Antoine Waechter
Encyclopedia
Antoine Waechter is a French politician, leader of the Independent Ecological Movement
, born on February 11, 1949 in Mulhouse
(Haut-Rhin
)
, (Haut-Rhin
). He began activism early, and by 1965 had found the Mulhouse chapter of the Young Friends of Animals. His doctoral dissertation at Louis Pasteur University
in Strasbourg
focused on "ethology and ecology of the Beech Marten
." In the late 1960s and 1970s, he fought for the preservation of wildlife and natural areas across Franch, such as reintroducing beavers in Alsace
and arguing against road construction or industrial sites in and around Vanoise National Park
. He became regional president and then secretary general of the Alsace Federation within the Regional Association for the Protection of Nature (which was the regional branch of the French Federation of Humane Societies of Nature and Environment, now called France Nature Environment).
and Henri Jenn in 1973, Waechter participated in the beginnings of one of the first environmental political movements in France: Ecology and Survival (Écologie et Survie). He was also a member of the Ecological Movement
founded in after the 1974 presidential candidacy
of René Dumont
. Beginning with their inception in 1984, Waechter was one of four national spokespeople for the Greens
.
Waechter was the face of the l'écologie n'est pas à marier campaign that helped his followers win a majority in the general meeting of the Greens in 1986. This movement within the Greens reaffirmed the strict autonomy as well as ideological and electoral independence following entreaties by the "left of the left" led by Yves Cochet
. Because of this intra-party support, Waechter was one of the most influential figures in the Green Party until his departure in 1994. He was also the Green candidate in the presidential election of 1988
, receiving 3.78% of the vote in the first round, ranking behind André Lajoinie
(French Communist Party
) and before Peter Juquin (splinter of the French Communist Party
).
In March 1989 he became a municipal councillor in Mulhouse. At the same time, Waechter’s 1988 campaign manager, Jean-Louis Vidal, became the first Green elected in Paris
, illustrating the Greens were viable in major cities. Three months later, in June 1989, the list Waechter led for European elections
obtained 10.8% of the vote (1,922,945 votes) and 9 seats, the best result ever obtained by the Greens in EP elections until 2009. He then became a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). In March 1992, the Greens and Ecology Generation (led by Brice Lalonde
) each obtained about 7% of the vote, and Waechter became a councillor in the Alsace Regional Council
.
, Dominique Voynet
, who was the spokesperson of opposition, defeated Waechter for the leadership of the Greens. In Lille and under the leadership of Voyent, the Greens decided to negotiate electoral alliances during the first round of the presidential election exclusively with the Left
. It marked the end for the theory of Ni Ni, which argued that the Greens could align themselves with one side or the other depending on the offers made. This change of strategy, and the ensuing tensions within the movement, led to the departure of Waechter from the Greens. He then founded the Independent Ecological Movement
(Mouvement Ecologiste Indépendant - MEI) in 1994, which hoped to replace the Greens as the major Green party. However, due to the Green's electoral deals with larger parties, MEI failed to garner more than a few hundred supporters. MEI claimed to be purely ecologist, and neither on the left or right. The next year, Waechter failed to win enough endorsements to be a candidate in the 1995 French presidential election
.
After leaving the Greens, Waechter practically disappeared from the French political scene for years. He attempted to be a candidate in every presidential election since 1995, but never obtained the required signatures of elected officials. (The MEI eventually chose author and TV reporter Nicolas Hulot
as its candidate in 2007, however Hulot withdrew after five of the 12 candidates in the French Presidential election signed the "Pacte Ecologique", affirming that ecological problems would be the key in all the future decisions concerning every political subject.) By virtue of the sheer number of Green supporters and elected representatives, the Greens have maintained the political visibility MEI has never been able to obtain. During Waechter’s participation in the Green’s journées d'été in August 2003, the French press openly wondered whether he would rejoin the movement he had left nine years earlier. Later, in 2005, Waechter came out in favor of a yes vote on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
referendum, whereas the majority of MEI voted no in an internal referendum. He replaced his opponents in the National Council, which brought a slew of departures of members and officials, some of whom rejoined the Greens and attended public meetings organized by the right.
