European Free Alliance

The European Free Alliance (EFA) is a European political party that consists of various regionalist,^[1][2][3] separatist^[4] and ethnic minority^[3] 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.^[5] The party has generally limited its membership to centre-left and left-wing parties;^[6][7] therefore, only a fraction of European regionalist parties are members of the EFA.

European Free Alliance
President	Lorena Lopez de Lacalle (EA)
Secretary-General	Jordi Solé (ERC)
Treasurer	Anke Spoorendonk (SSW)
Founded	9 July 1981 (9 July 1981)
Headquarters	Boomkwekerijstraat 1, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Think tank	Coppieters Foundation
Youth wing	European Free Alliance Youth
Ideology	Regionalism Separatism Ethnic minority interests
European Parliament group	Greens/EFA (6 MEPs) ECR (N-VA, 3 MEPs)
Colours	Purple
European Parliament	9 / 705
European Council	0 / 27
Website
www.e-f-a.org
Politics of European Union Political parties Elections

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.

The EFA's youth wing is the European Free Alliance Youth (EFAY), founded in 2000.

As of 2024, four European regions are led by EFA politicians: Scotland with Humza Yousaf of the Scottish National Party, Flanders with Jan Jambon of the New Flemish Alliance, Corsica with Gilles Simeoni of For Corsica, and Catalonia with Pere Aragonès of the Republican Left of Catalonia.

History

Regionalists have long been represented in the European Parliament. In the 1979 election four regionalist parties 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, 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 the European People's Party group.^[8]

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 the European Free Alliance.^[9][10] 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.^[11]

Only after 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 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.^[12]

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, 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.^[13]

Following the 1999 European Parliament election, in which EFA parties did quite well, EFA elected MEPs formed a joint group with 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).^[14]

In the 2004 European Parliament election, the EFA, which had formally become a European political party,^[15] 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 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.^[16]

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.^[17]

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 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,^[18] the N-VA defected to the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group^[19][20] 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.^[21]

In 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.

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."^[22] 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 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.^[23][24] EFA members are generally progressive, although there are some notable exceptions as 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^{[25][26][27][28][29][30]} South Tyrolean Freedom.

Organisation

The main organs of the EFA organisation 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 Bureau takes care of daily affairs. It 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) treasurer.^[31]

The Bureau is completed by ten 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) and Livia Ceccaldi-Volpei (Femu à Corsica).^[31]

Member parties

Before becoming 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 the European Union.^[22]

The following is the list of EFA members and former members.^[32]

Full members

Country	Party	Region / Constituency	MPs	MEPs
Azerbaijan	Democratic Party of Artsakh^[33]^[34]	Republic of Artsakh /   Ethnic Armenians	2 / 33	Not in the EU
Austria	Unity List	Ethnic Slovenes	–	–
Belgium	New Flemish Alliance	Flanders	25 / 150	3 / 21
Bulgaria	United Macedonian Organization Ilinden–Pirin	Ethnic Macedonians	–	–
Czech Republic	Moravian Land Movement	Moravia	–	–
Denmark	Schleswig Party	Ethnic Germans	–	–
Finland	Future of Åland	Åland	–	–
France	Breton Democratic Union	Brittany	–	1 / 79
	Catalan Unity	Catalan Countries	–	–
	Let's Make Corsica	Corsica	2 / 577	1 / 79
	Occitan Party	Occitania	–	–
	Our Land	Alsace	–	–
	Party of the Corsican Nation	Corsica	1 / 577	–
	Savoy Region Movement	Savoy	–	–
Germany	Bavaria Party	Bavaria	–	–
	South Schleswig Voters' Association	Ethnic Danes /   Frisians	1 / 736	–
Greece	Party of Friendship, Equality and Peace	Ethnic Turks	–	–
Italy	Pact for Autonomy	Friuli-Venezia Giulia	–	–
	South Tyrolean Freedom	South Tyrol	–	–
	Tuscany Freedom Committee	Tuscany	–	–
	Valdostan Alliance	Aosta Valley	–	–
	Valdostan Union^[a]	Aosta Valley	1 / 400	–
	Free Sicilians	Sicily	–	–
Latvia	Latvian Russian Union	Ethnic Russians /   Latgalians	–	1 / 8
Netherlands	Frisian National Party	Frisians /   Friesland	–	–
Romania	Hungarian Alliance of Transylvania	Ethnic Hungarians	–	–
Serbia	League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina^[35]	Vojvodina /   Ethnic Hungarians	–	Not in the EU
Slovenia	The Olive Tree – Slovene Istria Party	Slovene Istria	–	–
Spain	Andalusia by Herself	Andalusia	–	–
	Aragonese State	Aragon	–	–
	Basque Solidarity	Basque Country	–	–
	Galician Nationalist Bloc	Galicia	1 / 350	1 / 54
	More for Menorca	Menorca	–	–
	New Canaries	Canary Islands	–	–
	Republican Left of Catalonia	Catalonia /   Catalan Countries	13 / 350	2 / 54
	Socialist Party of Majorca	Balearic Islands /   Catalan Countries	–	–
	More–Commitment	Valencian Community	1 / 350	–
United Kingdom	Mebyon Kernow	Cornwall	–	Not in the EU
	Plaid Cymru	Wales	3 / 650	Not in the EU
	Scottish National Party	Scotland	44 / 650	Not in the EU
	Yorkshire Party^[36]	Yorkshire	–	Not in the EU

