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European Politics

European Parliament Brussels - Photo source: European Parliament

European politics refers to the political systems, institutions, and processes that govern the European Union (EU) and its member states. The EU is a unique political entity that has its own institutions, such as the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the European Council, which work together to make and implement laws and policies that apply to all member states.

European Union

The European Union (EU) consists of currently 27 member states and has almost 450 million citizens. It is a supranational political and economic union of independent nations. Several European neighbour states in the Balkans and Eastern Europe are currently candidates for membership, while other states like Norway and Switzerland have basically accepted the majority of EU legislation without becoming members.

European Parliament

The European Parliament has its headquarters in Strasbourg, France, but also meets regularly in Brussels, Belgium. It is the only institution of the EU directly elected by its citizens and has 705 members . The current (2023) President of the European Parliament is Roberta Metsola.

European Commission

The European Commission can be seen as the government of the EU. It is currently (2023) led by Ursula von der Leyen.

European Council

The European Council assembles the heads of state or government of the 27 EU member states and the President of the European Commission. It is led by the European Council President, currently Charles Michel.

European Central Bank

The ECB must be seen as a both an economically and politically oriented institution. Without its clear leadership, the Euro and maybe even the EU would have failed in the crisis years 2010-2012. The ECB is currently led by Christine Lagarde.

Conference on the Future of Europe

The Conference on the Future of Europe was a project to collect the opinions and ideas of European citizens in many political areas. It has been concluded by end of 2022, but hopefully many ideas presented there will continue to live and even be realized by the EU.

Council of Europe

The Council of Europe, not to be mixed up with the European Council, was founded in 1949 and now has 46 member states, far more than the EU. It is basically a forum of exchange, with a Committee of Ministers, comprising the Foreign Ministers of the members, and a Parliamentary Assembly, consisting of members of the national parliaments of the member states. Fun fact - only three European states have ever left the Council of Europe, Russia, expelled due to its attack on Ukraine, Czechoslovakia, due to its dissolution, and Saarland, the tiny state which joined West Germany in 1957.

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Political Parties and Groups

The Members of the European Parliament are organized in political groups (factions) which represent one or more European political parties. In most cases, those parties are alliances of national parties of the same "colour".

VOLT Europa is the only genuine pan-European party with branches in most EU countries which was founded in 2017 and currently is represented by one Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Damian Boeselager. VOLT is part of the pro-European European Greens / European Free Alliance group which otherwise contains both Green and Regionalist parties.

The two largest groups in the European Parliament are basically identical with their related European parties. They are the centrist European People's Party and the social democrat Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats .

The third largest group, liberal Renew Europe is a more complex alliance of parties, similar to the leftist Left in the European Parliament . Both are pro European, but of course with very different political views otherwise. The groups "Identity and Democracy" and "European Conservatives and Reformists" both contain a number of rightwing and mostly anti-European parties (therefore not linked here).

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Another aspect of European politics are the political organisations focussing on the project of European unity as their main goal. They often are quite
old, but there are also new projects, bringing on fresh ideas.

Union of European Federalists

The Union of European Federalists was founded in 1946 and consists of many national pro-European Federalist organisations. Its main goals are to raise the awareness of the public about European issues and to influence European politicians towards Federalism.

Young European Federalists

The Young European Federalists can be seen as the youth organisation of the European Federalists. With about 15'000 members, they are organized in 31 independent chapters and currently are focussing on an European Federal Constitution and on human rights.

Movimento Insieme

Movimento Insieme is an organisation founded formally in 2022, with the single goal of an European Federal Union. Containing members from many European countries, it is still small, but growing.

European Manifestos

A number of manifestos have been launched to push for a democratic and united Europe. Examples are the Rome Manifesto , the Manifesto for the Democratisation of Europe . The most well known manifesto is the historic Manifesto di Ventotene from 1941.

Another Europe is Possible

Another Europe is Possible is an organization in the UK, fighting against Brexit and for the integration of the UK into the EU. It has an Europe wide political scope, but of course focusses mainly on Britain.

European Alternatives

European Alternatives is an organisation which wants to develop political alternatives for Europe beyond the concept of a nation state. They have started a number of initiatives, like the "School of Transnational Activism" , "Citizens Take Over EU" and the Transeuropa Festival which took place in Porto, Portugal in 2022.

"European Republic" initiative

The "European Republic" initiative was started by Ulrike Guerot, now seen as rather contentious due to her input to other political areas. The initiative itself is still valuable and worth looking at, though.

Project for Democratic Union

The Project for Democratic Union works towards a full Political Union of Europe. The project sounds intriguing, but the website does not give much information on details.