The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL

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The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL is a left-wing political group of the European Parliament established in 1995.^[8]^[3] Before January 2021, it was named the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (French: Gauche unitaire européenne/Gauche verte nordique, GUE/NGL).^[9]

The group comprises political parties with democratic socialist, communist, and soft Eurosceptic orientation.^[1]^[4]^[10]

History

In 1995, the enlargement of the European Union led to the creation of the Nordic Green Left group of parties. The Nordic Green Left (NGL) merged with the Confederal Group of the European United Left (GUE) on 6 January 1995,^[6] forming the Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left.^[11]^[12]^[7] The NGL suffix was added to the name of the expanded group on insistence of Swedish and Finnish MEPs.^[13] The group initially consisted of MEPs from the Finnish Left Alliance, the Swedish Left Party, the Danish Socialist People’s Party, the United Left of Spain (including the Spanish Communist Party), the Synaspismos of Greece, the French Communist Party, the Portuguese Communist Party, the Communist Party of Greece, and the Communist Refoundation Party of Italy.

In 1998, Ken Coates, an expelled MEP from the British Labour Party who co-founded the Independent Labour Network, joined the group.^[14]

In 1999, the German Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and the Greek Democratic Social Movement (DIKKI) joined as full members, while the five MEPs elected from the list of the French Trotskyist alliance LO–LCR and the one MEP for the Dutch Socialist Party joined as associate members.

In 2002, four MEPs from the French Citizen and Republican Movement and one from the Danish People’s Movement against the EU also joined the group. In 2004, no MEPs were elected from LO–LCR and DIKKI — which was undergoing a dispute with its leader over the party constitution — , as well as the French Citizen and Republican Movement, did not put forward candidates. MEPs from the Portuguese Left Block, the Irish Sinn Féin, the Progressive Party of Working People of Cyprus, and the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia joined the group. The Danish Socialist People’s Party, a member of the Nordic Green Left, left the group to instead sit in the Greens–European Free Alliance group.

In 2009, no MEPs were elected from the Italian Communist Refoundation Party and the Finnish Left Alliance. MEPs from the Irish Socialist Party, the Socialist Party of Latvia, and the French Left Party joined the group.

In 2013, one MEP from the Croatian Labourists – Labour Party also joined the group. In 2014, no MEPs were elected from the Irish Socialist Party, the Socialist Party of Latvia, and the Croatian Labourists – Labour Party. MEPs from the Spanish Podemos as well as EH Bildu and the Dutch Party for the Animals joined the group, while MEPs from the Italian Communist Refoundation Party and the Finnish Left Alliance re-entered parliament and rejoined. The Communist Party of Greece, a founding member of the group, decided to leave and instead sit as Non-Inscrits.^[15]

In 2019, no MEPs were elected from the French Communist Party, the Danish People’s Movement against the EU, the Dutch Socialist Party, and from the Italian parties The Left and the Communist Refoundation Party. MEPs from the French La France insoumise, the Belgian Workers’ Party of Belgium, the German Human Environment Animal Protection, the Irish Independents 4 Change, and the Danish Red-Green Alliance joined the group.

Chairpeople

Chairperson	Took office	Left office	Country (Constituency)	Party
Alonso Puerta	1995	1999	Spain	United Left
Francis Wurtz	1999	2009	France (Île-de-France)	Communist Party
Lothar Bisky	2009	2012	Germany	The Left
Gabi Zimmer	2012	2019	Germany	The Left
Manon Aubry*	2019	present	France	La France Insoumise
Martin Schirdewan*	2019	present	Germany	The Left

Since 2019 The Left group has had two co-chairpeople.

Position

According to its 1994 constituent declaration, the group is opposed to the present European Union political structure, but it is committed to integration.^[16] That declaration sets out three aims for the construction of another European Union, the total change of institutions to make them fully democratic, breaking with neoliberal monetarist policies, and a policy of co-development and equitable cooperation.^{[citation needed]} The group wants to disband the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and strengthen the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).^{[citation needed]}^{[needs update]}

The group is ambivalent between reformism and revolution, leaving it up to each party to decide on the manner they deem best suited to achieve these aims. As such, it has simultaneously positioned itself as insiders within the European institutions, enabling it to influence the decisions made by co-decision; and as outsiders by its willingness to seek another Europe, which would abolish the Maastricht Treaty.^[17]

Member parties

MEPs may be full or associate members.