1. Expelled in 2007 after lack of activity in EFA structures, rejoined at the 2022 congress

Individual Members

Country	MEPs	Party
Germany	Manuela Ripa	Ecological Democratic Party
France	François Alfonsi	Régions et Peuples Solidaires (Party of the Corsican Nation, Femu a Corsica)
Italy	Piernicola Pedicini	—

Former members

Country	Party	Region / Constituency	Notes
Belgium	Party of German-speaking Belgians	German Community	Merged into ProDG in 2008
	People's Union	Flanders	Split into the New Flemish Alliance and Spirit
	Pro German-speaking Community	German Community	No longer a member since 2018
	Social Liberal Party	Flanders	Dissolved in 2009
	Walloon Popular Rally	Wallonia	Dissolved as party in 2011
Croatia	List for Rijeka	Rijeka	No longer a member since 2023
Czech Republic	Moravané	Moravia	No longer a member since 2018
France	Alsace-Lorraine National Association	Alsace /   Lorraine	Dissolved
	Savoyan League	Savoy	Dissolved in 2012
	Party for the Organization of a Free Brittany	Brittany	Dissolved in 2000
	Union of the Corsican People	Corsica	Merged into the PNC in 2002
Germany	The Frisians	Frisians /   East Frisia	No longer a member since 2018
	Lusatian Alliance	Lusatia / Sorbs	No longer a member since 2023
Greece	Rainbow	Ethnic Macedonians	No longer a member since 2023
Hungary	Renewed Roma Union Party of Hungary [hu]	Romani people	Dissolved in 2012
Ireland	Independent Fianna Fáil	United Ireland	Dissolved in 2006
Italy	Autonomy Liberty Participation Ecology	Aosta Valley	Merged into Valdostan Alliance in 2019
	Citizens' Union for South Tyrol	South Tyrol	Expelled in 2008 for opposition to the Bilbao declaration
	Emilian Free Alliance	Emilia	Dissolved in 2010
	Friulian Homeland	Friuli	No longer a member after 2022 congress
	Lombard League	Lombardy	Joined Lega Nord in 1991
	Movement for the Independence of Sicily	Sicily	No longer a member after 2022 congress
	Northern League	Padania	Suspended in 1994, left in 1996 and joined ELDR
	Pro Lombardy Independence	Lombardy	No longer a member after 2022 congress
	Sardinian Action Party	Sardinia	Expelled in 2020 for allying with the Lega Nord
	Slovene Union	Ethnic Slovenes	No longer a member since 2023
	The Other South	Southern Italy	No longer a member after 2022 congress
	Venetian League	Veneto	Joined Lega Nord in 1991
	Venetian Republic League	Veneto	No longer a member after 2022 congress
Lithuania	Lithuanian Polish People's Party [lt]	Ethnic Poles	Dissolved in 2010
Poland	Kashubian Association^[35]	Kashubia / Kashubians	No longer a member since 2023
	Silesian Autonomy Movement	Upper Silesia / Silesians^[37]	No longer a member since 2023
Romania	Transylvania–Banat League	Transylvania (incl. Banat)	Dissolved
Slovakia	Hungarian Christian Democratic Association [hu]	Ethnic Hungarians	No longer a member since 2023
	Hungarian Federalist Party	Ethnic Hungarians	Banned in 2005^[38]^[dead link]
Spain	Andalusian Party	Andalusia	Dissolved in 2015
	Aragonese Union	Aragon	No longer a member since 2018
	Aralar Party	Basque Country	Dissolved in 2017
	Basque Nationalist Party	Basque Country	Left in 2004 and joined the EDP
	Canarian Coalition	Canary Islands	Left in 1999 and joined the ELDR Group
	Democratic Convergence of Catalonia	Catalonia /   Catalan Countries	Joined the LDR Group in 1987

