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European political alliances

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A European political alliance is an entity operating transnationally in Europe, especially across the member states of the European Union.[note 1] European political alliances differ by their level of integration, their role, and their membership. European political alliances encompass European political parties, Political groups of the European Parliament, other party groups, as well as various entities informally referred to as "political organisations", "political movements", or "transnational parties", and sometimes erroneously as "European parties".

European political parties

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A European political party is a type of political party operating transnationally in Europe and within EU institutions. They are regulated and funded by EU Regulation 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations, and their operations are supervised by the Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations (APPF), with which they are required to register.

European political parties – mostly consisting of national member parties, and few individual members – have the right to campaign during the European elections, for which they often adopt manifestos outlining their positions and ambitions.

European parties influence the decision-making process of the European Council through coordination meetings with their affiliated heads of state and government.[1] They also work closely with their members in the European Commission.

Current European political parties

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As of October 2024, there are twelve European political parties registered with the APPF:[2]

European political party Politics Members in
Name Abbr. President Secretary-General Founded Political Group European political foundation Position Ideology European integration Parliament Commission Council
European People's Party EPP Manfred Weber (DE) Thanasis Bakolas (GR) 1976 EPP Group Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies Centre-right Christian democracy
Conservatism[3]
Liberal conservatism[4]
Pro-Europeanism[5]
182 / 720
11 / 27
11 / 27
Party of European Socialists PES Stefan Löfven (SE) Achim Post (DE) 1973 S&D Foundation for European Progressive Studies Centre-left Social democracy[4] Pro-Europeanism[5]
136 / 720
8 / 27
4 / 27
European Conservatives and Reformists Party ECR Party Giorgia Meloni (IT) Antonio Giordano (IT) 2009 ECR New Direction Right-wing to far-right[12] Conservatism
National conservatism[13][14]
Economic liberalism[4][15]
Soft Euroscepticism[5][16][17]
70 / 720
1 / 27
2 / 27
Patriots.eu Patriots Gerolf Annemans (BE) 2014 PfE Identity and Democracy Foundation[note 2] Right-wing to far-right National conservatism Right-wing populism[4] Euroscepticism[16]
72 / 720
0 / 27
1 / 27
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party ALDE Timmy Dooley (IE) and Ilhan Kyuchyuk (BG) Didrik de Schaetzen 1976 Renew European Liberal Forum Centre to centre-right Liberalism[4] Pro-Europeanism[5]
51 / 720
5 / 27
2 / 27
European Green Party EGP Mélanie Vogel (FR) and Thomas Waitz (AT) Benedetta De Marte (IT) 2004 Greens/EFA Green European Foundation Centre-left to left-wing Green politics[4] Pro-Europeanism[5]
44 / 720
1 / 27
0 / 27
Europe of Sovereign Nations ESN Alexander Sell (DE) Alexander Jungbluth (DE) 2024 ESN Far-right Ultranationalism
Right-wing populism
Hard Euroscepticism
25 / 720
0 / 27
0 / 27
European Left Alliance for the People and the Planet ELA Malin Björk (SE)
Catarina Martins (PT)
Sophie Rauszer (FR) 2024 The Left Left-wing Democratic socialism
Eco-socialism
Soft Euroscepticism
18 / 720
0 / 27
0 / 27
European Democratic Party EDP François Bayrou (FR) Sandro Gozi (IT) 2004 Renew Institute of European Democrats Centre Centrism[4] Pro-Europeanism[18][19]
10 / 720
0 / 27
0 / 27
European Free Alliance EFA Lorena López de Lacalle Arizti (ES) Jordi Solé (ES) 1981 Greens/EFA Coppieters Foundation Big tent Regionalism
Separatism
Ethnic minority interests[4]
Pro-Europeanism[5]
8 / 720
0 / 27
0 / 27
Party of the European Left EL Walter Baier (AT) 2004 The Left Transform Europe Left-wing to far-left Democratic socialism
Communism[4]
Soft Euroscepticism[17]
16 / 720
0 / 27
0 / 27
European Christian Political Movement ECPM Valeriu Ghilețchi (MD, RO) Maarten van de Fliert (NL) 2002 ECR, EPP Group Sallux Right-wing Christian right
Social conservatism[4]
Soft Euroscepticism[5]
5 / 720
0 / 27
0 / 27

