Have you been struggling to understand the difference between EU political groups and EU political parties? Don’t worry, below is a short explanation to clear up all the confusion between the two!

EU political groups

You might have heard your national politicians speak about what political group in the European Parliament they are in? In the European Parliament, all the elected national politicians come together in clusters, well groups, based on issues and common political analysis, and not by nationality. There are currently 8 recognised groups in the EU Parliament: European People’s Party (Christian Democrats); Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament; European Conservatives and Reformists;  Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe; Nordic Green Left; Greens/European Free Alliance; Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy; Europe of Nations and Freedom. To be officially recognized, a group needs at least 25 member states to be part of it. In the future there might also be a feminist group recognised under the EU Parliament, as some politicians in the EU have come together to set up a network called: FUN Europe, Feminists United Network Europe. You do not vote on the groups. This is very important to understand. They are not legal bodies that take decisions, but they are the networks bringing together decision-makers with similar political leanings. We called around, and the political groups do not have common manifestos, or position papers, but the members of the groups do strategise together on how to vote in parliament. Learn more, visit: www.euparl.europa.eu

EU parties

Some parties exist in several countries, and they have a European level network that brings them together. The parties have common manifestos that are translated to apply to the national contexts by the national branches. All members of these networks are part of the same party. Some of the groups have the same names as some of the political parties. This is really where it gets a little bit tricky. The groups with the same name as a political party is not limited to only politicians from that party. So in short, groups consists of decision-makers from different political parties with similar political agendas, while EU parties consists of national affiliations of the same party.

Ok, so what does this mean in practice?

Let’s use an example, Xena is a politician from the EU member state Ypsis. Xena is from the ecofeminist party GreenFemmes (GF) and had most votes within her party during the EU elections in Ypsis. She now lives in Brussels, together with many other politicians from Ypsis. Though she is the only person from GF, and the only person working on issues from an ecofeminist point of view from her country. So she needs support, to more easily get her politics through the Parliament. She has therefore joined the Greens Group and found some people in that network who has similar political leanings like her. Together with them, she strategizes politically on how they best can achieve their political goals and how they should vote in Parliament. However when working as a group, she might have to make compromises on some of her party’s political demands. Xerxes is from the Ypsis Green Party, it is the national affiliation of the European Green Party. Xerxes works alongside Xena in the Greens Group.

Why does it matter to me as a voter?

It’s good to have an understanding of the group and/or European level party your MEP (Member of the European Parliament) is part of to better understand what compromises they might need to do.

Other manifestos

European women’s lobby – “Women for Europe”

Agenda 2030: Position Paper 2019 by Women’s Major Group
Agenda2030: Position Paper 2018 by Women’s Major Group
Climate Convention Position Paper 2018 by Women & Gender Constituency
EU Gender Pay Gap Action Plan 2017-2019 by European Commission
Feminist Network in European Parliament
Women’s increased participation in Science by STEMM Equality Congress

Understand the link between the environment & gender

Global Gender Environment Outlook, by UNEP

Info about groups

Understanding EU Parliament Groups
Find out which group your MEP is part of
Breakdown list of EU groups and parties

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