European Green Party

European Green Party
Secretary-General	Jacqueline Cremers
Spokesperson	Monica Frassoni and Reinhard Bütikofer
Founded	21 February 2004
Preceded by	European Federation of Green Parties
Headquarters	Rue Wiertzstraat 31, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
Ideology	Green politics Progressivism
International affiliation	Global Greens
European Parliament group	The Greens–European Free Alliance
Colours	Green and yellow
European Parliament	45 / 754
European Council (Heads of Government)	0 / 27
Council of the European Union (Participation in Government)	3 / 27
National Upper House Seats	28 / 2,273
National Lower House Seats	189 / 7,124
Website
www.europeangreens.eu
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The European Green Party (or European Greens or EGP) is the European political party that operates as a federation of political parties across Europe supporting green politics. Along with the European Free Alliance, the EGP forms The Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) parliamentary group in the European parliament.

History

The European Green Party was founded on 22 February 2004 at the Fourth Congress of the European Federation of Green Parties (EFGP) in Rome attended by over 1,000 delegates. Thirty-four Green parties from all over Europe have joined this new pan-European party. The Greens were the first to form a political party at European level. The other European political federations followed suit in the period 2004–2006. For the Greens this was the culmination of a process which had started with the formation of a loose co-ordination 1979–1993 and the EFGP 1993 -2004.

1979 to 1993

In 1979 the Coordination of European Green and Radical Parties (CEGRP) was set up to co-ordinate the participation of Green and Radical parties in the 1979 European Parliament election. There were considerable differences between the Green and Radical groups and the parties were unable to form a common pan-European electoral platform. Although some parties polled well, no Green entered the European Parliament.

In the 1984 election the Greens participated again. They held a congress in the spring of 1984 in Liège and set up a restructured European Green Coordination (EGC), with a secretariat provided by the Dutch Political Party of Radicals. They also issued a Joint Declaration of the European Green Parties. Furthermore, overall the member parties had grown stronger. Eleven MEPs of member parties were elected to the European Parliament. They formed the Green Alternative European Link (GRAEL) in the European Parliament. The group was too small to be recognised by the Parliament for funds and committees and therefore it joined the Rainbow Group, which also encompassed regionalists, the Danish People's Movement against the European Community and some radicals and socialists. The European Greens formed a loose confederal triangular structure with the autonomous GRAEL in parliament, the weak EGC as a supra-national co-ordinating body and the member parties. The position of the European Greens was also weakened by the principle of rotation which some member parties (Germany and the Netherlands) used, with their MEPs being replaced by another after serving half their term. This rotation technique originated with the German Greens to prevent their members being co-opted by the informal negotiation system within the Bundestag, but it served them badly within the European Parliament. For the Dutch parties the choice for rotation was a compromise between three parties which had only two seats in parliament: one seat was kept by the top candidate while the second seat rotated between the second and the third candidate. This way each party would have a representative in the EP. Finally there still was considerable diversity in the opinions of the Greens, especially between pro-European and Eurosceptic tendencies. These factors weakened the position of the Greens in Parliament.

In the 1989 election the Green parties won 26 seats. Because of political conflicts with the continuing Rainbow Group, the European Greens formed a separate parliamentary group, The Green Group in the European Parliament. During this period the Greens became more entrenched in parliament.

1993 to 2004

In June 1993 the European Federation of Green Parties was formed by the members of the EGC in Kirkkonummi, Finland. The organisation became more structured, it now had a triennial Congress, a Council and a Federation Committee (executive). It strengthened its ties with the Green Group in the European parliament.

In the 1994 European elections Green parties won a total of 20 seats. They were joined by a member of the Danish Socialist People's Party and one member of both the Italian South Tyrolean People's Party and Movement for Democracy – The Net. Again the Greens formed a separate group from Rainbow Group, now renamed the European Radical Alliance.

In the 1999 European elections the European Greens performed particularly well winning 38 seats. They formed a combined group with the European Free Alliance, which represented regionalist parties and independence movements, which previously participated in the European Radical Alliance. The relationship between the Greens and these parties was different from before, as the Greens were stronger both numerically and politically.

Since 2004

The European Green Party was founded at the Fourth Congress of the European Federation of Green Parties on 20–22 February 2004 in Rome, a party convention with over 1,000 delegates. Thirty-two Green parties from all over Europe joined this new pan-European party. The foundation of the new party was finalised with the signing of the treaty constituting the party in the Capitol of Rome. As such the Greens were the first to form a political party at European level, the other European federations followed suit between 2004 and 2006.

In the 2004 European Parliament election the member parties won 35 Seats. In the 2009 European Parliament election, even though the European Parliament was reduced in size, the EGP member parties won 46 seats, the best result of the Green Parties in 30 years.

