The majority of major local or national political parties in Europe have aligned themselves with one of the European political alliances. Some of these are registered as European political parties, while others are political alliances with varying degrees of centralisation.
History
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). European political parties were first mentioned in the 1992 Treaty of Maastricht, stating 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 the citizens of the Union", thus officially recognising the existence of European political parties.[1]
Until the early 2000s, European parties remained mostly in the shadow of political groups in the European Parliament, which provided them with funding and, often, hosted them.
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 the first official definition of European political parties and created a framework for their public funding.[2] With this official definition, Regulation 2004/2003 marked the first distinction between European parties and other political alliances operating at European level.
In 2007, Regulation 1524/2007 updated modalities for the funding of European parties and allowed them to set up affiliated European political foundations, separate entities contributing to the debate on European issues, organising conferences, and carrying out research, and linking like-minded national political foundations. 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 the framework for European political parties and foundations, including by giving them a European legal status.[3] It also established the Authority for the European political parties and European political foundations (APPF),[4] a standalone entity for the purpose of registering, controlling, and imposing sanctions on European parties and foundations.
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.[5]
Political parties in Europe
The Nordic Green Left Alliance is a transnational federation of parties, not a European political party; however, it articulates a broadly uniform ideology and its membership is exclusive to it. As such, it is treated akin to one here.
Parties represented in national parliaments or the European Parliament are generally included in the below chart, while independents were omitted. Great ideological diversity can be found in most European political alliances, and individual country rows may not correspond with the heuristic left-right spectrum commonly used within its own political discourse.
- Standalone parties with representation in the European Parliament are coloured by the parliamentary group in which they sit. These are:
| EPP
|
PES
|
ALDE
|
| ECG
|
EUL
|
Non-Attached
|
- The "Standalone parties of the political centre" column includes some single-interest parties that claim to draw support from all across the spectrum.
- † indicates the party has observer or associate status within a transnational alliance.
- National parties are sorted by the alignment adopted by the party's leadership; in some cases MEPs have chosen to sit in different groups within the EP.
- The European political alliance Volt Europa is not shown in this table as it has national sections in several European countries; it is currently part of the Greens-European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament.
See also
References
External links
