Hilde Vautmans

Hilde Vautmans (born 2 May 1972) is a Belgian politician of the Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since January 2015, representing the Dutch-speaking electoral college of Belgium.[1]

Hilde Vautmans

MEP
Member of the European Parliament
Assumed office
1 January 2015
Preceded byAnnemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck
ConstituencyDutch-speaking electoral college of Belgium
Personal details
Born2 May 1972 (1972-05-02) (age 48)
Sint-Truiden, Belgium
NationalityBelgian
Political partyOpen Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten
OccupationPolitician

Vautmans served as assistant to both senator Valère Vautmans, her uncle, and senator Stef Goris. She subsequently worked in the cabinet of Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, and helped him with legalising same-sex marriage in Belgium.[2]

She was elected President of the European Liberal Forum in September 2020.[3]

Political career

Member of the Belgian Parliament, 2003–2010

Vautmans served in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives from 2003 to 2010. She chaired the Committee on Foreign Affairs from September 2007 to July 2009 and was Open Vld group leader from July 2009 to June 2010. She was not re-elected in 2010.

Member of the European Parliament, 2014–present

Vautmans became Member of the European Parliament as successor to Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck, who resigned at the end of 2014. In the European Parliament, Vautmans is member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), the Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) and the delegation for relations with the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

In addition to her committee assignments, Vautmans is a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights;[4] the Elie Wiesel Network of Parliamentarians for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities and against Genocide Denial;[5] the MEPs Against Cancer group;[6] and the MEP Horse Group.[7]

Vautmans is also active in local politics in Sint-Truiden and previously in Hasselt.

Political positions

In 2020, Vautmans and Katalin Cseh initiated an open letter, in which a group of 23 members of the Renew Europe group called on Josep Borrell to push for coordinated sanctions targeted at Chinese leaders and officials responsible for human rights violations in the Xinjiang re-education camps and in Hong Kong.[8]

In a joint letter initiated by Norbert Röttgen and Anthony Gonzalez ahead of the 47th G7 summit in 2021, Vautmans joined some 70 legislators from Europe, the US and Japan in calling upon their leaders to take a tough stance on China and to "avoid becoming dependent" on the country for technology including artificial intelligence and 5G.[9]

References
  1. "Hilde VAUTMANS". europarl.europa.eu.
  2. "Hilde Vautmans, the MEP who helped bring gay marriage to Belgium".
  3. "https://www.liberalforum.eu/press-release-the-european-liberals-send-a-strong-message-of-unity-from-rome/". European Liberal Forum. 2020-09-28. Retrieved 2021-01-26. External link in |title= (help)
  4. Members European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights.
  5. Members of the Elie Wiesel Network European Grassroots Antiracist Movement (EGAM).
  6. MAC MEPs in the 2019-24 legislature MEPs Against Cancer.
  7. Sam Morgan (September 26, 2018), Spotted in Parliament: Tiny horse with big job EurActiv.
  8. Florian Eder (July 24, 2020), EU must sanction Chinese leaders involved in Uighur oppression, say legislators Politico Europe.
  9. Stuart Lau (January 25, 2021), G7 lawmakers tell leaders to ‘stand up’ to China Politico Europe.
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