Karima Delli (born 4 March 1979 in

Roubaix Roubaix ( or ; nl, Robaais; vls, Roboais) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, which grew rapidly in the 19th century ...

, Nord) is a French politician and

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

elected in the 2009 European election,

2014 European elections Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrel ...

and in the 2019 European elections for the

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constituency.

Early life and career

Born to

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n parents, she grew up in poor conditions in

Tourcoing Tourcoing (; nl, Toerkonje ; vls, Terkoeje; pcd, Tourco) is a city in northern France on the Belgian border. It is designated municipally as a Communes of France, commune within the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), ...

as the ninth child in the family of 13. She obtained a

Master of Advanced Studies A Master of Advanced Studies or Master of Advanced Study (MAS, M.A.S., or MASt) is a postgraduate degree awarded in various countries. Master of Advanced Studies programs may be non-consecutive programs tailored for "specific groups of working pro ...

in political science at the Lille IEP. During this period, she met Green

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Marie-Christine Blandin, later becoming Blandin's parliamentary assistant.

Member of the European Parliament, 2009–present

Delli is a member of

Europe Écologie–The Greens Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. In the 2009 European elections, she was the fourth candidate on the

Europe Écologie Europe Ecology (french: Europe Écologie) was a green electoral coalition of political parties in France created for the 2009 European elections composed of The Greens and other ecologists and regionalists. For the European Parliament election i ...

list in the East region, and was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

. She is the second-youngest French MEP after

Damien Abad Damien Abad (; born 5 April 1980) is a French politician who briefly served as Minister of Solidarity in the government of Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne in 2022. Abad previously served as Member of the National Assembly for Ain's 5th constitue ...

. In her first term, Delli served on the

Committee on Employment and Social Affairs The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) is a committee of the European Parliament. It is responsible for issues of employment and social policy, including labour rights, social security, inclusion, free movement for workers and pensio ...

. After the 2014 elections, she moved to the

Committee on Transport and Tourism The Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) is a committee of the European Parliament. Its current chair is the French MEP Karima Delli of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance. Research service The Committee is directly supported by ...

, where she serves as her parliamentary group's coordinator. In 2016, she was made vice-chair of the

Volkswagen emissions scandal The Volkswagen emissions scandal, sometimes known as Dieselgate or Emissionsgate, began in September 2015, when the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice of violation of the Clean Air Act to German automaker Vol ...

inquiry into whether the EU should have acted more quickly to address the issue. In addition to her committee assignments, Delli has been a member of the parliament's delegations for relations with

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

(2009-2019) and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

(since 2019). She is also a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, the

European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights The European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights is an intergroup Intergroups are formed of Members of the European Parliament from any political group and any committee, with a view to holding informal exchanges of views on particular subjects ...

. and the URBAN Intergroup.

Political positions

In a letter to

President of the European Parliament President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

David Sassoli David Maria Sassoli (; 30 May 1956 – 11 January 2022) was an Italian politician and journalist who served as the president of the European Parliament from 3 July 2019 until his death on 11 January 2022. Sassoli was first elected as a member of ...

in late 2019, Delli and Ismail Ertug asked the Parliament to sanction

Angel Dzhambazki Angel Chavdarov Dzhambazki (family name sometimes also transliteration, transliterated as Djambazki) (Bulgarian language, Bulgarian: Ангел Чавдаров Джамбазки) (born 21 March 1979, in Sofia) is a Bulgarian Bulgarian nationali ...

on the grounds he made xenophobic remarks about them and thereby breached the legislature's code of conduct. Ahead of the Green movement's

primaries Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

in 2021, Delli endorsed

Yannick Jadot Yannick Jadot (; born 27 July 1967) is a French environmentalist and politician who has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since the 2009 European election, representing the West France constituency. Early career As an environ ...

as the movement's candidate for the

French presidential election Presidential elections in France determine who will serve as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra for the French side for the next five years. Until 2002, the elections were held every seven years. They are always held on a Sunday. Si ...

in 2022.Laura Kayali and Pierre-Paul Bermingham (28 September 2021)
French Greens narrowly choose MEP Yannick Jadot as presidential candidate
''

Politico Europe ''Politico Europe'' (stylized as ''POLITICO Europe'') is the European edition of the German-owned news organization ''Politico'' reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices ...

''.

Controversy

When supporting the ZAD (

Zone to Defend Zone to Defend or ZAD ( French: zone à défendre) is a French neologism used to refer to a militant squatting, occupation that is intended to physically blockade a development project. By occupying the land, activists aim to prevent the projec ...

) against a motorway near Strasbourg in 2018, Delli was sprayed in the face and mouth with tear gas by the police. She lost consciousness and was unable to attend parliamentary sessions the next day. She said in a statement that she was shocked by the violence of the police.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Delli, Karima 1979 births Living people People from Roubaix Politicians from Hauts-de-France Europe Ecology – The Greens MEPs MEPs for Île-de-France 2009–2014 MEPs for North-West France 2014–2019 MEPs for France 2019–2024 21st-century women MEPs for France French people of Algerian descent