Karima Delli (born 4 March 1979 in

Roubaix Roubaix ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, depar ...

, Nord) is a French politician and

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

elected in the 2009 European election, 2014 European elections and in the 2019 European elections for the

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

constituency.

Early life and career

Born to

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

n parents, she grew up in poor conditions in Tourcoing as the ninth child in the family of 13. She obtained a Master of Advanced Studies 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 Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

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. In the 2009 European elections, she was the fourth candidate on the Europe Écologie list in the East region, and was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two 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 ...

. 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 Borne government, government of Prime Minister of France, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne in 2022. Abad previously served as Member of ...

. In her first term, Delli served on the

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

. After the 2014 elections, she moved to the

Committee on Transport and Tourism A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

, where she serves as her parliamentary group's coordinator. In 2016, she was made vice-chair of the Volkswagen emissions scandal 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, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

(2009-2019) and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

(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. and the URBAN Intergroup. In June 2023, Delli was the recipient of the Infrastructure, Transport and Mobility Award at '' The Parliament Magazines annual MEP Awards.

Political positions

In a letter to

President of the European Parliament The president of the European Parliament presides over the debates and activities of the European Parliament. They also represent the Parliament within the European Union (EU) and internationally. The president's signature is required for Euro ...

David Sassoli in late 2019, Delli and Ismail Ertug asked the Parliament to sanction Angel Dzhambazki 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 in 2021, Delli endorsed Yannick Jadot as the movement's candidate for the French presidential election 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 American news organization '' Politico'' reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices in ...

''.

Controversy

When supporting the ZAD ( Zone to Defend) 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