European Free Alliance

History

Regionalists have long been represented in the European Parliament . In the 1979 election oven Regionalist parts Obtained seats: the Scottish National Party (SNP), the Flemish People’s Union (VU), the Brussels-based Democratic Front of Francophones (FDF) and the South Tyrolean People’s Party (SVP). The SNP, being predominantly social-democratic , joined the European Progressive Democrats , a conservative group led by the French Rally for the Republic . The VU and the FDF joined the heterogeneous Technical Group of Independents, please join the European People’s Party .  ^[6]

In 1981 six parts (VU, the Frisian National Party , Independent Fianna Fáil , the Party of German-speaking Belgians , the Party for the Organization of a Free Brittany and the Alsace-Lorraine National Association ), plus three observers (the Union of the Corsican People , the Occitan Party and the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia , CDC), joined forces to form the  European Free Alliance  .  ^{[7]  [8]}  Regionalist MEPs continued, however, to sit in different groups in the European Parliament: the SNP in the Gaullist-dominated European Democratic Alliance; the VU, the Sardinian Action Party(PSA’Az) and Basque Solidarity (EA) in the Rainbow Group , together with Green parties; the SVP in the European People’s Party group ; the CDC with the Liberal Democrats ; and Batasuna among Non-Registered .  ^[9]

Only after the 1989 European Parliament election did EFA members form a united group, called Rainbow like its green predecessor. Italian MEPs (two for Lega Lombarda and one for the PSd’Az), two Spanish MEPs (one for the PNV and the Andalusian Party , PA), one Belgian MEP (for VU), one French MEP ( Union of the Corsican People , UPC), one British MEP (SNP) and one independent MEP from Ireland. Eurosceptic People’s Movement against the EU , while the other regionalist parties, including the SVP, Batasuna and the Convergence and Union of Catalonia (CiU) declined to join. ^[10]

In the 1994 European Parliament election the regionalists lost many seats. Moreover, the EFA had suspended its major affiliate, Lega Nord , for having joined forces with the post-fascist National Alliance . Also, the PNV thing to switch to the European People’s Party (EPP). The three remaining EFA MEPs (representing the SNP, the VU and the Canarian Coalition ) formed a group with the French  Radical Energy  list and the Italian Pannella List : the European Radical Alliance .  ^[11]

Following the 1999 European Parliamentary Election , in which the EFA parties formed a joint venture with the European Green Party , under the name The Greens-European Free Alliance (Greens / EFA). In the event the EFA supplied ten members: two of the Scottish SNP, the Welsh Plaid Cymru , and the Flemish VU, and one of the Basque PNV and EA, the Andalusian PA and the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG).  ^[12]

In the 2004 European Parliament election , the EFA, which had formally become a European political party ,  ^[1]  was reduced to four MEPs: two from the SNP ( Ian Hudghton and Alyn Smith ), one from Plaid Cymru ( Jill Evans ) and one from the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC, Bernat Joan i Marí , replaced by MEP Mikel Irujo of the Basque EA). They Were joined by two associate members: Tatjana Ždanoka of For Human Rights in United Latvia (PCTVL) and László Tőkés, an independent MEP and member of the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UMDR). Co-operation between the EFA and the Greens.

Following the 2008 revision of the EU Regulation that governs European political parties the creation of European political affiliates, the EFA established its official foundation / think tank , the Center Maurits Coppieters (CMC), in September 2007.  ^[14]

In the 2009 European Parliament election , six MEPs were returned for the EFA: two from the SNP (Ian Hudghton and Alyn Smith), one from Plaid Cymru (Jill Evans), one from the Party of the Corsican Nation (PNC, François Alfonsi ) , one from the ERC ( Oriol Junqueras ), and Tatjana Ždanoka, an individual member of the EFA from Latvia. After the election, the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) also joined the EFA. The EFA subgroup thus counted seven MEPs.  ^[15]

In the 2014 European Parliament election , EFA-affiliated parties returned to the Parliament: four for the N-VA, two for the SNP, two for  L’Esquerra pel Dret a Decidir  (an electoral list primarily composed of the ERC), one for  Los Pueblos Deciden  ( EH Bildu , a Basque coalition including EA), one for  Primavera Europea  (an electoral list of the Valencian Nationalist Bloc , BNV, and the Aragonese Union , ChA), one from Plaid Cymru, and one from the Latvian Russian Union (LKS). Due to ideological divergences with the Flemish Greens ,  ^[16] The N-VA defected to the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group  ^{[17]  [18]}  and the EH Bildu MEP joined the European Left-Nordic Green Left (GUE / NGL) group: the EFA representation within the Greens / EFA group was thus of seven MEPs.  ^[19]

Ideology

In the Brussels Declaration of 2000 the EFA codified its political principles. The EFA stands for „A Europe of Free Peoples based on the principle of subsidiarity , which believe in solidarity with each other and the peoples of the world.“  ^[20]  The EFA sees itself as an alliance of stateless peoples, striving towards recognition, autonomy, independence or wanting a proper voice in Europe. It supports European integration on the basis of the subsidiarity-principle. It also believes that Europe should move away from further centralization towards the formation of a „Europe of regions“. It believes that regions should have more power in Europe, for instance participating in the Council of the European Unionwhen matters within their competence are discussed. It also wants to protect the linguistic and cultural diversity within the EU.

The EFA broadly stands on the left wing of the political spectrum.  ^{[  citation needed  ]}  The Brussels Declaration focuses on the protection of human rights , sustainable development and social justice . In 2007 the EFA congress in Bilbao added gradually Several principles to the statement, comprenant un commitment to fight contre racism , antisemitism , discrimination , xénophobie and Islamophobia , and a commitment to get full citizenship for immigrants , Includingvoting rights .  ^{[  quote needed  ]}

EFA members are a progressive , but there are some notable exceptions to the conservative New Flemish Alliance , Bavaria Party , Schleswig Party and Future of Åland , the Christian-democratic Slovenian Union , the center-right Liga Veneta Repubblica and the far-right  ^{[21 ]  [22]  [23]  [24]}  South Tyrolean Freedom .

Organization

The main organs of the EFA organization are the General Assembly, the Bureau and the Secretariat.

General Assembly

In the General Assembly, the supreme council of the EFA, every member party has one vote.

Bureau and Secretariat

The office takes care of daily affairs. It is chaired by François Alfonsi ( Party of the Corsican Nation ), president of the EFA, while Jordi Solé ( Republican Left of Catalonia ) is secretary-general and Lorena Lopez de Lacalle ( Basque Solidarity ) treasurer and first vice-president. The Bureau is completed by nine other vice presidents: Olrik Bouma ( Frisian National Party ), Chantal Certan ( ALPE ), Jill Evans ( Plaid Cymru ), Anders Eriksson  ( sv )(Future of Åland ), David Grosclaude ( Occitan Party ), Flemming Meyer ( SSW Landesverband ), Ana Miranda ( Galician Nationalist Bloc ), Wouter Patho ( New Flemish Alliance ) and Natalia Pinkowska ( Silesian Autonomy Movement ).  ^[25]

Member parties

This is a list of EFA member parts.  ^[26]