Full members must accept the constitutional declaration of the group.
Associate members need not fully do so, but they may sit with the full members.

National parties may be full or associate members.

Full member parties must accept the constitutional declaration of the group.
Associate member parties may include parties that do not have MEPs (e. g., French Trotskyist parties which did not get elected in the 2004 European elections), are from states that are not part of the European Union, or do not wish to be full members.

Membership

9th European Parliament

State	National party	Ideology		MEPs^[18]
Belgium	Workers’ Party of Belgium Partij van de Arbeid van België (PVDA) Parti du Travail de Belgique (PTB)	Communism Marxism	None	1 / 21
Cyprus	Progressive Party of Working People Ανορθωτικό Κόμμα Εργαζόμενου Λαού (ΑΚΕΛ)	Communism Marxism–Leninism	PEL (observer)	2 / 6
Czech Republic	Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia Komunistická strana Čech a Moravy (KSČM)	Communism	PEL (observer)	1 / 21
Denmark	Red-Green Alliance Enhedslisten – De Rød-Grønne (Ø)	Socialism	PEL	1 / 14
Finland	Left Alliance Vasemmistoliitto (vas.) Vänsterförbundet	Democratic socialism	PEL	1 / 14
France	La France Insoumise (LFI)	Democratic socialism Left-wing populism	PEL (observer)	5 / 79
France	Republican and Socialist Left Gauche Républicaine et Socialiste (GRS)	Socialism	PEL (observer)	1 / 79
Germany	The Left Die Linke	Democratic socialism Left-wing populism	PEL	5 / 96
Greece	Syriza Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς (ΣΥΡΙΖΑ)	Social democracy	PEL	2 / 21
Greece	New Left Νέα Αριστερά (NA)	Socialism	None	2 / 21
Ireland	Independents 4 Change Neamhspleáigh ar son an Athraithe	Socialism	None	2 / 13
	Sinn Féin (SF)	Democratic socialism Irish republicanism	None	1 / 13
	Independents Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan		Independent	1 / 13
Netherlands	Party for the Animals Partij voor de Dieren (PvdD)	Environmentalism Soft Euroscepticism	APEU	1 / 29
Portugal	Left Bloc Bloco de Esquerda (BE)	Democratic socialism Left-wing populism	PEL	2 / 21
Portugal	Portuguese Communist Party Partido Comunista Português (PCP)	Communism Marxism–Leninism	None	2 / 21
Spain	Podemos	Democratic socialism Spanish republicanism	None	4 / 59
	United Left Izquierda Unida (IU)	Communism Socialism	PEL	1 / 59
	Anticapitalistas	Socialism Trotskyism	None	1 / 59
Sweden	Left Party Vänsterpartiet (V)	Socialism Soft Euroscepticism	None	1 / 21
European Union	Total			37 / 705

The initial member parties for the 9th European Parliament was determined at the first meeting on 29 May 2019.^[19]

8th European Parliament

Country	National party		European party	MEPs

7th European Parliament

Country	National party		European party	MEPs

6th European Parliament

Country	National party		European party	MEPs

European Parliament results

Election year	No. of overall seats won	+/–
1995	34 / 567
1999	42 / 626	8
2004	41 / 732	1
2009	35 / 766	6
2014	52 / 751	17
2019	41 / 751	11

