Gender just energy transition

1. No to fossil fuels/ nuclear energy (false solution): 0-5 points
   
2. Awareness of energy poverty: special focus on gender, class, ethnicity: 0-5 points
   
3. Decentralization of energy: 0-5 points
   
4. Water sanitation (plan): 0-5 points
   
5. Renewable energy: 0-5 points
   

Make polluters pay!

1. Make polluters pay: 0-7 points
   1. The campaign: 0-3 points
   2. Without increasing the prices: 0-4 points
2. Industry responsibility: 0-4 points
   
3. Producentverantwoordelijkheid: 0-3 points
4. Big polluters pay more: 0-3 point
5. Compensation for those negatively affected: 0-4 points
   
6. Transparency: 0-4 points
   

Youth participation

1. Acknowledge the importance in bringing in diverse voices in the decision making process: 0-7 points  
2. Meaningful Youth Participation: 0-7 points  
3. Promoting participation for all (citizen participation): 0-7 points 
4. Future thinking: generation test: 0-2 points  
5. Allowing 16 year-old to vote: 0-2 points 

Say no to toxic chemicals!

1. Make a connection between hazardous chemicals and health: 0-5 points 
   1. Discussion of Hormone disrupting chemicals (EDC): 0-2 points 
2. Discussion of planetary health: 0-5 points 
   1. Precautionary principle: 0-2 points 
3. Discussing water pollution: 0-5 points 
   1. Greywater, water sanitation: 0-2 points
      
   2. PFAS: 0-2 points 
4. Decreasing pesticides: 0-5 points 
   1. Restoring the pesticide reduction act: 0-2 points 
5. Mention and discuss gender in relation to chemicals: 0-5 points 
   1. Cosmetics: 0-3 points 
   2. Menstrual products: 0-2 points
      

Nature-inclusive and fair agriculture

1. Fair trade, fair price: 0-5 points
   1. Anti-dumping: 0-1 point
   2. Small farmers, family businesses: support transition to sustainable farming: 0-2 points
      
2. Transfer to organic/biological: 0-7 points
   1. Food security: ensure, without bio-industry: 0-4 points
      
3. Waste management: 0-2 points
4. Green deal: 0-9 points
   1. Biodiversity: 0-2 points
      
   2. Pesticide reduction act: 0-2 point
      
   3. Fair price: 0-2 points
      
   4. Conservation: 0-2 points
   5. 2040/2050: 0-1 point
      
5. Agroecology: 0-2 points

Sustainable and Fair Trade

1. Fair working conditions: 0-5 points
   
2. Fair pricing: 0-5 points
   
3. Ban of microplastics: 0-5 points
4. Circular economy: 0-5 points
   
5. Recycling, acquired resources and fast fashion: 0- 5 points
   

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 groups 

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 7 recognised groups in the EU Parliament: 

Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament (S&D)
The S&D group was founded in 1953, making it the second oldest group in the Parliament. The S&D are centre-left and social democratic. It advocates for social justice, workers’ rights, environmental sustainability, and progressive economic policies. The group is affiliated with the Progressive Alliance and Socialist International. 

The Left group in the European Parliament (GUE/NGL)
The Left group in the European Parliament, known as the GUE/NGL (Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left), represents a coalition of left-wing parties, with socialist, communist, and ecosocialist ideologies. Established in 1995, it emerged as a result of three new countries with leftist parties joining the EU and collectively forming the confederal group. The GUE/NGL places a significant emphasis on workers’ rights, climate action, feminism, peace, and human rights as key focal points of their political agenda. 

Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA)
This group is a big mix of five different European parties: European Green Party (EGP), part of the European Free Alliance (EFA), European Pirate Party (PPEU), Volt Europe (Volt), part of Animal Politics EU (APEU). The Greens/EFA Group holds a left and progressive ideology, advocating for environmental protection, sustainable development, social equality, and the acknowledgement of cultural and linguistic diversity within the EU. 

Renew Europe Group (Renew)
This is the oldest group in the European Parliament, and it used to be called the ‘Liberal and Allies Group.’ This group is a liberal, pro-European group.  

European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR)
The European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) is far-right and known for their Euroscepticism. Some members of the group are not in favour of the Eurozone in general and are against referendums on whether countries enter the EU. This group is anti-climate measures, opposes the European Green Deal, and anti-migration. They have gained a lot of support from populist and nationalist movements over the last years, with the prospect of winning a lot of seats in the next election. This directly threatens the rule of law and shifts the parliament towards the far-right.

Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) (EPP)
This group started in 1976 and is the largest political group in the European Parliament at the moment. The EPP Group identifies itself as a centre-right, conservative and Christian democratic group. The parties in this group have moved further to the right from centre-right to win some far-right votes. As a result, the largest political group has been conservative and increasingly right-wing, with the risk of them collaborating with the farright ECR and ID after the elections. This would mean the European Green Deal is put on hold, EU enlargement is blocked, and EU power reduced. 

Identity and Democracy Group (ID)
The Identity and Democracy (ID) group is a right-wing populist party. Emphasising a hard stance against migration, the ID group opposes granting additional powers to the European Union. This group has gained support from nationalist movements across Europe and stands to gain a lot of votes in the upcoming elections. If this group gains this momentum, they stand to threaten the EU’s values on human rights, the Green Deal, and respect for the rule of law. 

To be officially recognized, a group needs at least 25 member states to be part of it. 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. More information, visit elections.europe.eu  

Election process

The European elections happen every five years, giving over 400 million EU citizens the chance to choose their representatives. This year, voting takes place from June 6 to June 9. The voting process varies depending on your country, following national rules while ensuring a fair system that prevents any single nation from dominating the parliament. This ensures that smaller countries have a proportionate influence. There will be 720 MEPs elected in the upcoming elections, an increase from the previous 705 members to accommodate population growth. 

So, who can vote? Anyone with EU citizenship and who meets the national minimum voting age can cast a ballot! In most countries, this age is 18, but in Belgium, Germany, Malta, and Austria, it’s 16, and in Greece, it’s 17. While you’re usually automatically registered to vote in most countries, in some places you need to register with the national authorities. That’s why it’s important to be aware of the registration deadlines. 

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. 

Our ecofeminist voter’s guide shows how different groups and parties score on ecofeminist themes. Of course, we only cover a limited number of themes here. Therefore, view the score primarily as a starting point from an ecofeminist perspective. Voting cannot change everything, but through awareness, you can bring certain issues to the table.

If you want to learn more about the European elections and how you can get ready to actively participate, take a look at our ‘EU Elections toolkit for Youth‘.