She was a provincial senator for Antwerp between 1985 and 1991 and a member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives for the district of Leuven between 1991 and 1994, when she also served in the Flemish Council.
She was a representative to the Joint Assembly of the Agreement between the African, Caribbean and Pacific States and the European Union, a delegate to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee and a member of the committee on foreign affairs, security and defence policy.
list in the 2006 municipal elections,[13] and became a city council member, but quit this post in September 2008 to focus on her family.
She was elected for the city, although she and Eva Brems decided not to accept the seats in order to allow younger party members to take the position.
[15][16] In 2013, Aelvoet was appointed by the Di Rupo government to chair the Federal Council for Sustainable Development, succeeding Philippe Maystadt.
[16] She remained a municipal councilor until October 2019, when she resigned, in her own words, to make way for young political talent.