Nevertheless, Waechter remained politically visible in the Alsace region, where the MEI list he led in the 2004 regional elections
passed the 5% threshold. This showing by MEI was made possible because no list was put forward by the Greens, who had integrated themselves with the Socialist Party
list. As for the European elections of 2009
, after negotiations with Europe Écologie
did not offer Waechter the head of its list in the Centre region, he joined the Independent Ecological Alliance
(Alliance écologiste indépendante - AEI), under the movement La France en Action. In the end, AEI earned 3.63% of the votes cast nationally, while Europe Écologie won 16.28%. In November 2009, Waechter announced that MEI would rejoin Europe Écologie in Alsace for the 2010 regional elections
. Second on the list in the Haut-Rhin area behind spokeswoman of the Greens Djamila Sonzogni, Waechter was elected in the second round after agreeing to a merger with Socialist Party list.
Independent Ecological Movement
The Independent Ecological Movement is a political party in France founded by Antoine Waechter, former presidential candidate of The Greens in 1994. The MEI hoped to replaced the Greens as the major green party, but due to the Green's electoral deals with larger parties, it failed to do so...
, born on February 11, 1949 in Mulhouse
Mulhouse
Mulhouse |mill]] hamlet) is a city and commune in eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. With a population of 110,514 and 278,206 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2006, it is the largest city in the Haut-Rhin département, and the second largest in the Alsace region after...
(Haut-Rhin
Haut-Rhin
Haut-Rhin is a département of the Alsace region of France, named after the Rhine river. Its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less populated of the two departements of Alsace, although is still densely populated compared to the rest of France.-Subdivisions:The department...
)
Early Activism
Antoine Waechter was born on 11 February 1949 in MulhouseMulhouse
Mulhouse |mill]] hamlet) is a city and commune in eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. With a population of 110,514 and 278,206 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2006, it is the largest city in the Haut-Rhin département, and the second largest in the Alsace region after...
, (Haut-Rhin
Haut-Rhin
Haut-Rhin is a département of the Alsace region of France, named after the Rhine river. Its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less populated of the two departements of Alsace, although is still densely populated compared to the rest of France.-Subdivisions:The department...
). He began activism early, and by 1965 had found the Mulhouse chapter of the Young Friends of Animals. His doctoral dissertation at Louis Pasteur University
Louis Pasteur University
Louis Pasteur University , also known as Strasbourg I or ULP was a large university in Strasbourg, Alsace, France. As of January 15, 2007, there were 18,847 students enrolled at the university, including around 3,000 foreign students. Research and teaching at ULP concentrates on the natural...
in Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
focused on "ethology and ecology of the Beech Marten
Beech Marten
The beech marten , also known as the stone marten or white breasted marten, is a species of marten native to much of Europe and Central Asia, though it has established a feral population in North America. It is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN on account of its wide distribution, its large...
." In the late 1960s and 1970s, he fought for the preservation of wildlife and natural areas across Franch, such as reintroducing beavers in Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
and arguing against road construction or industrial sites in and around Vanoise National Park
Vanoise National Park
Vanoise National Park , is a French national park in the Tarentaise Valley in the French Alps, created in 1963 after mobilization from the environmentalist movement against a touristic project. It was the first French national park. This park is in the département of Savoie...
. He became regional president and then secretary general of the Alsace Federation within the Regional Association for the Protection of Nature (which was the regional branch of the French Federation of Humane Societies of Nature and Environment, now called France Nature Environment).
Green Politics
Joined by Solange FernexSolange Fernex
Solange Fernex was a French pacifist activist and politician, born on 15 April 1934 at Strasbourg, France, and died from cancer on 11 September 2006, at Biederthal, France.She led Europe-Ecologie list for the first European elections in 1979...
and Henri Jenn in 1973, Waechter participated in the beginnings of one of the first environmental political movements in France: Ecology and Survival (Écologie et Survie). He was also a member of the Ecological Movement
Political ecology
Political ecology is the study of the relationships between political, economic and social factors with environmental issues and changes. Political ecology differs from apolitical ecological studies by politicizing environmental issues and phenomena....
founded in after the 1974 presidential candidacy
French presidential election, 1974
Presidential elections were held in :France in 1974, following the death of President Georges Pompidou. They went to a second round, and were won by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing by a margin of 1.6%...
of René Dumont
René Dumont
René Dumont was a French engineer in agronomy, a sociologist, and an environmental politician.He was born in Cambrai, Nord, in the north of France. His father was a professor in agriculture and his grandfather was a farmer. He graduated from the INA P-G, as an engineer in agronomy...
