THE EUROPEAN GREENS

European Greens have always stood for the politics of progressive change, favouring environmental and social responsibility, freedom, democracy and openness to the world. In the current societal and political climate, many people fear change as much as they strive for it. The politics of change and hope must also address the question of security. To restore the confidence and trust of the people, the European Greens want to advance economic balance and social justice as alternatives to fear-mongering right-wing politics. Thus, the Greens will continue to fight for improvements concerning transparency, reliability and more democratic control in order to strengthen the EU not to weaken it.

Even though the European elections are still national elections, the European Greens want to provide added European value to the campaigns of the member parties which, in some cases, are running more than one campaign simultaneously. At the same time, the goal of the European Greens is also to represent a credible European alternative in the political spectrum in order to have a stronger voice on the European project.

Currently, the Greens/EFA Group counts 52 members from 18 countries and represents the fifth largest group in the European Parliament. Their ambition for 2019 is to elect more MEPs, from more countries, and to make sure that their group moves up in the Parliament ranking.

The Green parties in Europe align around the same values and principles and the European Greens are a unified force. However, Green member parties do differ in organisational strength and political representation: where some parties are involved in government negotiations, others do not reach the threshold to be in Parliament. Recently, the Greens have had some very good results – such as the national elections in the Netherlands, Germany and Hungary and the presidential elections in Austria and Finland. However, in other elections, the outcome was rather alarming and, in some countries, Green parties are still too small to be able to elect a Member of the European Parliament on their own.

In many countries, Green parties will be battling against a Eurosceptic tide and a growing sense of nationalism. One of the greatest challenges the EU is currently facing concerns the parties that share an anti-European and anti-immigration political agenda. Greens have always been pro-Europe and they believe that with their common campaign they will once again demonstrate their determination towards the European project. They will also have competitors on the pro-European spectrum – some old, some new. Several initiatives are being created with the aim of occupying space within the progressive camps. While the Greens recognize that at the national level their member parties might find it interesting to ally with some of these forces, as a European family they will carry on their campaign independently.

The main aim of their campaign is to show that European Greens are aligned on the same values and principle and that they share strong commonalities on their vision for the European project. They were the first political force to understand that the many-fold crises facing Europe cannot be resolved at the national level but only through the European project. They were the first to acknowledge that the European construction is the best tool to have to be game-changers in a globalised world and in this campaign, they want to voice this even louder.

Their campaign will provide member parties with the tools to campaign on Green successes and the Green vision for our continent.

Latest National Elections Results

1. Luxembourg : 10.13% (Dei Greng)
2. Netherlands : 9.1% (Groenlinks)
3. Germany : 8.9% (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
4. Finland : 8.5% (Vihreät- De Gröna)
5. Hungary : 7.06% (Lehet Masa Politika)
6. Sweden : 6.89% (Moljöpartiet de Gröna)
7. Latvia : 5.58% (Latvijas Zala Partija)
8. Belgium : 5.32% (Groen)
9. Cyprus : 4.81% (Cyprus Green Party)
10. France : 4.3% (Europe Ecologie-Les Verts)
11. Denmark : 4.2% (Socialistik Folkeparti)
12. Austria : 3.8% (Die Grünen)
13. Belgium : 3.3% (Ecolo)
14. Ireland : 2.8% (Comhaontas Glas)
15. Greece : 2.02% (Oikologoi Prasinoi/Ecologist Greens)
16. United Kingdom: 1.6% (Green Party of England & Wales)
17. Czech Republic : 1.46% (Zeleni/Czech Greens)
18. Bulgaria : 1.1% (Zelenite)
19. Portugal : 0.99% (Partido Ecologista ‘Os Verdes’
20. Spain : 0.93% (EQUO)
21. Estonia : 0.9% (Eestimaa Rohelised)
22. Slovenia : 0.86% (SMS Zeleni Evrope)
23. Malta : 0.83% (Alternativa Democratica-The Green Party)
24. Spain: 0.64% (Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds)
25. Scottish Green Party: 0.13% (Scottish Green Party)
26. Croatia : 0%
27. Italy : 0%
28. Poland : 0%
29. Romania : 0%
30. Slovakia : 0%
31. Lithuania : 0%