59-482: The European Free Alliance ( EFA ) is a European political party that consists of various regionalist , separatist and minority political parties in Europe. Member parties advocate either for full political independence and sovereignty , or some form of devolution or self-governance for their country or region. The party has generally limited its membership to centre-left and left-wing parties; therefore, only
118-612: A European party" primarily if they are members of a European party's national member parties. As a result, many European parties have more MEPs than they have individual members. Member parties are national political parties with some form of membership described in the statutes of the European political party. In its November 2020 ACRE v Parliament ruling, the General Court of the European Union clarified that political parties outside of
177-476: A European party's reimbursable expenditure (referred to as the "co-financing rate"); this means that European parties were required to raise 25% of their budget from specific private sources ("own resources"), such as donations or member contributions. Regulation 2004/2003 also introduced transparency obligations, limitations on donations, and prohibitions on spending, including a ban on the direct or indirect funding of national parties and candidates. The Regulation
236-622: A collective vote, others do not provide them with voting rights at all. Below is the number of individual members per European party, as reported by the European Parliament: Final amounts of public funding to European parties for 2021 European parties use public and private funding to finance their activities; public funding refers exclusively to funding from the general budget of the European Union , and cannot directly come from Member States or third countries, or entities under their control. With regards to public funding, each year,
295-799: A fraction of European regionalist parties are members of the EFA. Since 1999, the EFA and the European Green Party (EGP) have joined forces within Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) group in the European Parliament , although some EFA members have joined other groups from time to time, for example the New Flemish Alliance which sits with the European Conservatives and Reformists Group . The EFA's youth wing
354-502: A limited role. The APPF monitors donations and contributions to European political parties, and publishes a yearly list of political donors. Article 6 of Regulation 1141/2014 empowers the APPF to impose sanctions on European parties, as detailed in Article 27. The APPF can deregister a European political party if: The APPF can apply financial sanctions to a European party if: Additionally,
413-517: A member "requires a genuine membership link with the European political party", which includes "a full range of rights and obligations [...] in particular voting/participation/access to documents" and "an appropriate membership fee". There is no legal definition of what constitutes individual membership, leading European parties to define them differently. A common trait is their absence of, or limited, input in party decision-making; some parties comprise internal bodies representing individual members with
472-407: A member party, an organisation needs to have been an observer of the EFA for at least one year. Only one member party per region is allowed. If a second party from a region wants to join the EFA, the first party needs to agree, at which point these two parties will then form a common delegation with one vote. The EFA also recognises friends of the EFA, a special status for regionalist parties outside of
531-503: A new category of "own resources", allowing European parties to raise private funding from specific economic activities, such as seminar fees or publication sales; funding from this new category would be capped at 5% of European parties' budget. Finally, it proposed allowing European parties to receive contributions from national member parties located in non-EU members of the Council of Europe . The European Parliament's AFCO Committee criticised
590-817: A number of changes, including the following: In March 2019, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Regulation 2019/493, which further amended Regulation 1141/2014. Changes focused mostly on the use of personal data by European political parties and foundations. The modalities of the implementation of the Regulation were later updated by the Decision of the Bureau of the European Parliament of 1 July 2019. In June 2021, in line with Article 38 of Regulation 1141/2014, MEPs Charles Goerens ( ALDE ) and Rainer Wieland ( EPP ) of
649-832: Is chaired by Lorena Lopez de Lacalle ( Basque Solidarity ), president of the EFA, while Jordi Solé ( Republican Left of Catalonia ) is secretary-general and Anke Spoorendonk ( South Schleswig Voters' Association ) vice-president and treasurer. The Bureau is completed by other twelve vice-presidents: Peggy Eriksson ( Future of Åland ), Jill Evans ( Plaid Cymru ), Fernando Fuente Cortina ( More—Commitment ), David Grosclaude ( Occitan Party ), Wouter Patho ( New Flemish Alliance ), Frank de Boer ( Frisian National Party ), Patrik Peroša (The Olive Tree – Slovene Istria Party), Livia Ceccaldi-Volpei (Femu à Corsica), Zsolt Szilágyi ( Hungarian Alliance of Transylvania ), Ana Miranda ( Galician Nationalist Bloc ), Roberto Visentin ( Pact for Autonomy ) and Lorena López Sánchez ( New Canaries ). Before becoming
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#1732837834770708-552: Is the European Free Alliance Youth (EFAY), founded in 2000. As of 2024, two European regions are led by EFA politicians: Flanders with Jan Jambon of the New Flemish Alliance and Corsica with Gilles Simeoni of Femu a Corsica . Regionalists have long been represented in the European Parliament . In the 1979 election four regionalist parties obtained seats: the Scottish National Party (SNP),
767-568: The 1989 European Parliament election did EFA members form a united group, called Rainbow like its green predecessor. It consisted of three Italian MEPs (two for Lega Lombarda and one for the PSd'Az), two Spanish MEPs (one each for the PNV and the Andalusian Party , PA), one Belgian MEP (for VU), one French MEP (UPC), one British MEP (SNP) and one independent MEP from Ireland. They were joined by 4 MEPs from