Ideology and issues

The European Greens have always been committed to basic tenets of Green politics, such as environmental responsibility, individual freedom, inclusive democracy, diversity, social justice, gender equality, global sustainable development and non-violence.

However, its relationship to the European Union and its institutions has changed dramatically and is still the subject of a lively debate. In the 1970s and 1980s the European Greens were generally sceptical of European political and economic integration, which was seen as contrary to environmental and social interests. In its 1984 program, the European Greens advocated the formation of an alternative Europe, which would be neutral and decentralised. In 1989, some member parties adopted a more parliamentary course and became more supportive of European integration. The program advocates the democratisation of Europe's institutions. In their 1994 program, the Greens abandoned their principled opposition of European integration and began to propose pragmatic alternatives for the European Union's policies and institutions. The 1999 and 2004 programs also reflect this.

There is also a considerable range of opinions across member parties: they range from pro-European, such as the Luxembourgish The Greens to Eurosceptic, such as the Swedish Green Party.

In the area of Internet politics, The Greens–European Free Alliance parliamentary group became famous for the strong support of a proposed free information infrastructure, especially in their work on the directive against software patents in 2003.^{[citation needed]}

Representation

In this table one can see the results of the Greens for the six direct elections to the European Parliament, in terms of seats and votes. It also shows how many European Commissioners the European Greens have, who led the parliamentary group. It also lists how the Green parliamentary group and supra-national organisations was named and what European parliamentary group they joined.

Year	MEPs	MEPs %	Votes %	EC	Leaders	EP Subgroup	EP group	Organization
1979	0	0	2.4%	0	none	none	none	Coordination of European Green and Radical Parties
1984	11	2.5%	4.2%	0	Alexander Langer and Maria Amelia Santos	Green Alternative European Link	Rainbow Group	European Green Coordination
1989	25	4.8%	7.4%	0	Alexander Langer and Maria Amelia Santos	Green Group in the European Parliament		European Green Coordination
1994	21	3.7%	7.4%	0	Alexander Langer and Claudia Roth	Green Group in the European Parliament		European Federation of Green Parties
1999	38	6.1%	7.7%	1	Heidi Hautala and Paul Lannoye	European Greens	The Greens–European Free Alliance	European Federation of Green Parties
2004	35	4.8%	7.3%	0	Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Monica Frassoni	European Greens	The Greens–European Free Alliance	European Green Party
2009	48	6.2%	7.3%	0	Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Rebecca Harms	European Greens	The Greens–European Free Alliance	European Green Party

Organization

Organizational structure

States with member and observer parties of the European Greens in 2011.

The European Green Party is constituted out of political parties from European countries (although not necessarily from European Union member states). Parties can also become observer. Since 2004 individual membership of the European Green Party is also possible, these do not enjoy special rights however.

The most important bodies of the EGP are the Congress, the Council and the Committee.

• The Congress consists of 400 representatives of member parties and Green MEPs. These are allotted proportionally on basis of their votes in the most recent European or national election. Each party has at least four members. The congress has the last word on general policy of the EGP and its guiding principles.
• The Council consists of 120 representatives of member parties. These are allotted on the basis of their most recent European or national election results. Each party has at least two delegates. The council is responsible for political affairs between congresses and it decides over organizational matters, such as the election of committee, the application of members and observers and the statutes of the EGP.
• The Committee consists of nine members, including two spokespersons (one man and one woman), a secretary-general and a treasurer. They are responsible for daily political affairs, execution of the council's decisions and the activities of the secretariat-general.

All of these bodies decide with a two-thirds majority.

The European Greens are organised in several regional networks. These are organised around seas, creating somewhat of a bioregional structure: such as the Green Islands Network ("a network for Green Parties in Britain, Ireland and associated islands"), the Baltic Sea Greens, the Green Mediterranean Network, Green Adriatic Network and the North Sea Greens