Former European political parties

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The entities below were formerly registered with the APPF.[20]

European political party Timeline Politics
Name Abbr. Founded Removed from register Position Ideology European integration Political Group
Alliance of European National Movements AENM 2009 2018[21] Far-right[22] Ultranationalism
Right-wing populism
Hard Euroscepticism NI
Alliance for Peace and Freedom APF 2015 2018[23] Far-right[24] Ultranationalism,[25] Neo-fascism[26] Hard Euroscepticism[5] NI

The entities below qualified at some point for European public funding; however, they were never registered with the APPF.[27]

European political party Timeline Politics
Name Abbr. Founded Dissolved Received European public funding Ideology European integration Political Group
Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe ADDE 2014 2017 2015, qualified in 2016-17 but did not receive funding[note 3][28] Direct democracy
National conservatism[4]
Right-wing populism[4]
Euroscepticism[4] Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy
Alliance of Independent Democrats in Europe ADIE 2005 2008 2006–2008 Right-wing populism
National conservatism[4]
Hard Euroscepticism[4] Independence and Democracy
Alliance for Europe of the Nations AEN 2002 2009 2004–2009 Conservatism
National conservatism[4]
Hard Euroscepticism[5] Union for Europe of the Nations
Coalition for Life and Family CVF 2016 Qualified in 2017 but did not receive funding[note 4][29] Social conservatism
Political Catholicism
Nationalism
Reactionarism
European Alliance for Freedom EAF 2010 2016 2011–2016 Souverainism
Right-wing populism
Nationalism
Euroscepticism Europe of Nations and Freedom
Europeans United for Democracy EUD 2005 2017 2006–2016, qualified in 2017 but did not receive funding[note 5][30] Soft Euroscepticism[31] Euroscepticism[4] Independence and Democracy
European Conservatives and Reformists Party
The Left
Libertas 2008 2010 Qualified in 2009 but did not receive funding[note 6][32] Anti-Lisbon Treaty Euroscepticism Europe of Freedom and Democracy
Movement for a Europe of Liberties and Democracy MELD 2011 2015 2012–2015 National conservatism[4]
Right-wing populism[4]
Euroscepticism[4] Europe of Freedom and Democracy

Political groups of the European Parliament

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The political groups of the European Parliament are the officially recognised parliamentary groups consisting of legislators of aligned ideologies in the European Parliament. Each political group is assumed to have a set of core principles, and political groups that cannot demonstrate this may be disbanded.

A political group of the EP usually constitutes the formal parliamentary representation of one or two of the European political parties, sometimes supplemented by members from other national political parties or independent politicians. It is strictly forbidden for political groups to organise or finance political campaigns during European elections, since this is the exclusive responsibility of the parties.[33]

Political groups
and affiliated European political parties
MEPs
EPP Group Group of the European People's Party
European People's Party
188 / 720 (26%)
S&D Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament
Party of European Socialists
136 / 720 (19%)
PfE Patriots for Europe
Patriots.eu
European Christian Political Movement
86 / 720 (12%)
ECR European Conservatives and Reformists Group
European Conservatives and Reformists Party
European Christian Political Movement
78 / 720 (11%)
Renew Renew Europe Group
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party
European Democratic Party
77 / 720 (11%)
Greens/EFA Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
European Green Party
European Free Alliance
53 / 720 (7%)
The Left The Left group in the European Parliament - GUE/NGL
Party of the European Left
46 / 720 (6%)
ESN Europe of Sovereign Nations Group
Europe of Sovereign Nations
25 / 720 (3%)
NI Non-attached Members
30 / 720 (4%)
Vacant
1 / 720

Political groups of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

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The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

The Assembly has six political groups.[34]

33
153
91
141
104
71
Group Chairman Seats
Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group (SOC) Frank Schwabe (Germany)
153 / 612
European People's Party (EPP/CD) Davor Ivo Stier (Croatia)
141 / 612
European Conservatives Group and Democratic Alliance (EC/DA) Ian Liddell-Grainger (United Kingdom)
104 / 612
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Iulian Bulai (Romania)
91 / 612
Unified European Left Group (UEL) Andrej Hunko (Germany)
Anne Stambach-Terrenoir (France)
33 / 612
Members not belonging to any group
71 / 612

Party Groups in the Nordic Council

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The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomous areas of the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland. The representatives are members of parliament in their respective countries or areas and are elected by those parliaments.

