Petra De Sutter

In the 2014 European elections, De Sutter was second on the list for the Flemish Green party. However, while the party gained votes, it missed its hold on an additional second seat. She was subsequently co-opted by her party for a seat in the Belgian Senate [2]. As a trans woman[1], she became the first openly transgender Belgian to be on a party election list.[3]

In addition to her role in the Senate, De Sutter served as member of the Belgian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 2014 until 2019. As member of the Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group, she was a member of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons; the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs; the Sub-Committee on Integration; the Sub-Committee on Public Health and Sustainable Development; and the Sub-Committee on Ethics. She served as the Assembly’s rapporteur on children’s rights in relation to surrogacy arrangements (2016);[4] on the use of new genetic technologies in human beings (2017);[5] and on the conditions of reception of refugees and migrants (2018).[6]

Since her political debut, De Sutter has tackled important issues: a regulation for surrogacy at a Belgian and European level, independent clinical research in the pharmaceutical industry, the risks of TTIP for consumer’s protection of food and chemicals, and standing up for rights for LGBT people [7].

On 15 September 2018 it was announced De Sutter was seeking nomination as one of the European Greens two lead candidates for the 2019 European Parliament elections, which eventually fell down to the Dutch Bas Eickhout and the German Ska Keller.[8] Since joining the Parliament, she has been chairing the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection; she is the first Green politician in this position.[9]

In addition to her committee assignments, De Sutter is part of the Parliament's delegation for relations with the countries of South Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka). She is also a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights[10] and co-chairs the MEPs Against Cancer group.[11]