Gabi Zimmer new head of GUE/NGL MEPs

She has vowed to maintain pressure for referenda across Europe on the Austerity Treaty

THE NEW CHAIRPERSON of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left MEPs has vowed to maintain pressure for referenda across Europe on the Austerity Treaty and she has criticised the undemocratic decision-making that produced it.

Gabi Zimmer MEP (Die Linke/Germany) has been elected to take over from Lothar Bisky, who has stood down due to health reasons. Gabi paid tribute to Lothar, thanking him for the role he has played not just within the Left in Europe but also in German politics since reunification. “Lothar Bisky will remain a central figure and one who deeply influenced this turning point in German history,” his colleague said.

She acknowledged the challenges facing progressive forces across the EU: “The Left in Europe faces enormous challenges in fighting the crisis and its consequences for people confronted with unemployment, poverty and austerity measures imposed all over Europe.”

Gabi Zimmer has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2004. Between 2000 and 2003 she was president of the German Left party PDS, which merged into Die Linke in 2007.

Since becoming an MEP in 2004, she has been active primarily on issues surrounding employment, the defence of workers’, trade union and social rights, the fight against poverty, the minimum income, gender equality, and anti-discrimination.

Her main political objectives are the fight against hunger, poverty, and social exclusion both within and outside the EU. As the European Parliament’s rapporteur on food security challenges in developing countries, her recent parliamentary work was in particular dedicated to achieving food and nutrition security.

In her role as chair of the GUE/NGL, she will also emphasise peace, environmental protection, human rights and development as key priorities.