EU parliament's youngest lawmaker eyes re-election

When Kira Peter-Hansen took her seat in the European Parliament, aged 21, she was mistaken for an intern. Now the legislature's youngest member is 26 and eyeing a second mandate in June elections, aiming mainly to defend the EU's climate initiative.

A Danish lawmaker with the leftwing Greens group, Peter-Hansen entered the parliament five years ago, still a university student at the time and the youngest member in the chamber's history.

She is part of a small cohort of lawmakers who fall outside the 40-60 age range solidly represented in the chamber.

In the current 705-member parliament, she is one of just 13 MEPs who are under 30 — fewer than those aged 70-plus, who hold 27 of the seats.

Initially, "it felt very overwhelming," she said. "It was crazy."

She experienced "some looks", and "some guards who thought I'm an intern and wanted me to go in a different entrance".

But it has not stopped her playing her part in shaping EU legislation, such as its ambitious climate action plan.

"I think you can be a good MEP without having 40 years of life experience," she told AFP.

It has also been a learning experience, with its share of frustrations — among them the bureaucracy, and the European Parliament's near-monthly habit of travelling from its regular Brussels base to the French city of Strasbourg for plenary sessions.

But, Peter-Hansen said, her first term brought its share of legislative achievements, including what she described as concrete progress on fighting climate change.

The EU's landmark Green Deal sets bold plans for reducing planet-warming emissions — but has fuelled angry protests by farmers.

"I do think we're making very good legislation," Peter-Hansen said.

Now she is looking to secure a second mandate in EU elections that will take place across the bloc June 6-9.

Worries for Green Deal

Navigating the "very different" national cultures in the parliament — where MEPs hail from the EU's 27 countries — has opened her eyes to different political styles and priorities.

The French determination to keep Strasbourg as the parliament's official location was understandable from a historical point of view, she said.

The French city sits on the border with Germany and having the legislature there is a symbol of postwar European unity — as well as a regular economic bonus for Strasbourg's hotels and restaurants.

But, Peter-Hansen added, "personally, I think we should stop travelling from Brussels to Strasbourg".

The carbon footprint the regular MEP pilgrimage entails, the logistics and the cost to European taxpayers meant "we should find a way where we can be in one place for a longer time," she said.

The Dane said she shares the same worries about the upcoming elections held by many of the mainstream MEPs in the parliament.

They are confronted with surveys showing that far-right parties are going to make substantial inroads in the next legislature, which will have 720 representatives.

While centrist groupings will still dominate, their influence will likely be whittled down by the bigger proportion of extreme-right MEPs, many of whom oppose immigration, promote nationalism and question tenets of European unity.

Peter-Hansen said her main concern was that the EU's Green Deal could be put in jeopardy by the far-right.

It has been courting disgruntled farmers and other segments of the electorate who feel left behind by global trade and Brussels' policies.

"I think this is an election where you have to decide: do you want to continue the EU Green Deal, or do you want to stop it? Or do you want to roll it back completely?" she said.

"As it looks now, it will be a very difficult majority to find in order to continue the green transition."