Jo Leinen

Jo Leinen (born April 6, 1948 in Bisten) is a German Member of the European Parliament. He was elected on the SPD ticket and sits with the Party of European Socialists group. He obtained a law degree in Germany in 1972 and a Certificate of Advanced European Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, in 1974. From 1977 he has worked as a lawyer. Leinen became generally known as spokesman of the Anti-nuclear movement Anti-AKW- and the P... more

Jo Leinen (born April 6, 1948 in Bisten) is a German Member of the European Parliament. He was elected on the SPD ticket and sits with the Party of European Socialists group. He obtained a law degree in Germany in 1972 and a Certificate of Advanced European Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, in 1974. From 1977 he has worked as a lawyer. Leinen became generally known as spokesman of the Anti-nuclear movement Anti-AKW- and the Peace movement (1980), he was also aktive at the Bundesverband Bürgerinitiativen Umweltschutz (BBU). He got the nickname "container-Jo" during a remonstration as he climbed a container in order to moderate the action by a megaphone. Because of his participation at a demonstration against the Brokdorf Nuclear Power Plant Kernkraftwerk Brokdorf (1981) he was accused like "guide and headman" , but the Federal Constitutional Court discharges him because it clarifies that there can not be a "guide and headman" while collective actions. (On of his... less