. Beginning with their inception in 1984, Waechter was one of four national spokespeople for the Greens
The Greens (France)
The Greens were a Green political party to the centre-left of the political spectrum in France. They had officially been in existence since 1984, but their spiritual roots could be traced as far back as René Dumont’s candidacy for the presidency in 1974...
.
Waechter was the face of the l'écologie n'est pas à marier campaign that helped his followers win a majority in the general meeting of the Greens in 1986. This movement within the Greens reaffirmed the strict autonomy as well as ideological and electoral independence following entreaties by the "left of the left" led by Yves Cochet
Yves Cochet
Yves Cochet is a French politician, member of The Greens. He was minister in the government of Lionel Jospin.He wrote Apocalypse pétrole which was published in 2005.-External links:*...
. Because of this intra-party support, Waechter was one of the most influential figures in the Green Party until his departure in 1994. He was also the Green candidate in the presidential election of 1988
French presidential election, 1988
Presidential elections were held in France on 24 April and 8 May 1988.In 1981, the Socialist Party leader, François Mitterrand, was elected President of France and the Left won the legislative election. However, in 1986, the Right regained a parliamentary majority. President Mitterrand was forced...
, receiving 3.78% of the vote in the first round, ranking behind André Lajoinie
André Lajoinie
André Lajoinie is a French politician, and a member of the French Communist Party .He was a member of the French National Assembly for Allier from 1978 to 1993, then from 1997 to 2002, and was president of the Communist group in the Assembly from 1981 to 1993.A close collaborator of party leader...
(French Communist Party
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
) and before Peter Juquin (splinter of the French Communist Party
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
).
In March 1989 he became a municipal councillor in Mulhouse. At the same time, Waechter’s 1988 campaign manager, Jean-Louis Vidal, became the first Green elected in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, illustrating the Greens were viable in major cities. Three months later, in June 1989, the list Waechter led for European elections
European Parliament election, 1989
The 1989 European Parliamentary Election was a European election held across the 12 European Community member states in June 1989. It was third European election but the first time that Spain and Portugal voted at the same time as the other members...
obtained 10.8% of the vote (1,922,945 votes) and 9 seats, the best result ever obtained by the Greens in EP elections until 2009. He then became a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). In March 1992, the Greens and Ecology Generation (led by Brice Lalonde
Brice Lalonde
Brice Lalonde is a former green party leader in France, who ran for President of France in the Presidential elections, 1981. In 1988 he was named Minister of the Environment, and in 1990 founded the green party Ecology Generation...
) each obtained about 7% of the vote, and Waechter became a councillor in the Alsace Regional Council
Alsace Regional Council
The Alsace Regional Council is the Conseil régional of Alsace . It is chaired by Philippe Richert. It includes 47 members.-By party:-2004:-1998:-1992:-1986:-Past Presidents:* André Bord * Pierre Schiélé...
.
Split from the Greens, Creation of MEI
During the 1993 general meeting of the Greens in LilleLille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
, Dominique Voynet
Dominique Voynet
Dominique Voynet was a French senator for the département of Seine-Saint-Denis, the mayor of Montreuil and a member of The Greens.-Life:...
, who was the spokesperson of opposition, defeated Waechter for the leadership of the Greens. In Lille and under the leadership of Voyent, the Greens decided to negotiate electoral alliances during the first round of the presidential election exclusively with the Left
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
. It marked the end for the theory of Ni Ni, which argued that the Greens could align themselves with one side or the other depending on the offers made. This change of strategy, and the ensuing tensions within the movement, led to the departure of Waechter from the Greens. He then founded the Independent Ecological Movement
Independent Ecological Movement
The Independent Ecological Movement is a political party in France founded by Antoine Waechter, former presidential candidate of The Greens in 1994. The MEI hoped to replaced the Greens as the major green party, but due to the Green's electoral deals with larger parties, it failed to do so...
