European Green Party

The European Green Party (EGP), also referred to as European Greens, is the European political party that represents national parties from across Europe who share Green values. The European Greens works closely with the Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) parliamentary group in the European parliament which is formed by elected Green party members along with the European Free Alliance, European Pirate Party and Volt Europa. The European Greens' partners include its youth wing the Federation of Young European Greens (FYEG), the Green European Foundation (GEF) and the Global Greens family.

European Green Party
President	Mélanie Vogel and Thomas Waitz
Secretary-General	Benedetta De Marte
Founded	21 February 2004; 19 years ago (2004-02-21)
Preceded by	European Federation of Green Parties
Headquarters	Rue du Taciturne 34, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Think tank	Green European Foundation
Ideology	Green politics^[1] Pro-Europeanism
Political position	Centre-left to left-wing
International affiliation	Global Greens
European Parliament group	Greens–European Free Alliance
Colours	Green
European Parliament	52 / 705
Website
europeangreens.eu
Politics of European Union Political parties Elections

History

Green politics emerged from grassroots political movements, such as the environmental, peace, and women's rights movements. They forged the Greens' political priorities: climate change, peace, environment, democracy, social justice and health. Greens emerged as a new political force in the 1970s in several European countries and have been represented in the European Parliament since 1984.^[2]

The European Green Party was founded at the 4th Congress of the European Federation of Green Parties on 20–22 February 2004 in Rome, as the evolution of this already existing federation. The foundation of the new party was finalised with the signing of the treaty constituting the party. 32 Green parties from across Europe joined this new pan-European party.^[3] The Greens were the first to form a political party at the European level.

The European political party amplifies the political expression of member parties by having common policy positions, mutual election manifestos, and cohesive European election campaigns. The European Greens also has networks which brings Green politicians together, such as the Local Councillors Network.^[3][4]

The current presence of European Greens member parties in national governments is the highest in history. They are now in government in 8 countries in Europe: Austria (Die Grünen), Belgium (Groen and Ecolo), Finland (Vihreät De Gröna), Germany (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), the Republic of Ireland (Comhaontas Glas), Luxembourg (déi gréng), Montenegro (Građanski Pokret URA) and Scotland (Scottish Greens).

Representation

The table below shows 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.^[5]

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	Friedrich-Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf (1984–86), Bram van der Lek (1984–86), Brigitte Heinrich (1986), François Roelants du Vivier (1986), Frank Schwalba-Hoth (1986–87), Paul Staes (1987–88), Wilfried Telkämper (1987–89)	Green Alternative European Link	Rainbow Group	European Green Coordination
1989	25	4.8%	7.4%	0	Maria Amelia Santos (1989–90), Alexander Langer (1990), Adelaide Aglietta (1990–94), Paul Lannoye (1990–94)	Green Group in the European Parliament		European Green Coordination
1994	21	3.7%	7.4%	0	Claudia Roth (1994–98), Alexander Langer (1994–95), Magda Aelvoet (1997–99)	Green Group in the European Parliament		European Federation of Green Parties
1999	38	6.1%	7.7%	1^[a]	Heidi Hautala (1999–2002), Paul Lannoye (1999–2002), Monica Frassoni (2002–04), Daniel Cohn-Bendit (2002–04)	European Greens	Greens–European Free Alliance	European Federation of Green Parties
2004	35	4.8%	7.3%	0	Monica Frassoni (2004–09), Daniel Cohn-Bendit (2004–09)	European Greens	Greens–European Free Alliance	European Green Party
2009	48^[b]	6.2%	7.3%	0	Rebecca Harms (2009–14), Daniel Cohn-Bendit (2009–14)	European Greens	Greens–European Free Alliance	European Green Party
2014	50^[6]^[c]	6.7%	7.3%	0	Rebecca Harms (2014–2016), Ska Keller (2017– ), Philippe Lamberts (2014– )	European Greens	Greens–European Free Alliance	European Green Party
2019	67	11.4%	10.0%	0	Ska Keller and Bas Eickhout	European Greens	Greens-EFA	European Green Party

Organisational structure

 

 

Ulrike Lunacek, ex vice-president of the European Parliament and Michaele Schreyer, the only Green European Commission member so far

The European Green Party is a European political party, constituted out of political parties from European countries. Parties can also become associate members. Members of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament not belonging to a member party can be admitted as a special member with speaking rights but no vote.

 

Alice Bah Kuhnke, Deputy chairwoman of the Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) group in the European Parliament.

