inröstade in parliament in the elections that followed. We were wiping out, remember the Petra De Sutter.

mep Margrete Auken, who represents the Socialist party and sat in the Green partigruppen since 2004.

– There is a driving force with us green to put us in the governments for we want to influence. And in a government you have to compromise, but not with the party's soul, " she says.

Margrete Auken is concerned about the Swedish green party's future, now when you re-set itself in a government and in addition are squashed by what she calls aggressive liberals and centerpartister.

and Sweden has, however, worked in Finland and Luxembourg. Where have the green parties able to govern in a coalition without being punished. Finnish mep Heidi Hautala has a theory that it's all about small countries, but the policy of blocs.

"Both parties and the voters believe it is important to be able to come together politically," she says.

in one of Brussels ' most beautiful art nouveau house, I hear French, English, Dutch, and German. But not Greek, Italian or any of the slavic languages.

For despite the fact that Green parties exist in nearly all european countries, for a languishing existence it also in the south and east.

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Therefore, the thrive of The greens in Germany – while the MP crates

the Meteorologist and the minister of culture, the peaks of the Green party's EU-valslista