Board of Presidents

Ciarán Cuffe, President (MEP, Greens/EFA, Ireland)

In 2019, Ciarán was elected to the European Parliament. He is an MEP from Ireland and belongs to the Greens/EFA Group. He is a member of the ITRE and the TRAN committees.

Ciarán was elected President of EUFORES on 28 January 2020.

Niels Fuglsang, Vice-President (MEP, SnD, Denmark)

Niels has been elected to the European Parliament in summer 2019. He is member of the S&D group and member of ITRE.

Niels has been elected EUFORES Vice-President on 28 January 2020.

 

 

 

Outgoing Presidents of EUFORES

Theresa Griffin, President (MEP, S&D, United Kingdom)

In 2014, Theresa was elected to the European Parliament to represent the North West of England. She has been re-elected to the EP in 2019.

Theresa served as Vice-President of EUFORES since 2015 and became EUFORES President in July 2019.

Aligned to the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, Theresa was a full member and Labour Party Spokesperson for Industry, Research and Energy and a substitute member on the Transport and Tourism committee. 

Due to Brexit - a pubertarian accident of democracy - , Theresa had to step down as EUFORES President on 28 January 2020.

Jeppe Kofod, Former President (former MEP, S&D, Denmark)

Jeppe Kofod was nominated EUFORES President on 19 June 2018. He was EUFORES Vice-President since 2015. He was a Member of the European Parliament since 2014 and got re-elected in 2019 (S&D). Jeppe Kofod became Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark in June 2019 and as consequence stepped down as EUFORES President on 1 July 2019.

Honorary Presidents of EUFORES

Claude Turmes - Honorary President

Claude Turmes was President of EUFORES from 2010 until 20 June 2018. From 2003-2010 he was Vice-President of EUFORES. He has been a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 20 June 2018. Claude was appointed State Secretary for Sustainable Development and Infrastructure of the Government of Luxembourg on 20 June 2018 and later became Minister for Energy and Spatial Planning of Luxembourg.

Claude Turmes was Rapporteur in the ITRE committee for e.g. the Renewables Directive, the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund, for the Energy Efficiency Directive and of the Governance Directive of the Clean Energy Package. Beyond that, he was Shadow Rapporteur for manifold directives and reports.

Claude Turmes was a deputy for Luxembourg. He studied physical and sports education, and worked as a teacher from 1986-1999. Already then, he was actively involved in several environmental organisations in Luxembourg and at European level, especially focusing on energy policies.

Claude Turmes was appointed as Honorary President by the EUFORES Board in December 2018.

Mechtild Rothe - Honorary President

Mechtild Rothe was President of EUFORES from 2003-2009. She was a Member of the European Parliament from 1984-2009 in the PSE group and from January 2007 until July 2009 Vice-President of the European Parliament. Mechtild Rothe has always been a very prominent promoter of renewable energy sources.

 

Within the Parliament, Mechtild Rothe belonged to the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE). Several times, she was rapporteur for directives concerning renewable energy and energy efficiency. For example, she was the rapporteur for the Green and White Paper on Renewable Energies, for the EU Directive on Electricity from Renewable Energy Sources, for the Energy Efficiency Directive and for the Initiative Report on Heating and Cooling from renewable energy.

 

Mechtild Rothe is a German national.  Before joining the European Parliament in 1984, she worked as a Secondary School Teacher. After resigning from the active work as parliamentarian, she continued in her role as EUFORES President until the election of the EUFORES Board of Presidents in February 2010. During that election she was granted the title "Honorary President" of EUFORES to thank her for all the years of commitment to EUFORES and a sustainable energy future in Europe. She will remain close advisor to EUFORES as Honorary President.