Running for the European Parliament election list for the German Grüne

For most of the past two years I have poured all of my political energy into transport policy topics – the Trains for Europe campaign, and the #CrossBorderRail project. And this website that has become a kind of hub for my railway commentary.

At one level that has all worked very well – I have built up expertise in the field of the politics of European railways, I have taken my arguments to wider audiences with media work with New York Times, Spiegel and NPO, among others.

But at another level, these are predominantly political problems, and they hence need political answers. And political answers in the EU.

Transport is the only sector of Europe’s economy where CO2 emissions are still rising – and so further EU action in this area is a matter of urgency. We need to get passengers out of planes and cars, and into trains, and do that EU-wide, and including cross border.

I am going to try to work toward that end by running for elected office – I am seeking a place on the European Parliament election list of German Grüne (Greens). The composition of the list is going to be decided at a party congress 23-26 November in Karlsruhe.

I have been a member of the Grüne for almost a decade, and have worked to improve the EU policies of the party. I ran for the EP list in 2018, unsuccessfully (you can find the speech I gave at the congress then here), but my determination has not reduced. At the Europakongress in March this year my proposal that the EU should use open data to facilitate platforms to allow any train anywhere in the EU to be easily booked was ranked first among the thirty five ideas at the event – and now will go forward into the election manifesto. And as I can draw on the knowledge and experience of all my campaigning work, I am well placed to make a difference, were I to be successful.

This website will remain dedicated to my rail commentary, and will stay in English. All the communication about my European Parliament bid will be in German, and can be found at europawahl.jonworth.eu and here is a quick video explaining why I am running:

Some of the content on social networks – notably on Mastodon – will switch to a more party political focus for the duration of the campaign. And if you can help out in any way – notably by inviting me to events anywhere in Germany – then I would be very grateful.

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