Initiative for Catalonia Greens

Initiative for Catalonia Greens (Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds, ICV) is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It was formed as a merger of Iniciativa per Catalunya and Els Verds. IC had been an alliance led by Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya and was the equivalent of Izquierda Unida in Catalonia. IC later developed into a political party, and PSUC was dissolved.

The youth of ICV is called Joves d'Esquerra Verda (Green Left Youth). It used to be called JambI, Joves amb Iniciativa (Youth with Initiative).

In the elections to the European Parliament in 2004 ICV ran on the Izquierda Unida list. One MEP, Raül Romeva, was elected from ICV which joined the Green Group.

The ICV forms part of the tripartite coalition (along with the Catalan Socialist Party - PSC and the ERC, a left-wing Catalan Nationalist Party). The coalition has governed Catalonia since the 2004 General Election. ICV was given responsibility for the Ministry of the Environment in the share-out of power in the new government.

Ideology
Iniciativa per Catalunya calls itself an "ecosocialist" party and their members are therefore, the "ecosocialists". This ideology is summarized in the book "The ecosocialist manifesto" (Spanish edition ISBN 84-87567-34-7), co-written by a number of left-wing green politicians. This ideology looks to renew the left and is firmly against communism as practised in the former Soviet Union and against capitalism, as practised by Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, but also against social democracy, which is only a lesser evil, but does not respond to the environmental and social challenges ahead. From the ecosocialist point of view, both communism and capitalism are two faces of the productivism "mode of production" (a marxist term), which should be phased out if our planet is to survive. According to this book, this ideology is also deeply feminist and pro "freedom of the European peoples" (i.e. pro self-determination for the Basque Country and Corsica).

Presidents

 * 1) Rafael Ribó i Massó (1987-2000)
 * 2) Joan Saura i Laporta (2000-...)