The governing bodies of the EGP are the Council and the Committee.^[7]

• The Council takes place twice a year and is the main decision-making body of the European Greens and consists of delegates of member parties. During Councils, delegates from European Greens parties set a common political direction, linked to the development of the European project and its values. They do so by debating and vote on resolutions on key issues in Europe. Delegates are allotted based on their most recent European or national election results. Each party has at least two delegates. consists of delegates 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.^[8]
• The Committee consists of nine members, including two Co-Chairs (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 EGP office and staff. Co-Chairs Thomas Waitz and Mélanie Vogel, Secretary General Benedetta De Marte, Treasurer Ute Michel, and Committee Members Vula Tsetsi, Sibylle Steffan, Małgorzata Tracz, Rasmus Nordqvist and Mina Jack Tolu were elected at the 35th European Green Party in Riga, Latvia. The EGP has had several Co-Chairs.

Co-chairs of the European Greens

Mandate	Co-chairs	Member party	Years	Secretary General	Council election
May 2022 –	Mélanie Vogel	EELV	05/2022 – Present	Benedetta De Marte	Riga,   Latvia, November 2022
	Thomas Waitz	Die Grünen	05/2022 – Present
Nov 2019 – May 2022	Evelyne Huytebroeck	Ecolo	11/2019 – 05/2022	Mar Garcia	Tampere,   Finland, November 2019
	Thomas Waitz	Die Grünen	11/2019 – 05/2022
Nov 2015 – Nov 2019	Monica Frassoni	Federazione dei Verdi	11/2015 – 11/2019	Mar Garcia	Lyon,   France, November 2015
	Reinhard Bütikofer	Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen	11/2015 – 11/2019
Nov 2012 – Nov 2015	Monica Frassoni	Federazione dei Verdi	11/2012 – 11/2015	Jacqueline Cremers (until end 2014)   Mar Garcia (from January 2015)	Athens,   Greece, November 2012
	Reinhard Bütikofer	Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen	11/2012 – 11/2015
Oct 2009 – Nov 2012	Monica Frassoni	Federazione dei Verdi	10/2009 – 11/2012	Jacqueline Cremers	Malmö,   Sweden, October 2009
	Philippe Lamberts	Ecolo	10/2009 – 11/2012
May 2006 – Oct 2009	Ulrike Lunacek	Die Grünen	05/2006 – 10/2009	Juan Behrend	Helsinki,   Finland, May 2006
	Philippe Lamberts	Ecolo	05/2006 – 10/2009
May 2003 – May 2006	Grazia Francescato	Federazione dei Verdi	05/2003 – 05/2006	Arnold Cassola	Saint Andrews,   Malta, May 2003
	Pekka Haavisto	Vihreä Liitto	05/2003 – 05/2006

• The Congress is an enlarged meeting of the Council which is convened by the Council at least once every 5 years and hosts more delegates.

Networks

The EGP hosts a collection of networks that have specific special interest focus, including:

• Balkan Network
• Mediterranean Network
• Gender Network
• European Queer Greens
• Local Councillors Networks
• European Green Disability Network
• European Network of Green Seniors

 

  States with member parties

  States with associate parties

  States with candidate parties

Guidelines

Charter

According to its charter, the European Greens is working towards a just and sustainable transition towards societies "respectful of human rights and built upon the values of environmental responsibility, freedom, justice, diversity and non-violence". The charter’s guiding principles provide a framework for the political actions taken by member parties.  

The priorities outlined in the charter include protecting human health and wellbeing, maintaining biological diversity, combatting global warming, transitioning to a just and sustainable economy, strengthening inclusive democracies, safeguarding diversity, and ensuring social justice.  

Statutes  

The European Green Party statutes define the party in legal terms.

Membership

As of July 2022, the European Greens has 36 member parties in 32 countries.