See also

• List of regional and minority parties in Europe
• List of active separatist movements in Europe
• Political parties of minorities
• Regionalism (politics)

References

1. David Hanley (2007). "Parties, Identity and Europeanisation: An Asymmetrical Relationship?". In Marion Demossier (ed.). The European Puzzle: The Political Structuring of Cultural Identities at a Time of Transition. Berghahn Books. pp. 152–. ISBN 978-0-85745-863-6.
2. Richard Corbett (2012). "Democracy in the European Union". In Elizabeth Bomberg; John Peterson; Richard Corbett (eds.). The European Union: How Does it Work?. Oxford University Press. pp. 155–. ISBN 978-0-19-957080-5.
3. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "European Union". Parties and Elections in Europe. from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
4. "The European Free Alliance and the International Issues". ecpr.eu.
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6. Gupta, Devashree (April 2008). "Nationalism across borders: transnational nationalist advocacy in the European Union". Comparative European Politics. 6 (1): 61–80. doi:10.1057/palgrave.cep.6110127. S2CID 144152782.
7. David Hanley (2008). Beyond the Nation State: Parties in the Era of European Integration. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 132. ISBN 9781139867757. Center-left and left-wing regionalist parties are typically associated with EFA. An exception is the Nieuwe-Vlaamse Alliantie, one of the heirs of the Flemish Volksunie, which belonged to the European Popular party in the period 2004 through 2009 and later became affiliated with EFA.
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16. "Centre Maurits Coppieters (CMC) – Ideas for Europe". Ideasforeurope.eu. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
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19. Van Overtveldt, Johan (18 June 2014). "N-VA kiest voor ECR-fractie in Europees Parlement" [N-VA chooses ECR Group in the European Parliament]. standaard.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 June 2014.
20. . Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
21. "Up-to-date list of the MEPs for the new legislative period". Retrieved 26 August 2015.
22. . E-f-a.org. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
23. Gould, Andrew C.; Messina, Anthony M. (17 February 2014). Europe's Contending Identities: Supranationalism, Ethnoregionalism, Religion, and New Nationalism. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139867757.
24. "European Parliament: Guide to the political groups". BBC News. 21 October 2015.
25. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/361017961_Autonomism_as_Political_Strategy_A_comparison_between_Quebec_Corsica_and_South-Tyrol
26. Schmitt, Etienne (January 2022). "Autonomism as Political Strategy. A comparison between Quebec, Corsica, and South-Tyrol".
27. "I separati dell'Alto Adige". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
28. "Digos e carabinieri nella sede del partito — Alto Adige dal 2004.it " Ricerca". Ricerca.gelocal.it. 14 October 2010. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
29. "Frattini denuncia il "diario" della Klotz — Cronaca — Alto Adige". Altoadige.gelocal.it. 24 July 2012. Archived from the original on 13 August 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
30. "La Stampa — Nel diario scolastico sudtirolesei terroristi si scoprono eroi". La Stampa. 4 October 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
31. "Members of the Bureau Archive". e-f-a.org.
32. "Member Parties". e-f-a.org. European Free Alliance. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
33. "Member Parties". e-f-a.org. European Free Alliance. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
34. "Democratic Party of Artsakh is the Associated Member of the European Free Alliance". dpa.am. Democratic Party of Artsakh. 17 April 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
35. . e-f-a.org. Archived from the original on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
36. . Archived from the original on 11 December 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
37. "Statut – Ruch Autonomii Śląska" (in Polish). Retrieved 16 December 2023.
38. "EFA PARTY IN SLOVAK REPUBLIC BANNED". Retrieved 26 August 2015.

External links

• Official website
• The Greens/EFA official website
• EFA in the European Parliament
• European Free Alliance Youth
• Eric Defoort (editor), , 2011
• Tudi Kernalegenn, , European Free Alliance, 2011
• Peter Lynch, Organising for a Europe of the Regions: The European Free Alliance-DPPE and Political Representation in the European Union, 2007