European Radical Alliance

European Radical Alliance
European Parliament group
ERA logo
Name European Radical Alliance
English abbr. ERA[1]
French abbr. ARE[2]
Formal name Group of the European Radical Alliance[3][4]
Ideology Radicalism,
Social liberalism,
Liberalism,
Regionalism
Associated organisations European Free Alliance
From 19 July 1994[5]
To 20 July 1999[2]
Preceded by Rainbow Group in the European Parliament
Succeeded by Greens/EFA
Chaired by Catherine Lalumière[6]
MEP(s) 19 (July 19, 1994),
21 (May 5, 1999),
13 (June 13, 1999)

The Group of the European Radical Alliance was a heterogeneous political group with seats in the European Parliament between 1994 and 1999.

Contents

History

In 1989[2][5] the Rainbow Group split. The Greens went off to form the "Green Group", whilst the Regionalists stayed in the rump of Rainbow. The 1994 elections saw a considerable reduction in Regionalist representation in the Parliament, with only the Canary Isles autonomists, Lega Nord, SNP and VU keeping their MEPs.[7] But Lega Nord had been suspended from the European Free Alliance following its decision to join the coalition Italian government alongside the nationalist National Alliance.[7] Given this reduction in numbers, the weakened EFA were no longer able to maintain their own group.

The French Energie Radicale were considered centrist enough to be possible members of the ELDR group[8] (their successors, the Radical Party of the Left, became observers in the ELDR in 2006[9]) but instead they allied themselves with the members of the Pannella-Reformers List and the rump EFA to form the Group of the European Radical Alliance.[2]

The ERA stayed in existence until 1999, when a loss of support forced the European Free Alliance members of the ERA to rejoin with the Green Group to create[2] the Greens/EFA group.


Member parties at July 19, 1994

Member state Party MEPs Notes
France Energie Radicale[10][7] 13[10][7]
United Kingdom Scottish National Party[10][7] 2[10][7]
Italy Italian Radicals[10][7] 2[10][7]
Belgium Volksunie/Vlaamse Vrije Democraten[10][7] 1[10][7]
Spain Canarian Coalition[11] 1 Isidoro Sánchez García[11]

Sources

References

  1. ^ a b Democracy in the European Parliament
  2. ^ a b c d e f G/EFA on Europe Politique
  3. ^ a b Group names 1999
  4. ^ a b European Parliament profile of Jaak Vandemeulebroucke
  5. ^ a b c Development of Political Groups in the European Parliament
  6. ^ a b European Parliament profile of Catherine Lalumière
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k de Winter, Lieven; Türsan, Huri (1998). Regionalist Parties in Western Europe. Routledge. pp. 190–201. ISBN 0415164370. 
  8. ^ a b OneEurope magazine, issue 11
  9. ^ a b ELDR State of the Party: Activity Report of the ELDR Party, April 1999 - October 2006
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i European Union Basics FAQ, Part 3
  11. ^ a b c European Parliament profile of Isidoro Sánchez García