Full members

Country		Name	MEPs	National MPs	Government status
Albania		Green Party of Albania	Not in EU	0 / 140	Extra-parliamentary
Austria		The Greens – The Green Alternative	3 / 18	26 / 183	In government
Belgium	Flemish	Groen	1 / 12 ^[d]	8 / 102 ^[e]	In government
	French   German	Ecolo	2 / 9 ^[f]	13 / 63 ^[g]	In government
Bulgaria		Green Movement	0 / 17	3 / 240	In government
Cyprus		Movement of Ecologists – Citizens' Cooperation	0 / 6	3 / 56	In opposition
Czech Republic		Green Party	0 / 22	0 / 200	Extra-parliamentary
Denmark		Green Left	2 / 13	15 / 179	Confidence and supply
Estonia		Estonian Greens	0 / 7	0 / 101	Extra-parliamentary
Finland		Green League	3 / 14	20 / 200	In government
	Åland	Sustainable Initiative		2 / 30	In opposition
France		Europe Ecology – The Greens	10 / 74	21 / 577	In opposition
Georgia		Greens Party of Georgia	Not in EU	0 / 150	Extra-parliamentary
Germany		Alliance 90/The Greens	21 / 96	118 / 735	In government
Greece		Ecologist Greens	0 / 21	0 / 300	Extra-parliamentary
Hungary		LMP – Hungary's Green Party	0 / 21	8 / 199	In opposition
		Dialogue – The Greens' Party	0 / 21	6 / 199	In opposition
Ireland		Green Party^[h]	2 / 13	12 / 160	In government
Italy		Green Europe	0 / 76	7 / 400	In opposition
	South Tyrol	Greens	0 / 76	0 / 400	Extra-parliamentary
Latvia		The Progressives	0 / 8	10 / 100	In opposition
Luxembourg		The Greens	1 / 6	6 / 60	In government
Malta		AD+PD	0 / 6	0 / 67	Extra-parliamentary
Moldova		Ecologist Green Party	Not in EU	0 / 101	Extra-parliamentary
Netherlands		GroenLinks	3 / 26	8 / 150	In opposition
North Macedonia		Democratic Renewal of Macedonia	Not in EU	1 / 120	In government
Norway		Green Party	Not in EU	3 / 169	In opposition
Poland		The Greens	0 / 51	3 / 460	In opposition
Portugal		People Animals Nature	0 / 21	1 / 230	In opposition
		LIVRE	0 / 21	1 / 230	In opposition
		Ecologist Party "The Greens"	0 / 21	0 / 230	Extra-parliamentary
Romania		Green Party	0 / 32	0 / 329	Extra-parliamentary
Slovenia		Youth Party – European Greens	0 / 8	0 / 90	Extra-parliamentary
		Vesna – Green Party	0 / 8	0 / 90	Extra-parliamentary
Spain		Greens Equo	0 / 54	1 / 350	Confidence and supply
	Catalonia	Green Left^[i]	1 / 54 ^[j]	2 / 350	In government
Sweden		Green Party	3 / 20	16 / 349 ^[9]	In opposition
Switzerland		Green Party of Switzerland	Not in EU	28 / 200	In opposition
Ukraine		Party of Greens of Ukraine	Not in EU	0 / 450	Extra-parliamentary
United Kingdom	England   Wales	Green Party of England and Wales	Not in EU	1 / 573 ^[k]	In opposition
	Scotland	Scottish Greens		0 / 59 ^[l]	Extra-parliamentary
	Northern Ireland	Green Party in Northern Ireland ^[m]		0 / 18 ^[n]	Extra-parliamentary

Candidate members

Country	Name	MEPs	National MPs
Croatia	Sustainable Development of Croatia	–	–
Montenegro	United Reform Action	Not in EU	3 / 81
Spain	Catalunya en Comú	1 / 59	4 / 48 ^[o]
Turkey	Green Left Party	Not in EU	–
Serbia	Zajedno	Not in EU	8 / 250	—	sources^[10]^[11]

Associate members

Country	Name	MEPs	National MPs
Azerbaijan	Azerbaijan Green Party	Not in EU	–
Belarus	Belarusian Green Party	Not in EU	0 / 110
Russia	Union of Greens of Russia^[12]	Not in EU	0 / 170
sources^[10]

Former members

Country	Year left	Name	MEPs (current)	National MPs (current)
Denmark	2012	De Grønne	n/a – defunct
Hungary	2015	Green Left	n/a – defunct
Latvia	2019	Latvian Green Party	–	4 / 100
Netherlands	2017	The Greens	–	-
Russia	2016^[p]	Green Alternative	Not in EU	-
Spain	2012	Confederation of the Greens	–

Ideology and positions

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

The European Greens was the first European political party to form, signalling its commitment to the European project. In its charter, it nevertheless affirms that the political party is working to make the European Union more just, democratic and inclusive.  

European election campaigns

Manifestos

2019: Time to renew the promise of Europe.  

2014: Change Europe, Vote Green.  

2009: A Green New Deal for Europe.

