She also served on the city council of Huy in 1977 and was an alderman for Huy from 1980 to 1982.

In 1983, Anne-Marie was appointed mayor of Huy, holding this position for 26 years.

In March 2009 Anne-Marie was forced to resign because of a series of scandals. She was succeeded by Micheline Toussaint.

In 1979, Anne-Marie was elected as an elected Member of the European Parliament.

In 1988, she was elected into the Belgian government, and served in office for eight years.

During her first term, she was appointed as Secretary of State for European Affairs, yet she decided to leave this role in 1992 to initiate the Commission of Inquiry on human trafficking.

In 2003, Anne-Marie became President of the Commission for External Relations and Defence of the Belgian Senate; In 2004, she was appointed President of the Senate of Belgium, before finally becoming a Senator in July 2007.

She was the first female President of the Belgian Senate (2004–2007).

On 27 January 2009 she was banned from the Socialist party after a corruption case.

Anne-Marie was a member of the Board of Directors of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), a global nonprofit organization that combats child sexual exploitation, child pornography, and child abduction.

Anne-Marie died at age 66 in October 2015.