From 2013 to 2014, Banaszak co-chaired the
Green Youth on the national level, alongside Theresa Kalmer. From 2018 to 2022, Banaszak served as co-chair of the Green Party in North Rhine-Westphalia, alongside
Mona Neubaur.
Member of the German Parliament, 2021–present In the negotiations to form a so-called
traffic light coalition of the
Social Democrats (SPD), the Green Party and the
Free Democratic Party (FDP) following the
2021 federal elections, Banaszak led his party's delegation in the working group on education policy; his co-chairs from the other parties were
Andreas Stoch and
Jens Brandenburg. Banaszak has been a member of the German
Bundestag since 2021, elected after having been chosen for rank 6 on the NRW Green Party's closed
state list. He also ran in the
Duisburg II district, where he came in 4th in both elections. In parliament, he served on the Budget Committee, the Audit Committee and the Committee on Economic Affairs. On the Budget Committee, he was his parliamentary group's
rapporteur on the
annual budgets of the
Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and the
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. On the Committee on Economic Affairs, he was his group's rapporteur on industrial policy and the energy sector. In addition to his committee assignments, Banaszak has been a member of the German delegation to the
Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly since 2022. In the negotiations to form a
coalition government of the
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Green Party under
Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia Hendrik Wüst following the
2022 state elections, Banaszak and
Sven Giegold led their party's delegation in the working group on finances; their counterparts from the CDU were
Lutz Lienenkämper and
Günter Krings. == Other activities ==