The Nordic Council comprises the following party groups:

Name Abbr. Founded Ideology Political Group Nordic Council
Centre Group MG 1983 Liberalism
Christian democracy
Green politics
(Nordic) Agrarianism
Renew, Greens/EFA, EPP Group
24 / 87
Conservative Group Conservatism
Liberal conservatism
Economic liberalism
EPP Group
13 / 87
Nordic Freedom NF 2012 Right-wing populism
National conservatism
Euroscepticism
ECR, ID
8 / 87
Nordic Green Left Alliance NGLA 2004 Democratic socialism
Eco-socialism
Popular socialism
Socialism
Environmentalism
Feminism
Progressivism
GUE/NGL, Greens/EFA
11 / 87
The Social Democratic Group S-Norden Social democracy S&D
26 / 87

Party Groups in the Benelux Parliament

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The Benelux Parliament (officially known as the Benelux Interparliamentary Assembly) is one of the institutions of the Benelux economic union. The Parliament was established by an agreement signed by Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg in 1955, and provides the governments with advice on economic and cross-frontier cooperation.

The Benelux Parliament comprises the following party groups:

Name Ideology Political Group Benelux Parliament
Christian Group Christian democracy
Liberal conservatism
Conservatism
Centrism
EPP Group, ECR
14 / 49
Liberal Group Liberalism
Conservative liberalism
Classical liberalism
Social liberalism
Renew
11 / 49
Socialists, Greens and Democrats Social democracy
Green politics
Democratic socialism
GUE/NGL, Greens/EFA, S&D
13 / 49

Other political entities

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The entities below are alliances or networks of national entities and operate across borders. Some of them refer to themselves as European parties, but they are not European political parties in the sense of Regulation 1141/2014 and never qualified for European public funding.

Organisations with Members in the European Parliament

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Name Abbr. Founded Ideology Political Group Seats Notes
Animal Politics EU APEU 2014 Animal rights
Animal welfare
The Left
2 / 720
Electoral platform of animal rights parties
European Communist Action ECA 2023 Communism
Marxism–Leninism
Anti-capitalism
Euroscepticism
Anti-imperialism
Non-Inscrits
2 / 720
Alliance of Marxist–Leninist parties, successor to the Initiative of Communist and Workers' Parties
European Pirate Party PPEU 2014 Pirate politics
Freedom of information
Participatory democracy
Pro-Europeanism
Greens/EFA
1 / 720
Organisation of Pirate Parties
Volt Europa Volt 2017 European federalism
Social liberalism
Progressivism
Pro-Europeanism
Greens/EFA
5 / 720
Organisation of pro-European and European federalist political organisations and parties using the same name and branding in all EU member states and several non-EU states

Other currently active transnational movements and alliances

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Name Abbr. Founded Ideology Political Group Notes
Central-Eastern European Green Left Alliance CEEGLA 2024 Democratic socialism
Social democracy
Progressivism
Green politics
Anti-Putinism
GUE/NGL, S&D, Greens/EFA Alliance of left-wing and green organizations and political parties in Central and Eastern Europe
Cooperation Committee of the Nordic Worker's Movement SAMAK 1886 Social democracy S&D Alliance of social democratic parties and labour councils in the Nordic countries
Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 DiEM25 2016 Pan-Europeanism
Post-capitalism
Progressivism
Democratic socialism
Environmentalism
Ecofeminism
Alter-globalization
Left-wing movement advocating alter-globalisation,[35] social ecology,[36] ecofeminism,[37] post-growth[38][39] and post-capitalism[40][41]
Europe–Democracy–Esperanto EDE 2003 Linguistic rights
Esperantism
Organisation advocating for the use of Esperanto as an official EU language
Free Palestine Party[42] FPP 2024 Anti-Zionism
Muslim minority interests
Anti-imperialism
Alliance of Muslim minority political parties for the 2024 European election
Liberal South East European Network LIBSEEN 2008 Liberalism Renew Alliance of liberal parties and think tanks in South East Europe
Nation Europe NE 2024 Neo-Nazism
Pan-European nationalism
Russophobia|
Alliance of pro-Ukraine far-right political parties
Now the People NTP 2018 Democratic socialism
Eco-socialism
Left-wing populism
GUE/NGL Alliance of left-wing political parties

