A European political alliance is an entity operating transnationally in Europe, especially across the member states of the European Union.Regulation 1141/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations defines a political alliance as a "structured cooperation between political parties and/or citizens" European political alliances differ by their level of integration, their role, and their membership. European political alliances encompass European political parties, Political groups of the European Parliament, other party groups, as well as various entities informally referred to as "political organisations", "political movements", or "transnational parties", and sometimes erroneously as "European parties".

European political parties

A European political party is a type of political party operating transnationally in Europe and within EU institutions. They are regulated and funded by EU Regulation 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations, and their operations are supervised by the Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations (APPF), with which they are required to register.

European political parties – mostly consisting of national member parties, and few individual members – have the right to campaign during the European elections, for which they often adopt manifestos outlining their positions and ambitions.

European parties influence the decision-making process of the European Council through coordination meetings with their affiliated heads of state and government. They also work closely with their members in the European Commission.

Current European political parties

Former European political parties

Political groups of the European Parliament

The political groups of the European Parliament are the officially recognised parliamentary groups consisting of legislators of aligned ideologies in the European Parliament. Each political group is assumed to have a set of core principles, and political groups that cannot demonstrate this may be disbanded.

A political group of the EP usually constitutes the formal parliamentary representation of one or two of the European political parties, sometimes supplemented by members from other national political parties or independent politicians. It is strictly forbidden for political groups to organise or finance political campaigns during European elections, since this is the exclusive responsibility of the parties.

Political groups of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

Party Groups in the Nordic Council

The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomous areas of the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland. The representatives are members of parliament in their respective countries or areas and are elected by those parliaments.

Party Groups in the Benelux Parliament

The Benelux Parliament (officially known as the Benelux Interparliamentary Assembly) is one of the institutions of the Benelux economic union. The Parliament was established by an agreement signed by Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg in 1955, and provides the governments with advice on economic and cross-frontier cooperation.

Other political entities

The entities below are alliances or networks of national entities and operate across borders. Some of them refer to themselves as European parties, but they are not European political parties in the sense of Regulation 1141/2014 and never qualified for European public funding.

Alliances with Members in the European Parliament

+NameAbbr.FoundedIdeologyPolitical GroupSeatsNotesAnimal Politics EUAPEU2014Animal rightsAnimal welfareThe Left Electoral platform of animal rights partiesEuropean Communist ActionECA2023CommunismMarxism–LeninismNon-Inscrits Alliance of Marxist–Leninist parties, successor to the Initiative of Communist and Workers' PartiesEuropean Pirate PartyPPEU2014Greens/EFA Organisation of Pirate PartiesVolt EuropaVolt2017European federalismSocial liberalismProgressivismPro-EuropeanismGreens/EFA Organisation of pro-European and European federalist political organisations and parties using the same name and branding in all EU member states and several non-EU states

Other currently active transnational alliances +NameAbbr.FoundedIdeologyPolitical GroupNotesCentral-Eastern European Green Left AllianceCEEGLA2024Democratic socialismSocial democracyProgressivismGreen politicsAnti-PutinismGUE/NGL, S&D, Greens/EFAAlliance of left-wing and green organizations and political parties in Central and Eastern EuropeCooperation Committee of the Nordic Worker's MovementSAMAK1886Social democracyS&DAlliance of social democratic parties and labour councils in the Nordic countriesDemocracy in Europe Movement 2025DiEM252016Pan-EuropeanismPost-capitalismProgressivismDemocratic socialismEnvironmentalismEcofeminismAlter-globalizationLeft-wing movement advocating alter-globalisation, social ecology, ecofeminism, post-growth and post-capitalismEurope–Democracy–EsperantoEDE2003Linguistic rightsEsperantismOrganisation advocating for the use of Esperanto as an official EU languageFree Palestine PartyFPP2024Anti-ZionismMuslim minority interestsAnti-imperialismAlliance of Muslim minority political parties for the 2024 European electionLiberal South East European NetworkLIBSEEN2008LiberalismRenewAlliance of liberal parties and think tanks in South East EuropeNow the PeopleNTP2018Democratic socialismEco-socialismLeft-wing populismGUE/NGLAlliance of left-wing political parties

Defunct alliances EuroNat (1997–2009): an alliance of far-right, ultranationalist political parties; involved in establishing the Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty group in the European parliament in 2007; The European Alliance of EU-critical Movements (TEAM, 1992–2013): an alliance of Eurosceptic or EU-critical associations, including NGOs and political parties; European Alliance for Freedom and Democracy (2020–2023): populist alliance; its application for registration as a European political party in 2020 was not approved. European Anti-Capitalist Left (EACL, 2000–2012): Alliance of left-wing and anti-capitalist political parties; (ENF, 2004–2009): an alliance of far-right, ultranationalist political parties; Five Star Direct Democracy (5SDD, 2019): an alliance of valence populist and anti-establishment parties; Initiative of Communist and Workers' Parties (INITIATIVE, 2013–2023): an alliance of Marxist–Leninist parties; Movement for European Reform: an alliance of conservative, pro-free market and Eurosceptic parties; Newropeans (2005–2009): a movement of citizens running on a platform of European federalism and reform.

See also European political party European political foundation Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations Political groups of the European Parliament Political alliances in the European Council Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

Notes

References

External links Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations (APPF) European Parliament page on European political parties and foundations European Parliament Research Service publications on European political parties European Party Funding Observatory (EPFO) Results of the 2019 European Parliament elections by European political party Results of the 2024 European Parliament elections by European political party