826-692: The 1994 elections saw a considerable reduction in Regionalist representation in the Parliament, with only the Canarian Coalition , Lega Nord , Scottish National Party and People's Union keeping their MEPs. But Lega Nord had been suspended from the EFA following its decision to join the Italian coalition government alongside the right-wing National Alliance . The weakened EFA was no longer able to maintain their own group, and instead allied with members of
885-643: 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
944-569: The 2019 European Parliament election the EFA gained a fourth seat in the United Kingdom, due to the SNP gaining a third seat to add to Plaid's one. However, the EFA suffered the loss of these seats in January 2020 due to Brexit , which meant SNP and PC MEPs had to leave. In the Brussels declaration of 2000, the EFA codified its political principles. The EFA stands for "a Europe of Free Peoples based on
1003-741: The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UMDR). Co-operation between the EFA and the Greens continued. Following the 2008 revision of the EU Regulation that governs European political parties allowing the creation of European foundations affiliated to European political parties, the EFA established its official foundation/ think tank , the Coppieters Foundation (CF), in September 2007. In
1062-765: The European Green Party , under the name Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA). In the event the EFA supplied ten members: two each from the Scottish SNP, the Welsh Plaid Cymru , and the Flemish VU, and one each from the Basque PNV and EA, the Andalusian PA and the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG). In the 2004 European Parliament election , the EFA, which had formally become a European political party ,
1121-530: The European Parliament are the Parliament's political groups . European parties influence the decision-making process of the European Council through coordination meetings with their affiliated heads of state and government. They also work closely with their members in the European Commission. In addition to the registered European political parties, many other entities are politically active at
1180-899: The European People's Party group . In 1981, six parties (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 , UPC, the Occitan Party and the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia , CDC), joined forces to form
1239-970: 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 , the N-VA defected to the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) and the EH Bildu MEP joined the European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) group. Thus, EFA had seven members in the Greens/EFA group and four within ECR. In
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#17328378347701298-539: The recast procedure. The Commission's document proposes a definition of political advertising, strengthens provisions on gender balance, clarifies the requirements for the display of the logo of the European political party by its member parties, and extends the obligation to comply with EU values to member parties. With regards to funding, this proposal retained the European Parliament's suggestion to lower European parties' co-financing rate (decreasing it from 10% down to 5%, and down to 0% in election years). It also included
1357-629: The Danish left-wing 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. 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 in government with the post-fascist National Alliance . Also,
1416-611: The EFA. The EFA subgroup thus counted seven MEPs. In the 2014 European Parliament election , EFA-affiliated parties returned twelve seats to the Parliament: four for the N-VA, two for the SNP, two for " The Left for the Right to Decide " (an electoral list primarily composed of the ERC), one for " The Peoples Decide " (an electoral list mainly comprising EH Bildu , a Basque coalition including EA), one for " European Spring " (an electoral list comprising
1475-479: The EU could not be regarded as political parties within the meaning of Regulation 1141/2014, because they were not composed of Union citizens. In its guidance, the APPF that European parties "are free to cooperate with parties or organisations by means of ancillary forms of association (e.g., observers, partners, associates, affiliates)", but only a member can be claimed to meet the registration criteria, and only they can provide member contributions. Being considered
1534-883: The European Free Alliance. Regionalist MEPs continued, however, to sit in different groups also after the 1984 election : the SNP in the Gaullist-dominated European Democratic Alliance ; the VU, the Sardinian Action Party (PSd'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 Herri Batasuna among Non-Inscrits . Only after
1593-497: The European Parliament was a regionalist political group in the European Parliament from 1989 to 1994. In 1989 the previous Rainbow Group split. For the third term of the European Parliament , the green parties formed The Green Group , whilst the regionalist parties stayed in the remaining Rainbow Group. This second Rainbow Group was the highpoint of the European Free Alliance (EFA) to that date. But
1652-624: The European Parliament allocates a total amount of money to fund European political parties qualifying for European public funding: 10% of this amount is distributed via a lump sum, allocated equally to all qualifying European parties, while 90% is distributed in proportion to each party's share MEPs. For the financial year 2025, European political parties were allocated a total of €46 million. Depending on their own application for European public funding and on their amount of "reimbursable expenses", European parties may in fine receive less than their maximum allocation. European public funding accounts for