Defunct organisations

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Regulation 1141/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations defines a political alliance as a "structured cooperation between political parties and/or citizens"
  2. ^ Listed as Association pour l’Identité et Démocratie Fondation by the APPF.
  3. ^ The note of the Secretary-General of the European Parliament on the 2016 final reports of political parties and foundations at European level states that the ADDE was "under dissolution procedure since 26/04/2017" and that, "ADDE was awarded a grant for the financial year 2016 and was obliged to submit the 2016 final report by 30 June 2017. The party did not comply with this obligation." As a result, the note proposes "that the Bureau initiates the two procedures for termination of the 2016 grant decisions for the ADDE party and its affiliated foundation IDDE." With regards to the grant for 2017, the note indicates that "as a result [of the dissolution procedure], the Bureau initiated the termination procedure of the 2017 grant decision for ADDE pursuant to Article 11.9.2 (e) of the grant award decision. The Bureau confirmed on 1 November 2017 that the termination procedure shall be continued."
  4. ^ The note of the Secretary-General of the European Parliament on the 2017 final reports of political parties and foundations at European level states that "one party and one foundation, for which the pre-financing has not been paid, have neither cooperated with the external auditor nor submitted a final report for the financial year 2017. All attempts of the European Parliament services to contact the respective beneficiaries remained unsuccessful. It appears that the two entities ceased their activities. Considering the circumstances and the non-cooperation with the European Parliament it is proposed that the Bureau sets the final grant amount to zero." Later, it concludes that "for all 22 beneficiaries mentioned in this note (except for EUD, CVF and FP) [...] it is therefore proposed to approve the final reports." Since EUD had waived its request for a grant, this only leaves Coalition pour la vie et la famille (CVF) and its affiliated Pegasus Foundation (FP) as the "one party and one foundation" referred to above. Annex 1 of the note confirms that no pre-financing had been paid to these two entities.
  5. ^ The note of the Secretary-General of the European Parliament on the 2017 final reports of political parties and foundations at European level states that, "subject to dissolution procedure, the party [had] waived the 2017 grant."
  6. ^ The note of the Secretary-General of the European Parliament on the 2009 final reports of political parties and foundations at European level states that "an initial positive decision on the tenth applicant, the Libertas Party Limited was later suspended; consequently a grant agreement was never signed."