Member parties

Country or Region	Name	European MPs	National MPs
Albania	Green Party of Albania	n/a	0 / 140
Austria	The Greens – The Green Alternative	2 / 19	20 / 183
Belgium	Green!	1 / 22 1 / 13	5 / 150 5 / 88
Belgium	Ecolo	2 / 22 2 / 8	8 / 150 8 / 62
Bulgaria	Bulgarian Green Party (suspended membership)	0 / 17	0 / 240
Cyprus	Ecological and Environmental Movement	0 / 6	1 / 56
Czech Republic	Green Party	0 / 22	0 / 200
Estonia	Estonian Greens	0 / 6	0 / 101
Finland	Green League	2 / 13	10 / 200
France	Europe Ecology – The Greens	14 / 72	17 / 577
Georgia	Green Party	n/a	0 / 150
Germany	Alliance '90/The Greens	14 / 99	68 / 620
Greece	Ecologist Greens	1 / 22	0 / 300
Hungary	Politics Can Be Different	0 / 22	7 / 386
Hungary	Zöld Baloldal	0 / 22	0 / 386
Ireland	Green Party/Comhaontas Glas	0 / 12	1 / 108
Italy	Federation of the Greens	0 / 72	0 / 630
Latvia	Latvian Green Party	0 / 8	4 / 100
Luxembourg	The Greens	1 / 6	7 / 60
Malta	Democratic Alternative	0 / 5	0 / 69
Moldova	Ecologist Party of Moldova "Green Alliance"	n/a	0 / 101
Netherlands	The Greens	0 / 25	0 / 150
Netherlands	GreenLeft	3 / 25	4 / 150
Norway	Environmental Party The Greens	n/a	0 / 169
Poland	Greens 2004	0 / 51	0 / 460
Portugal	Ecologist Party "The Greens"	0 / 22	2 / 230
Romania	Green Party	0 / 33	0 / 334
Russia	Green Alternative	n/a	0 / 450
Slovakia	Green Party	0 / 13	0 / 150
Slovenia	Youth Party – European Greens	0 / 7	0 / 90
Spain	EQUO	0 / 50	0 / 350
Spain	Initiative for Catalonia Greens	1 / 50	2 / 350
Sweden	Environmental Party The Greens	2 / 18	25 / 349
Switzerland	Green Party of Switzerland	n/a	15 / 200
Ukraine	Party of Greens of Ukraine	n/a	0 / 450
United Kingdom	Green Party of England and Wales	2 / 72 2 / 69	1 / 650 1 / 573
United Kingdom	Green Party in Northern Ireland	0 / 72 0 / 3	0 / 650 0 / 18
United Kingdom	Scottish Green Party	0 / 72 0 / 69	0 / 650 0 / 59

Observer parties

Country or Region	Name (in English)	European MPs	National MPs
Andorra	Greens of Andorra	n/a	0 / 28
Azerbaijan	Green Party of Azerbaijan	n/a	0 / 125
Belarus	Belarusian Party "The Greens"	n/a	0 / 110
Bulgaria	The Greens	0 / 17	0 / 240
Croatia	Green List	n/a	0 / 151
Denmark	Socialist People's Party	2 / 13	16 / 179
Serbia	Greens of Serbia	n/a	1 / 250
Turkey	Greens of Turkey	n/a	0 / 550
Europe	Federation of Young European Greens	Greens	n/a
Europe	European Network of Green Seniors	n/a
sources

De Grønne from Denmark were expelled from the EGP in 2008. The reason was that De Grønne intended to co-operate with the People's Movement against the EU in the upcoming 2009 European elections, a national party which sits in the rival European United Left–Nordic Green Left parliamentary group instead of The Greens–European Free Alliance group.

Beside these parties, it is also remarkable EQUO, in Spain. In this country there have always been many separated green parties, most of them very local and electorally weak. Lacking the existence of a strong green party, some efforts had been made to unite strengths into the Confederation of the Greens, receiving however a modest electoral support. With this scenario, EQUO, a newborn Spanish green party created to unify all the people with green ideology, attracted in 2011 most members and parties in the Confederation of the Greens, along with people from other parties or people who had never been politically active. For this reason, the EGP publicly supported EQUO on 13 November 2011, during campaigning for the 2011 Spanish general election, announcing a «Motion for Emergency resolution on the support of the European Green Party towards EQUO in view of the Spanish elections». As a newborn party, EQUO still has to fulfil several conditions to become an official candidate party to the EGP, but several documents show the members' desire to become the referent of the EGP in Spain.

On 13 May 2012, the EGP decided to withdraw the membership of the former representative of the Greens in Spain, Confederation of the Greens (Los Verdes), after several months of negotiations, and mainly because 13 out of 16 parties (formerly within the Confederation of the Greens) decided to join EQUO. Finally, on 12 May 2013 the EGP approved the incorporation of EQUO as the Spanish representative of the European Greens.

Linked organisations

The most important organisation linked to the EGP is the Federation of Young European Greens, which is a similar federation of Green youth organisations.

The EGP fosters a European Network of Green Seniors and a European Green Gender Observatory.

Formally The Greens–European Free Alliance in the European Parliament is also an independent organisation with official ties to the EGP.

Elected representatives of Member Parties

European institutions

Organisation	Institution	Number of seats
EU	European Commission	0 / 27
EU	European Council (Heads of Government)	0 / 27
EU	Council of the European Union (Participation in Government)	3 / 27
EU	European Parliament	48 / 754
Council of Europe	Parliamentary Assembly	3 / 318

See also

• Biodiversity
• Conservation movement
• Conservation ethic
• Environmental movement
• Ecology
• Ecosystem
• Earth Science
• Global warming
• List of environmental organisations
• Natural environment
• Nature
• Progressivism
• Sustainability

External links

• European Greens website