| Europe of Freedom and Democracy European Parliament group |
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|---|---|
| Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group logo | |
| Name | Europe of Freedom and Democracy[1][2] |
| English abbr. | EFD[3] |
| French abbr. | ELD |
| Formal name | Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group[3] |
| Ideology | Euroscepticism[4] National conservatism Nationalism[4] Conservatism[4] |
| From | 1 July 2009 (de facto)[5] |
| To | present |
| Preceded by | Independence/Democracy, Union for a Europe of Nations |
| Chaired by | Nigel Farage (UK Independence Party) and Francesco Speroni (Lega Nord) |
| MEP(s) | 33 |
| Website | http://www.efdgroup.eu/ |
Europe of Freedom and Democracy is a Eurosceptic political group in the European Parliament. Formed after the European parliamentary election in 2009, it is mostly made up of elements of the now defunct Independence/Democracy and Union for a Europe of Nations groups from the out-going parliament.
The group is a coalition of ten political parties – the largest being the United Kingdom Independence Party and the Italian Lega Nord, with nine seats each – along with one independent.
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Following the European Parliament election, 2009, Independence/Democracy (IND/DEM) and Union for a Europe of Nations (UEN), two political groups of the European Parliament, were in trouble. The United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) component of IND/DEM had done well, but the other parties of this group fared very poorly.[5] UEN had also lost MEPs and both groups had fallen under the threshold required for a group to exist.[6][7] The remnants of both groups needed to find a new group before the constitutive session of the Seventh European Parliament on 14 July 2009.
Speculation regarding the new group surfaced on 30 June 2009. The name of the group was originally speculated as A Europe of Free Peoples,[5][8] or A Europe of Peoples for Liberty,[5][8] or a phrase involving the word Independence[5] or Freedom[9] or Democracy[9] or People.[5] In the absence of an official name, the nascent group was given the placeholder name of Liberty.[5] On 1 July 2009 a press conference was held launching the group.[1][2][10] That press conference named the group Europe of Freedom and Democracy.[1][2]
Andreas Mölzer, the leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) European Parliament list, announced in July 2009 that FPÖ and EFD were in negotiations over FPÖ joining the group; each side had reservations about the other,[11] with UKIP, the Reformed Political Party, and the Slovak National Party each uneasy about FPÖ.[12] In June 2011, the FPÖ tried again to have its two MEPs join the faction, but was again denied, being opposed by five or six of the nine parties in the EFD.[13]
In March 2010 it was announced that MEP Nikki Sinclaire had had the UKIP whip withdrawn.[14] Sinclaire had refused to join the EFD on the grounds that it was a grouping with "extreme views" and consequently had not sat with her UKIP colleagues in the European parliament.[14] In June 2010 MEP Mike Nattrass also left the EFD, albeit on other grounds than Sinclaire, stating that "I don't share the same principles of some of the Group, on balance, the majority of the Group want to stay in the EU and I've always believed that we should leave."[15] In March 2011 MEP Trevor Colman left the EFD, allegedly due to an "unresolved dispute over financial and staffing issues."[16] On 24 May 2011, David Campbell Bannerman defected to the Conservatives, and the ECR.[17]
In March 2011, MEP Anna Rosbach left the EFD, and in turn joined the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group as an independent.[18]
It was joined by Frank Vanhecke in November 2011, after Vanhecke left Vlaams Belang.[19] It was joined by Magdi Allam in December 2011, when Allam defected from the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats in the EPP group.[20] The four MEPs from United Poland defected from the European Conservatives and Reformists on 26 December 2011, taking the group's numbers to 33.
Europe of Freedom and Democracy has currently 33[3] elected members as follows:
| Member state | Party | MEPs | Previous Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | Frank Vanhecke (independent) | 1[3] | Non-Inscrits |
| Denmark | Danish People's Party | 1[3] | Union for Europe of the Nations |
| Finland | True Finns | 1[3] | none |
| France | Movement for France | 1[3] | Independence/Democracy |
| Greece | Popular Orthodox Rally | 2[3] | Independence/Democracy |
| Italy | Lega Nord | 9[3] | Union for Europe of the Nations |
| Italy | I Love Italy | 1[3] | European People's Party |
| Lithuania | Order and Justice | 2[3] | Union for Europe of the Nations |
| Netherlands | Reformed Political Party | 1[3] | Independence/Democracy |
| Slovakia | Slovak National Party | 1[3] | |
| Poland | United Poland | 4[3] | European Conservatives and Reformists |
| United Kingdom | UK Independence Party | 9[3] | Independence/Democracy |
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