References

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  1. ^ European political parties and the European Council: A pattern of ever closer coordination? (Report). European Parliament Research Service. 2022. PE 699.476.
  2. ^ "Registered parties". Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  3. ^ Slomp, Hans (26 September 2011). Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics. ABC-CLIO. p. 246. ISBN 978-0-313-39182-8. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "European Union". Parties and Elections in Europe.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Demetriou, Kyriakos (2014). The European Union in Crisis : Explorations in Representation and Democratic Legitimacy. Springer. p. 46. ISBN 9783319087740.
  6. ^ Carolan, Ciara (10 April 2024). "Qatargate: Right-wing MEPs voted en masse against key anti-corruption measures". The Brussels Times. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  7. ^ Bullens, Lara (4 June 2024). "European parliamentary elections: What a right-wing surge could mean for the EU". France 24. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  8. ^ Joyner, Ella (11 June 2024). "Europe's far right won ground in the EU elections. Can they unite to wield power?". AP News. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
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  12. ^ [6][7][8][9][10][11]
  13. ^ "The Kremlin 'hosts' the European extreme right". OSW. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  14. ^ Alan Siaroff (2019). Comparative European Party Systems: An Analysis of Parliamentary Elections Since 1945. Taylor & Francis. p. 469. ISBN 978-1-317-49876-6.
  15. ^ Baker, David; Schnapper, Pauline (2015). Britain and the Crisis of the European Union. Springer. p. 87. ISBN 9781137005205.
  16. ^ a b FitzGibbon, John; Leruth, Benjamin; Startin, Nick (2016). Euroscepticism as a Transnational and Pan-European Phenomenon : The Emergence of a New Sphere of Opposition. Routledge. p. 198. ISBN 9781317422501.
  17. ^ a b Whitaker, Richard; Lynch, Philip (2014). "Understanding the Formation and Actions of Eurosceptic Groups in the European Parliament: Pragmatism, Principles and Publicity". Government and Opposition. 49 (2): 232–263. doi:10.1017/gov.2013.40. hdl:2381/28315. ISSN 0017-257X. S2CID 36404558.
  18. ^ Kenealy, Daniel; Peterson, John; Corbett, Richard (2015). The European Union: How does it work? (4 ed.). OUP Oxford. p. 155. ISBN 978-0199685370.
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  20. ^ "Registered parties". Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  21. ^ To remove Alliance of European National Movements from the Register (Decision OJ C 417, 16.11.2018). Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations. 29 August 2018. p. 9-10.
  22. ^ Nathalie Brack; Olivier Costa (2014). How the EU Really Works. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-4724-1465-6.
  23. ^ To remove Alliance for Peace and Freedom from the Register (Decision OJ C 417, 16.11.2018). Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations. 13 September 2018. p. 11-12.
  24. ^ Mützel, Daniel (27 April 2016). "European Parliament funding of neo-Nazi conference rings alarm bells". EURACTIV. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  25. ^ "The Kremlin 'hosts' the European extreme right". osw.waw.pl. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  26. ^ Shaffer, Ryan (2018). "Pan-European thought in British fascism: the International Third Position and the Alliance for Peace and Freedom". Patterns of Prejudice. 52: 78–99. doi:10.1080/0031322X.2017.1417191. S2CID 148834755. The APF was founded in 2015 as a pan-European political party that included dozens of leading fascist officials from parties throughout Europe...
  27. ^ "EPFO Wikibase". European Party Funding Observatory. European Democracy Consulting Stiftung. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
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  29. ^ Secretary-General of the European Parliament (30 August 2018). 2017 final reports of political parties and foundations at European level (PDF) (Report). European Parliament. p. 10 – via European Party Funding Observatory.
  30. ^ Secretary-General of the European Parliament (30 August 2018). 2017 final reports of political parties and foundations at European level (PDF) (Report). European Parliament. p. 5 – via European Party Funding Observatory.
  31. ^ Calossi, Enrico (2016). Anti-Austerity Left Parties in the European Union. Competition, Coordination, Integration. Pisa: Pisa University Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-886741-6653.
  32. ^ Secretary-General of the European Parliament (30 August 2010). 2009 final reports of political parties and foundations at European level (PDF) (Report). European Parliament. p. 2 – via European Party Funding Observatory.
  33. ^ "European political parties". European Parliament.
  34. ^ "Assembly List 2024 - Second part-session" (PDF). PACE. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  35. ^ Varoufakis, Yanis (December 2015). Capitalism will eat democracy — unless we speak up (video). TEDGlobal. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  36. ^ George, Susan (October 2009). Susan George on Ecological Economics (video). EcoLabs1 via YouTube. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  37. ^ Pietrandrea, Paola (March 2018). "The polis needs the feminine, at least as much as the feminine needs the polis". Diem25.org. Democracy in Europe Movement 2025. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  38. ^ Collins, Abel (13 February 2014). "Chomsky: Putting the eco back in economy". HuffPost. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  39. ^ Bershidsky, Leonid (20 March 2017). "Happy nations don't focus on growth". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  40. ^ "Progressive Agenda for Europe". diem25.org. Democracy in Europe Movement 2025. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  41. ^ Lydon, Christopher (2 June 2017). "Noam Chomsky: Neoliberalism Is Destroying Our Democracy". The Nation. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  42. ^ "Free Palestine Party".
  43. ^ "Applications not approved or pending | Applications for registration". Authority for European Political Parties andEuropean Political Foundations. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  44. ^ "Movement for European Reform". Movement for European Reform. 2007. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2008.
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