References

^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). “European Union”. Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
^ “How Eurosceptic is the new European Parliament?”. BBC. 1 July 2014.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b
- “EU Parliament Chief Under Fire Again After Mussolini Comments”. Bloomberg. New York. 15 March 2019. The GUE/NGL, a left-wing group in the parliament, called for Tajani’s immediate resignation, saying in a statement the body “cannot be represented by a president who tolerates the Fascist initiator himself”.
- “Germans’ last-ditch drive to derail EU copyright deal”. Politico. 25 March 2019. On the other side of the spectrum, the Dutch delegation of the left-wing European United Left-Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) announced Monday they would approve the text despite group opposition.
- “Splintered Parliament faces 5 years of rancorto”. Politico. 29 July 2019. In the previous mandate, a report on a piece of legislation securing the privacy of online communications was narrowly agreed by a center-left majority backed by some liberals and the left-wing GUE/NGL group.
- “European right will widen gap with rivals after Brexit, projection shows”. Euronews. Lyon. 13 June 2019. Both the Non-Inscrits and the left-wing group of GUE/NGL would lose a single MEP while gaining none, plus the national-conservative European Conservatives and Reformists would see a net loss of one MEP.
- “Parliament political groups under fire for “blocking” Greta Thunberg invitation”. The Parliament Magazine. 15 March 2019. The left wing GUE/NGL group in Parliament said it had supported moves for Thunberg to address the plenary in Strasbourg this week, but says that the proposal was blocked by other groups, including the EPP, Alde, ECR, EFDD, and ENF.
- “Inaugural session of the new European Parliament: Summary”. The New Federalist. 5 July 2019. The Greens/EFA nominated the German Ska Keller, the left-wing GUE/NGL the Spaniard Sira Rego, the Socialists & Democrats had the Italian David-Maria Sassoli, and the conservative SCR had the Czech Spitzenkandidat Jan Zahradil.
- “The EU After The Elections: A More Plural Parliament And Council – Analysis”. Eurasia Review. 1 July 2019. With the RE and the S&D claiming the support of the rest of the left-wing groups – the Greens and the GUE/NGL – against Weber, there is the smallest centre-left positive majority in the new Parliament (377 mandates).
- “EU election results 2019: across Europe”. The Guardian. 26 May 2019.
- “Euroscepticism on rise in Europe, poll suggests”. BBC News. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
- Abidor, Mitchell (3 June 2019). “What’s Left of the Left?”. Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
- “European United Left–Nordic Green Left”. The Democratic Society. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Alexander H. Trechsel (13 September 2013). Towards a Federal Europe. Taylor & Francis. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-317-99818-1.
^ “European Parliament: Guide to the political groups”. BBC News. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b “EUL/NGL on Europe Politique”. Europe-politique.eu. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b “European Parliament profile of Alonso José Puerta”. European Parliament. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
^ Andreas Staab (24 June 2011). The European Union Explained, Second Edition: Institutions, Actors, Global Impact. Indiana University Press. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-253-00164-1. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
^ “Movers and Shakers – 15 January 2021”. The Parliament Magazine. 15 January 2021.
^ Marlies Casier; Joost Jongerden (9 August 2010). Nationalisms and Politics in Turkey: Political Islam, Kemalism and the Kurdish Issue. Taylor & Francis. p. 203. ISBN 978-0-203-84706-0.
^ “Political Groups Annual Accounts 2001–2006”. European Parliament. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
^ “Group names 1999”. European Parliament. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
^ Tapio Raunio; Teija Tiilikainen (5 September 2013). Finland in the European Union. Routledge. p. 59. ISBN 978-1-135-76204-9.
^ Izzo, Federica (25 April 2014). “From the Italian Communist Party to Tsipras: The path of Europe’s radical left” (PDF). CISE.
^ “Communist Party of Greece – Statement of the Central Committee of the KKE on the stance of the KKE in the EU parliament”. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
^ “GUE/NGL Site”. Guengl.eu. 14 July 1994. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
^ Edinburgh, Luke March, Professor of Post-Soviet and Comparative Politics, the University of; Keith, Daniel (20 October 2016). Europe’s Radical Left: From Marginality to the Mainstream?. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-78348-537-6.
^ “MEPs by Member State and political group”. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
^ “First GUE/NGL group meeting – 05/19”. GUE/NGL. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
^ “Podemos acuerda con Tsipras entrar en el grupo de la Izquierda Unitaria de la Eurocámara”. Público (in Spanish). 26 May 2014. Retrieved 19 Oct

The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL

History

Chairpeople