Hilde Vautmans

MEP Hilde Vautmans, Renew Europe, Belgium

Hilde Vautmans is a Belgian Member of the European Parliament. She is member of the liberal-centrist Renew Europe Group, the successor to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) and currently the third largest group in the European Parliament. Vautmans entered the European Parliament in January 2015 and was re-elected as Member of European Parliament during the May 2019 elections.

Vautmans is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET) and the Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (DACP). As a substitute, she is a member of the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee (AGRI), the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (LIBE) and the Delegation for relations with Japan (D-JP). Vautmans is also Chair of the MEP Horse Group, Chair of the MEP Group for Kidney Health, Co-Chair of the European Parliament Intergroup on Children’s Rights and Vice-President of the European Parliament Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup.
In the European Parliament, Hilde Vautmans is foreign affairs coordinator for the Renew Europe Group and acts as delegation leader of Open Vld, the Flemish liberal political party.

Vautmans started her political career at the office of, then Prime Minister, Guy Verhofstadt, advising him in the fields of foreign and military affairs, external aid and equal opportunities. She was during two legislatures Member of the Belgian House of Representatives, while being the group leader of Open Vld for a while. She switched to being the secretary-general of Open Vld in the House of Representatives and from there on joined the EP.

She combines her office as MEP with being an alderwoman in the City of Sint-Truiden, responsible for education, youth, agriculture and tourism. She is the mother of two children, Amani and Sambo and partner of Sam.