(Mouvement Ecologiste Indépendant - MEI) in 1994, which hoped to replace the Greens as the major Green party. However, due to the Green's electoral deals with larger parties, MEI failed to garner more than a few hundred supporters. MEI claimed to be purely ecologist, and neither on the left or right. The next year, Waechter failed to win enough endorsements to be a candidate in the 1995 French presidential election
French presidential election, 1995
Presidential elections took place in France on 23 April and 7 May 1995, to elect the fifth president of the Fifth Republic.The incumbent Socialist president, François Mitterrand, did not stand for a third term. He was 78, had cancer, and his party had lost the previous legislative election in a...
.
After leaving the Greens, Waechter practically disappeared from the French political scene for years. He attempted to be a candidate in every presidential election since 1995, but never obtained the required signatures of elected officials. (The MEI eventually chose author and TV reporter Nicolas Hulot
Nicolas Hulot
Nicolas Hulot is the founder and president of the Fondation Nicolas-Hulot, an environmental group first created in 1990....
as its candidate in 2007, however Hulot withdrew after five of the 12 candidates in the French Presidential election signed the "Pacte Ecologique", affirming that ecological problems would be the key in all the future decisions concerning every political subject.) By virtue of the sheer number of Green supporters and elected representatives, the Greens have maintained the political visibility MEI has never been able to obtain. During Waechter’s participation in the Green’s journées d'été in August 2003, the French press openly wondered whether he would rejoin the movement he had left nine years earlier. Later, in 2005, Waechter came out in favor of a yes vote on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe , , was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European Union...
referendum, whereas the majority of MEI voted no in an internal referendum. He replaced his opponents in the National Council, which brought a slew of departures of members and officials, some of whom rejoined the Greens and attended public meetings organized by the right.
Nevertheless, Waechter remained politically visible in the Alsace region, where the MEI list he led in the 2004 regional elections
French regional elections, 2004
Regional elections in were held in France on 21 and 28 March 2004. At stake were the presidencies of each of France's 26 regions which, although they do not have legislative powers, manage sizeable budgets...
passed the 5% threshold. This showing by MEI was made possible because no list was put forward by the Greens, who had integrated themselves with the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (France)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...
list. As for the European elections of 2009
European Parliament election, 2009 (France)
European elections to elect 72 French Members of the European Parliament were held on Sunday 7 June 2009.Due to the entry of Romania and Bulgaria in the European Union in 2007, the number of seats allocated to France was revised from 78 seats to 72 seats, a loss of 6 seats...
, after negotiations with Europe Écologie
Europe Écologie
Europe Écologie was a French electoral coalition created for the 2009 European elections composed of The Greens and other ecologists and regionalists....
did not offer Waechter the head of its list in the Centre region, he joined the Independent Ecological Alliance
Independent Ecological Alliance
The Independent Ecological Alliance is a French electoral coalition originally created to participate in the 2009 European elections composed of the Independent Ecological Movement, Ecology Generation, and France in Action.-2009 European elections:...
(Alliance écologiste indépendante - AEI), under the movement La France en Action. In the end, AEI earned 3.63% of the votes cast nationally, while Europe Écologie won 16.28%. In November 2009, Waechter announced that MEI would rejoin Europe Écologie in Alsace for the 2010 regional elections
French regional elections, 2010
Regional elections were held in France on 14 and 21 March 2010. At stake were the presidencies of each of France's 26 régions, which, though they do not have legislative autonomy, manage sizable budgets....
. Second on the list in the Haut-Rhin area behind spokeswoman of the Greens Djamila Sonzogni, Waechter was elected in the second round after agreeing to a merger with Socialist Party list.
Offices
- MEPMember of the European ParliamentA Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
(1989-1991) - AlsaceAlsaceAlsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
regional councillor (1986-1989 and 1992-1998) - Vice President of the Alsace Regional CouncilAlsace Regional CouncilThe Alsace Regional Council is the Conseil régional of Alsace . It is chaired by Philippe Richert. It includes 47 members.-By party:-2004:-1998:-1992:-1986:-Past Presidents:* André Bord * Pierre Schiélé...
(1989-1991 and 1992-1998) - MulhouseMulhouseMulhouse |mill]] hamlet) is a city and commune in eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. With a population of 110,514 and 278,206 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2006, it is the largest city in the Haut-Rhin département, and the second largest in the Alsace region after...
municipal councillor (1989-1994) - FullerenFullerenFulleren is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
municipal councillor since March 2001