1711-535: The European Parliament may exclude a European party from future public funding for up to 10 years if it has engaged in illegal activities detrimental to the financial interests of the Union, or has omitted information or provided false or misleading information. For "non-quantifiable infringements", the financial sanction ranges from 5 to 20% of the annual budget of the European political party, and 50% of its annual budget when it has engaged in illegal activities detrimental to
1770-472: The European Parliament's Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) presented a draft report on the implementation of the Regulation. With regards to funding, the draft report called on the Commission and co-legislators to clarify the definition of indirect funding from European political parties and foundations to national member parties, remove the ban on financing referendum campaigns on European issues, allow
1829-507: The European Union. The following is the list of EFA members and former members. European political party A European political party , known formally as a political party at European level and informally as a Europarty , is a type of political party organisation operating transnationally in Europe and within the institutions of the European Union (EU). They are regulated and funded by EU Regulation 1141/2014 on
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1888-461: The European level without meeting the criteria for registration or wishing to register. The first European political parties formed during the 1970s, in the run-up to the first elections of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage (adopted in 1976, and taking place for the first time in 1979 ). In 1973, following the enlargement of the European Community to Denmark, Ireland, and
1947-503: The European level without meeting the criteria for registration or wishing to register. They differ by their level of integration, their purpose, and their membership. Some are strongly centralised and resemble national parties but operating across Europe, such as Volt Europa or DieM25 ; they are often referred to or refer to themselves as "transnational parties" or "movements", and sometimes erroneously as "European parties". Rainbow Group (1989%E2%80%9394) The Rainbow Group in
2006-828: The Flemish People's Union (VU), the Brussels-based Democratic Front of Francophones (FDF) and the South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP). The SNP, although 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 , while the SVP joined
2065-544: The Functioning of the European Union (at the time, the "Treaty establishing the European Economic Community") to explicitly allow the funding of European political parties from the budget of the European Union. The new paragraph stated that "the Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251, shall lay down the regulations governing political parties at European level and in particular
2124-571: The Netherlands met in Luxembourg and founded the European People's Party . In 1992, Section 41 of the Treaty of Maastricht added Article 138a to the Treaty of Rome . Article 138a (the so called party article ) stated that "Political parties at European level are important as a factor for integration within the Union. They contribute to forming a European awareness and to expressing the political will of
2183-588: The PNV chose 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 Énergie Radicale list and the Italian Pannella List : the European Radical Alliance . Following the 1999 European Parliament election , in which EFA parties did quite well, EFA elected MEPs formed a joint group with
2242-447: The United Kingdom, the enlarged Socialist congress met in Bonn and inaugurated the Confederation of the Socialist Parties of the European Community . In March 1976, the Federation of Liberal and Democrat Parties in Europe was founded in Stuttgart by parties from Denmark, France, Germany Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. A few months later, in July, party representatives from Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, and
2301-544: The activities of European parties and foundations starting with the financial year 2018. Since then, applications for public funding are placed with the APPF, but decisions on funding remain with the European Parliament. In May 2018, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Regulation 2018/673, which amended Regulation 1141/2014 by detailing provisions relating to the registration of political parties and foundations, and transparency regarding political programmes and party logos. Among others, Regulation 2018/673 introduced
2360-420: The citizens of the Union", thus officially recognising the existence of European political parties. In 1997, the Treaty of Amsterdam established who should pay for expenditure authorised by the party article (renumbered Article 191). This provided a mechanism whereby European parties could be paid out of the budget of the European Union, and European parties started to spend the money. Such expenditure included
2419-451: The conservative New Flemish Alliance , Bavaria Party , Democratic Party of Artsakh , Schleswig Party and Future of Åland , the Christian-democratic Slovene Union and the far right South Tyrolean Freedom . The main organs of the EFA organisation are the General Assembly, the Bureau and the Secretariat. In the General Assembly, the supreme council of the EFA, every member party has one vote. The Bureau takes care of daily affairs. It
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2478-417: The debate on European issues, organising conferences, and carrying out research, and linking like-minded national political foundations. Finally, the revised regulation explicitly allows European parties to finance campaigns conducted for elections to the European Parliament. In October 2014, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Regulation 1141/2014, which replaced Regulation 2004/2003 and overhauled
2537-436: The decision of the European Commission to opt for the recast method, which effectively limits discussions to the provisions of the Regulation which the Commission has decided to modify and prevents a wider review of the Regulation. In March 2022, the Council of the European Union adopted a political agreement (its own negotiating position). In July 2022, the European Parliament's AFCO Committee adopted its own position, which