2004: Europe Can Do Better. You Decide!

1999: A Common Green Manifesto for the 1999 European Elections.

1994: Election Platform – Green Parties of the EU.

Results

The candidates for the 2019 European Parliament election were Ska Keller and Bas Eickhout, who campaigned for climate protection, a social Europe, more democracy and stronger rule of law. That year, the Greens made the strongest ever showing across Europe, in part due to rising public awareness about climate change and the impact of youth movements for climate. The strongest surge was in Germany as Alliance 90/The Greens replaced the centre-left Social Democratic Party of Germany as the second-strongest party. The Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament obtained 74 seats in total. The Greens' results signified a new balance of power as the European People's Party (EPP) and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) lost their majority.

In the 2014 European Parliament election the Green candidates were José Bové and Ska Keller. These elections marked the first time there were primaries including Spitzenkandidaten at the European elections, which allows Europeans to not only vote for who should represent them in the European Parliament, but also help to decide who should lead the European Commission. In May they presented a common programme including the Green New Deal at the launch of the European Greens' campaign which called for "a new direction of economic policy aimed at reducing our carbon footprint and improving our quality of life". The slogan of the campaign was 'Change Europe, vote Green'. The Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament obtained 50 seats in total.

In the 2009 European Parliament election, even though the European Parliament was reduced in size, the European Greens' member parties won 46 seats, the best result of the Green Parties in 30 years. The Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament secured 55 seats in total.

In the 2004 European Parliament election, member parties won 35 Seats and the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament secured 43 in total.

Green representation

Main article: European Greens election results

European institutions

Organisation	Institution	Number of seats
European Union	European Commission	0 / 28
	European Council (Heads of Government)	0 / 28
	Council of the European Union (Participation in Government)	6 / 27
	European Parliament	52 / 751
Council of Europe	Parliamentary Assembly	3 / 318

Election results

Country		Name	Votes	Total	Last EU election	Votes	Total	Last national election	Government status
Austria		The Greens – The Green Alternative	532,193	3,834,662	14.1%	664,055	4,835,469	13.9%	In government
Belgium	Flemish	Groen	525,908	6,732,157	7.8%	413,836	6,780,538	6.1%	In government
	French   German	Ecolo	492,330		7.2%	416,452		6.1%	In government
Bulgaria		The Greens	EPP	2,015,320	6.1%^[13]	EPP	2,658,548	6.3%^[13]	In opposition
Cyprus		Movement of Ecologists – Citizens' Cooperation	9,232	280,935	3.3%^[14]	15,762	357,712	4.4%	In opposition
Czech Republic		Green Party	0	2,370,765	did not compete	53,343	5,375,090	1.0%	Extra-parliamentary
Denmark		Socialist People's Party	364,895	2.758.855	13.2%	272,304	3,569,521	7.7%	Confidence and supply
Estonia		Estonian Greens	5,824	332,104	1.8%	10,226	561,131	1.8%	Extra-parliamentary
Finland		Green League	292,892	1,830,045	16.0%	354,194	3,081,916	11.5%	In government
France		Europe Ecology – The Greens	3,055,023	22,654,164	13.5%	973,527	22,655,174	4.3%	In opposition
Germany		Alliance 90/The Greens	7,677,071	37,396,889	20.5%	6,852,206	46,442,023	14.8%	In government
Greece		Ecologist Greens	49,099	5,656,122	0.9%	0	5,769,542	did not compete	Extra-parliamentary
Hungary		LMP – Hungary's Green Party	75,498	3,470,257	2.2%	404,429	5,732,283	7.1%	In opposition
Ireland		Green Party^[q]	190,755	1,678,003	11.4%	155,695	2,183,489	7.1%	In government
Italy		Green Europe	621,492	26,783,732	2.3%	1.071.663	29,172,085	3.6%	In opposition
	South Tyrol								Extra-parliamentary
Luxembourg		The Greens	39.535	217,086	18.9%	32.177	216,177	15.1%	In government
Malta		AD+PD	7,142	260,212	did not compete	0	310,665	did not compete	Extra-parliamentary
Netherlands		GroenLinks	599,283	5,497,813	10.9%	537,584	10,422,852	5.2%
Poland		The Greens	EPP	13,647,311	38.5%^[15]	EPP	18,470,710	27.4%^[16]	In opposition
Portugal		Ecologist Party "The Greens"	LEFT	3,314,414	6.9%^[17]	LEFT	5,340,890	6.3%^[17]	In opposition
Romania		Green Party	0	9,069,822	did not compete	23,085	5,908,331	0.4%	Extra-parliamentary
Slovenia		Youth Party – European Greens	0	482,075	did not compete	0	891,097	did not compete	Extra-parliamentary
Spain		Equo	0	22,426,066	did not compete	582,306	24,258,228	2.4%	Confidence and supply
	Catalonia	Esquerra Verda^[r]	LEFT		Run with UP^[18]	0		did not compete	In government
		Catalunya en Comú	LEFT		Run with UP^[18]	LEFT		Run with UP	In government
Sweden		Green Party	478,258	4,151,470	11.5%	285,899	6,535,271	4.4%	In government
European Greens			15.016.430	176.860.279	8,49%	12.047.080	212.120.443	5,67%

