European Green Party

The European Green Party (or European Greens or EGP) is the Green political party at European level. As such it is a federation of green parties in Europe.

History
Before the foundation of the European Green Party in 2004 the Green Parties of Europe were organized differently, in a loose coordination between 1979 and 1993 and in a federation between 1993 and 2004.

1979 to 1993
In 1979 the Coordination of European Green and Radical Parties (CEGRP) was set up to coordinate the participation of Green and Radical parties in the 1979 European Parliament election. There was considerable diversity 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 entered 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 recognized by the Parliament for funds and committees and therefore it joined the Rainbow Group, which also encompased 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 coordinating 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 1989 election the Green parties won 26 seats. Because of political conflicts with the 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 organization became more structured, it now had a three-yearly Congress, a Council and a Federation Committee (executive). It strengthened its ties with the Green Group in the European parliament.

In the 1994 election 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 La Rete. Again the Greens formed a separate group from Rainbow Group, now renamed the European Radical Alliance.

In the 1999 election the 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 numerically and politically.

since 2004
The European Green Party was founded at the Fourth Congress of the European Federation of Green Parties on February 20-22, 2004 in Rome in 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 finished with a 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 follow suit in the period 2004-2006

The first goal of the re-organized European Greens was the 2004 European Parliament election campaign, which was the first election campaign in Europe that featured similar motifs and slogans in all EU countries.

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 have changed dramatically and are still the subject of a lively debate. In the 1970s and 1980s the European Greens were generally skeptical 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 was neutral and decentralized. In 1989, some member parties adopted a more parliamentary course and became more supportive of European integration. The program advocates the democratization 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 considerable diversity between the opinions of member parties: they range from pro-European, such as the Luxembourgish Dei Greng to Euroskeptic, such as the Swedish Miljöpartiet de Gröna.

In the area of Internet politics, the EFA/The Greens parliament group became famous for the strong support of proponents for a free information infrastructure, especially in their work on the directive against software patents in 2003.

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 is 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 organizations was named and what European parliamentary group they joined.

Organizational structure
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 enjoin special rights however.

The most important bodies of the EGP are the Congress, the Council and the Committee. All of these bodies decide with a two-thirds majority.
 * The Congress consists out 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 out of representatives of the MEPs and the member parties, small parties have one representative, larger ones two. 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 out 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.

The European Greens are organized in several regional networks. These are organized 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
De Grønne from Denmark were expelled from the EGP in 2008. The reason was that De Grønne intended to cooperate with the People's Movement against the EU in the upcoming elections which sits in the European United Left–Nordic Green Left parliamentary group instead of the European Greens–European Free Alliance-group.

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

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

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