Illustration by Laura Hempel

Daniel Cohn-Bendit: a revolutionary in parliament.

When he feels that the parliament's powers are not being duly respected, expect to hear a "putsch" and a "revolution" being announced. The threats will come from Daniel Cohn-Bendit, a Member of the European Parliament for the Greens. This vocabulary has been a theme of his life since decades. Whereas in 1968 his revolution was on the streets of Paris against de Gaulle, now he is aiming at Barroso.

A Franco-Jewish-German

Cohn-Bendit is of German-Jewish origin and was born in France in 1945, the child of refugees. After attending school in Germany and opting for German nationality (in order to avoid a year's military service, which Jewish citizens were not required to do) he returned to France and enrolled in Sociology in Nanterre near Paris. There – then better known as "Dany le rouge" ("Dany the red") – he joined the anarchist movement and first became publicly known during the occupation of the girls' student housing on university grounds to protest against a ban on boys entering the girls' premises. Later in 1968 he emerged as one of the leaders of the workers' and students' riots that had erupted in Paris.

Constantly roaming back and forth between Germany and France, he set up his primary home in an occupied building in Frankfurt in 1970 together with Joschka Fischer – then unknown, later to become Germany's Foreign Minister. Unlike Fischer, Cohn-Bendit did not usually participate in demonstrations and riots against the police: instead he sat in a nearby café shouting tactical orders. In the 1980's, both went into politics. However, Cohn-Bendit, then far more famous and influential than Fischer, refused ever to run for the German federal parliament, seeing his freedom at stake.

The career of a character

In 1994 he was elected as an MEP for the German Greens; later he turned back to politics in France. For the 2009 EP elections he formed the coalition Europe Écologie – featuring also Eva Joly and José Bové – and won about 16 percent of the vote in France.

While he has drastically shifted some of his political positions, for example on the issue of violent protests or anarchy, his biography and his character are what make him extraordinary and what makes him our Top European. By his honest use of language and his emotional commitment to what he deems to be right - and especially against what he is convinced to be wrong - he can shape the picture of the parliament. He has the democratic passion this institution lacks.

He loves conflict with people who oppose his convictions. When Václav Klaus, apparently one of his favourite enemies, paid a visit to the parliament in 2009, many MEPs walked out. It was Cohn-Bendit who remained in his seat, smiling boldly and, of course, loudly booing and shouting during Klaus' speech. This character trait is what keeps European democracy lively. It still has its flipside though: as a journalist or as a fellow party member, you should expect to be shouted at when you raise a question he regards as unwarranted or is tired of answering.

Far from making use of mechanical, sober rhetoric, Cohn-Bendit confidently plays on his hot temper and emotionality as a part of his character. During a hearing as a witness in court in the case of a former German terrorist, whom he had helped to get out of terrorists' webs and to hide from the authorities, Cohn-Bendit suddenly broke down in tears. This, as he said later, was just the moment when all his emotions and memories condensed, when he remembered urging the ex-terrorist to submit himself to the police.

Cohn-Bendit is primarily European not only through his biography but also through his career in politics. Apart from a post as a deputy mayor he went straight for the European stage. This view of the European Parliament as the goal of a political career largely independent of national posts should serve as a prominent role model.

Furthermore, now with the Lisbon treaty in force, the power of the Parliament has increased. This is a time when passionate European politicians are needed not only to stake the claims of the Parliament but also to be an effective public and democratic antagonist against the Council and the Commission. Cohn-Bendit proved that he fills this role: he most fiercely protested against the Council when it planned to schedule its last meeting just one day before the Lisbon treaty entering into force, thus evading the influence of the parliament on the delicate issue of handing data from bank transactions to US authorities. In 2010 he will probably continue to be the proponent of putsches, whether they happen in the end or not. He is the one who speaks up prominently and raises public awareness.