Partnerships

• Federation of Young European Greens
• Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament
• Global Greens
• Green European Foundation

See also

•  Environment portal

• Alter-globalization
• Anti-nuclear movement
• Club of Rome
• Common good (economics)
• Communalism
• Ecofeminism
• Ecological economics
• Environmental movement
• Ethics of care
• Participatory economics
• Political ecology
• Tobin tax
• Universal Basic Income
• Via Campesina

Notes

1. Michaele Schreyer for Alliance '90/The Greens
2. includes 6 independent MEPs elected for the Europe Écologie group
3. Includes 14 MEPs, from 8 countries, NOT affiliated with EGP member parties.
4. Dutch-speaking electoral college
5. Flemish seats in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives, including seats for bilingual Brussels.
6. All seats for the French and German-speaking electoral colleges.
7. All seats for French and German-speaking Communities in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives, including seats for bilingual Brussels.
8. The Irish Green Party operates also in Northern Ireland as the "Green Party in Northern Ireland". The Northern Irish party is separately listed in this table although it does not have separate membership in the EGP.
9. Esquerra Verda is member party of Catalunya en Comú.
10. Ernest Urtasun is member of Catalunya en Comú and Esquerra Verda.
11. English and Welsh seats in the House of Commons.
12. Scottish seats in the House of Commons
13. It does not have separate membership in the EGP because it is a part of the Irish Green Party.
14. Northern Irish seats in the House of Commons.
15. Catalan seats in the Congress of Deputies.
16. Full member from 1994 to 2016. Downgraded to associate member in 2016.
17. The Irish Green Party operates also in Northern Ireland as the "Green Party in Northern Ireland". The Northern Irish party is separately listed in this table although it does not have separate membership in the EGP.
18. Esquerra Verda is member party of Catalunya en Comú.

References

1. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "European Union". Parties and Elections in Europe. from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
2. History of the European Green Party at greens-efa.eu
3. History of the European Green Parts at europeangreens.eu
4. [1] Local Councillors Network
5. "Directory". Retrieved 26 August 2015.
6. "Results of the 2014 European elections – European Parliament". results-elections2014.eu. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
7. (PDF). europeangreens.eu. 20 May 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 January 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
8. "EGP Rule Book" (PDF). europeangreens.eu.
9. "2018: Val till riksdagen – Valda" (in Swedish). Valmyndigheten. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
10. "Member Parties". European Greens.
11. "Search". Retrieved 26 August 2015.
12. "Green Russia".
13. In a coalition with Yes, Bulgaria! and Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria as Democratic Bulgaria
14. with SYPOL
15. Parties included in the coalition are the Democratic Left Alliance (since 16 February), The Greens (since 17 February), Now! (since 18 February), Civic Platform (since 21 February), Modern, Democratic Party (since 22 February), Polish People's Party, Union of European Democrats (since 23 February), Social Democracy of Poland (since 2 March), Liberty and Equality (since 3 March), League of Polish Families (since 11 March) and Feminist Initiative (since 15 March). The Coalition also gained the support from Barbara Nowacka and her movement, the Polish Initiative and civic organisation Committee for the Defence of Democracy. The Coalition came in second place in the 2019 European Parliament election with 38.5% of the vote, returning 22 MEPs.
16. The party participate in the 2019 Polish parliamentary election as part of the Civic Coalition.
17. These are the results for Unitary Democratic Coalition.
18. On 2 July 2020, former ICV members announced the founding of a new party and that it would be part of the En Comú Podem, with David Cid, Marta Ribas and Ernest Urtasun being members of the new party.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to European Green Party.

• European Greens website