New task

EU mandatary Waitz becomes agriculture spokesperson for the Greens

MEP Thomas Waitz(Bild: Europäisches Parlament/Serena Vittorini)

Austria's MEP Thomas Waitz has been appointed agriculture spokesperson for the European Greens in the EU Parliament. He will also coordinate the Agriculture Committee, the politician announced in a press release.

In this role, he will be responsible for "negotiations on dossiers, the agenda and coordination with the other political groups". According to his own statement, his demands for the agricultural sector are "cost-covering prices for food, a fundamental reform of EU subsidies and support for the transition to environmentally and animal-friendly agriculture."

Currently, "money is being poured into large-scale industry and factory farming". Other priorities are the reduction of pesticides, healthy and resilient forests and soils, animal welfare including animal transport, but also animal welfare labeling.

Organic farmer and forester
Waitz is an organic farmer and forester in Styria and has been a member of the European Parliament on and off since 2017. He was the Greens' runner-up in the European elections, but received significantly more votes than lead candidate Lena Schilling. As a result, he replaced her as head of the Brussels and Strasbourg delegations.