A European political party, formally a political party at European level, sometimes informally (especially in academic circles) a Europarty, is a type of political party organization operating transnationally in Europe. The European Union recognizes such organizations and provides them with funding, largely per Article 138a of the Treaty of Maastricht, which states
| “ | 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 the citizens of the Union.[1] | ” |
This was also codified in the draft Treaty establishing a constitution for Europe's Article 45(4) with slightly different wording. [2] Stemming from this provision, Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 lays out the regulations governing 'political parties at European level' and the rules regarding their funding. [1] By 2006 ten (10) European political parties that are eligible for EP funding have been created, based on Europe-wide party alliances. Within the European Parliament these parties often express themselves in affiliation with Groups in the European Parliament which may be alliances of more than one European political parties, or possibly alliances between parties and nominally independents. The European Commission is presently working on plans to enhance the foundations of European political parties, in response to the low turn outs in recent elections. The plans would be released in June 2007 and are expected to involve developing networks on European issues, with seminars and more funding. Margot Wallström, the Commissioner for the Communication Strategy, has expressed a desire for politicisation in Brussels.[3]
Contents |
The parties
The below parties, listed by the order of foundation of their ancestor organisations, received official EU recognition and funding during the 2005 financial year[4]:
- European People's Party: christian democrats and conservatives, including the CDU of Germany and the UMP of France.
- Party of European Socialists: social democrats and democratic socialists, including the Socialist Party of France and the Labour Party of the United Kingdom.
- European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party: liberal democrats and centrists
- European Free Alliance: pro-devolution, independentist
- European Green Party: greens
- Alliance for Europe of the Nations: eurosceptics and nationalists
- Party of the European Left: socialists and communists
- European Democratic Party: centrists, european integrationists
- Alliance of Independent Democrats in Europe: centre-right nationalist eurosceptics
- EUDemocrats: EU-critical and EU-reformists of centre and centre-left
Other pan-European political organisations
- Nordic Green Left Alliance: Scandinavian socialist greens
- Euronat: Rightwing Nationalist parties, including the British National Party of the United Kingdom and the Front National of France.
- European Christian Political Movement: Christian-social parties.
- European Anticapitalist Left: Network of anticapitalist, mostly broad left-wing parties in Europe.
- European National Front: Network of far-right parties and organizations in Europe.
- Movement for European Reform: conservative and Atlanticist eurosceptics; plan to form an independent parliamentary group after the 2009 elections to replace the European Democrats, the sub-group of the EPP-ED Group in the European Parliament comprising MEPs from the UK Conservative Party and the Czech Civic Democratic Party.
- Platform for Transparency: loose confederation of three independent MEPs; somewhat eurosceptic.
Dedicated pan-European parties
- Europe — Democracy — Esperanto: Party advocating the introduction of Esperanto as an official language in the European Union.
Membership of pan-European organisations
See: Table of political parties in Europe by pancontinental organisation
Controversy
There has been controversy over Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003, which provides state funding for Europe-wide political parties outside the context of the European Parliament. This has been seen by some as an attempt to put national political parties disinclined from forming pan-continental blocs on account of Eurosceptic tendencies at a financial disadvantage, although such blocs exist in the European Parliament and benefit from EU funding there. [5]. 25 Members of the European Parliament petitioned the European Court of Justice, arguing that this directive contravened the EU's stated values of pluralism and democracy. However, the case was rejected after eighteen months. [6] [7]. A more recent and closely related case being fought by the French Front National, the Italian Lega Nord, and the Belgian Vlaams Blok (now Vlaams Belang) is under appeal. [8]
References
- ^ European Treaties europa.eu
- ^ European Constitution europa.eu
- ^ EU in drive to make Brussels more political euobserver.com 29/05/2007
- ^ Funding europarl.europa.eu
- ^ Why I am going to the European Court hannan.co.uk
- ^ Pan-European political parties hannan.co.uk
- ^ Official journal of the European Union C 229/20 17/09/2005 eur-lex.europa.eu
- ^ Official journal of the European Union C 315/9 10/12/2005 eur-lex.europa.eu
See also
- Parties in the Council of the European Union
- Index of political parties to browse parties by name
- List of political parties to browse parties by country
- List of political parties by ideology to browse parties by ideology
- Membership of internationals to browse parties by membership of internationals
- Category:European Parliament party groups
External links
- Video : Relations between parliamentary groups and political parties European NAvigator
- Parties' contact details
- The European Parliament and Supranational Party System Cambridge University Press 2002
 Political organisations at European Union level |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European Parliament |
|
 |
||||
| Other confederations of national parties |
European Anticapitalist Left · European Christian Political Movement · Euronat · European National Front · Nordic Green Left Alliance · Movement for European Reform · Platform for Transparency | |||||
| Dedicated EU parties | Europe – Democracy – Esperanto | |||||
| Politics Portal · National parties by European group · European Parliamentary Election · Party composition of the Council | ||||||
