A European political alliance is an entity operating transnationally in Europe, especially across the member states of the European Union.[1] 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".
See main article: European political party.
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.[2] They also work closely with their members in the European Commission.
See main article: 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.[3]
See also: Tenth European Parliament.
See main article: 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.
See main article: 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.
See main article: 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.
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.
| Animal Politics EU | APEU | 2014 | Animal rights Animal welfare | The Left | Electoral platform of animal rights parties | ||
| European Communist Action | ECA | 2023 | Communism Marxism–Leninism Anti-capitalism Euroscepticism Anti-imperialism | Non-Inscrits | Alliance of Marxist–Leninist parties, successor to the Initiative of Communist and Workers' Parties | ||
| European Pirate Party | PPEU | 2014 | Greens/EFA | Organisation of Pirate Parties | |||
| Volt Europa | Volt | 2017 | European federalism Social liberalism Progressivism Pro-Europeanism | Greens/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 |