2596-449: The elections, some of them designate their preferred candidate (known as Spitzenkandidat or lead candidate) to be the next President of the European Commission . The work of European parties can be supplemented by that of an officially affiliated European political foundation ; foundations are independent from European parties and contribute to the public debate on policy issues and European integration. European parties' counterparts in
2655-439: The financial interests of the Union. For "quantifiable infringements", the financial sanction ranges from 100 to 300% of the irregular sums received or not reported, up to a maximum of 10% of the party's annual budget. In October 2023, the APPF sanctioned the Identity and Democracy Party for "intentionally providing incorrect information about its board composition to the public". The financial sanction applied amounted to 5% of
2714-417: The first official definition of European political parties and created a framework for their public funding. This framework provided that, out of a total envelope for European parties, 15% would be distributed equally (the lump sum), and 85% would be distributed in proportion to each party's number of members of the European Parliament (MEP-based funding). Additionally, public funding could not exceed 75% of
2773-441: The following conditions regarding European parties' governance: European political parties are mostly made up of national member parties. Additionally, European citizens can become individual members of some European parties, depending on the provisions of those parties' statutes. The count of MEPs for the purpose of European public funding is separate from the question of individual membership, as MEPs are considered "members of
2832-455: 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 Union , when 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. EFA members are generally progressive , although there are some notable exceptions as
2891-415: The framework for European political parties and foundations, including by giving them a European legal status. It also established the Authority for the European political parties and European political foundations (APPF), a standalone entity for the purpose of registering, controlling, and imposing sanctions on European parties and foundations. Regulation 1141/2014 applied as of 1 January 2017, and covered
2950-424: The funding of European parties from non-EU national parties (which, following Brexit, meant that political parties in the UK could no longer finance European parties), broaden the categories of private funding, decrease European parties' co-financing rate, and simplify accounting procedures. In November 2021, the European Commission proposed a text for a new regulation aimed at replacing Regulation 1141/2021, using
3009-409: The funding of national parties, an outcome not originally intended. In June 2000, the European Court of Auditors considered that the funding of European political parties should not be carried out using appropriations made for political groups in the European Parliament , as had long been the case. This decision led the 2001 Treaty of Nice to add a second paragraph to Article 191 of the Treaty on
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#17328378347703068-435: The party's annual budget, or €47,021. As of October 2024 , there are twelve European political parties registered with the APPF: The entities below were formerly registered with the APPF. The entities below qualified at some point for European public funding; however, they were never registered with the APPF. In addition to the registered European political parties, many other entities are politically active at
3127-421: The principle of subsidiarity , which believe in solidarity with each other and the peoples of the world." 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 basis of the subsidiarity-principle. It believes also that Europe should move away from further centralisation and works towards
3186-435: The rules regarding their funding." The reference to "Article 251" refers to the co-decision procedure , which involves both the European Parliament and the Council as co-legislators. In November 2003, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted Regulation 2004/2003 "on the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding". Regulation 2004/2003 provided
3245-473: 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). 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. Ahead of
3304-445: The vast majority of European parties' income. For instance, the comparison of maximum allocations and final amounts of public funding for the year 2021 was as follows: With regards to private funding, European parties mostly receive financial contributions from their national member parties, which, in turn, almost always receive public funding from Member States. Donations from legal persons and, especially, from individuals only play
3363-422: Was endorsed by the Plenary in September 2022. Trilogues between the European Parliament, Council of the European Union, and European Commission took place in September, October and November 2022, and in March 2023, but did not reach an agreement. Article 3 of Regulation 1141/2014 lists the following criteria for an entity to register as a European political party with the APPF: Additionally, Article 4 imposes
3422-608: Was later detailed by the Decision of the Bureau of the European Parliament of 29 March 2004 and amended by Regulation 1524/2007. In particular, Regulation 1524/2007 clarified the funding framework and changed the co-financing rate, allowing public funding from the general budget of the European Union to reach 85% of European parties' reimbursable expenditure. This change meant that European parties were only requested to provide 15% in private co-financing. Regulation 1524/2007 also allowed European parties to set up affiliated European political foundations , separate entities contributing to
3481-424: 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 at the mid-term 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 former member of
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