Pierre Jonckheer

Who is Pierre Jonckheer?

Pierre Jonckheer is a Belgian economist and politician, member of the Belgian French-speaking Green party, Ecolo.

He grew up in Wallonia and Brussels and studied Economics at the Catholic University of Louvain. During his studies he became an activist in student movements linked to the "Third World" as well as the left radical political movement. He graduated in 1974 and became an assistant professor in the department of Economics of the Catholic University of Louvain. He then worked closely with different NGOs and in 1982 spent 3 months in Sri Lanka where he discovered the dismal working conditions of the Tamils. From 1984 to 1991, Pierre Jonckheer worked as a researcher, for OSE then became its director. In 1986 he joined Ecolo and in December 1991 he became provincial senator and in 1995, led the Ecolo list for the Senate. During his 8 years as senator, he specialised in European politics. In 1999, he was elected to the European Parliament and was re-elected in 2004. In 2008, he co-founded the Green European Foundation.