The Left in the European Parliament

The Left in the European Parliament (The Left) is a left-wing political group of the European Parliament established in 1995.^[6][1] Prior to January 2021 it was named the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (French: Gauche unitaire européenne/Gauche verte nordique, GUE/NGL).^[7]

The Left in the European Parliament
European Parliament group
Name	The Left in the European Parliament
English abbr.	The Left
Ideology	Democratic socialism
Political position	Left-wing[1][a]
European parties	European Left Alliance for the People and the Planet (majority) Party of the European Left (majority) Animal Politics EU (majority) European Free Alliance (minority)
From	6 January 1995; 29 years ago (1995-01-06)[5]
Preceded by	European United Left
Chaired by	Manon Aubry Martin Schirdewan
MEP(s)	46 / 720
Website	left.eu

The group is mainly composed of political parties with democratic socialist, anti-capitalist, and Eurosceptic orientations, as well as communist parties and the Italian Five Star Movement.^[8][9]

History

Formation

In 1995, the enlargement of the European Union led to the creation of the Nordic Green Left (NGL) group of parties. The NGL merged with the Confederal Group of the European United Left (GUE) on 6 January 1995,^[5] forming the Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left.^[10][11][12] The NGL suffix was added to the name of the expanded group at the 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 MEP expelled from the UK Labour Party and 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 — and the French Citizen and Republican Movement did not put forward candidates. MEPs from the Portuguese Left Bloc, 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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 Party, the Irish Independents 4 Change, and the Danish Red-Green Alliance joined the group.

10th European Parliament (2024–present)

In 2024 MEPs from the Italian parties Italian Left and Five Star Movement joined the group.^[16][17]

Positions

According to its 1994 constituent declaration, the group is opposed to the present European Union political structure, but it is committed to integration.^[18] 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 divided between reformism and revolution, leaving it up to each party to decide on the manner they deem best suited to achieve their 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.^[19]

GUE/NGL has been split on the issue of Russia. On 1 March 2022, 7 MEPs out of the group's 37 voted against the parliament's resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, while 10 also abstained in the vote that passed 637–14.^[20] Even before the war, there have been tensions in the group, especially with the Irish MEPs Mick Wallace and Clare Daly working to defuse sanctions on Russia placed because of the downing of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.^[21]

Member parties

MEPs may be full or associate members.^{[citation needed]}

• 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.^{[citation needed]}

• 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.

MEPs

10th European Parliament

Main article: List of members of the European Parliament (2024–2029)

The Left has MEPs in 14 member states. Dark red indicates member states sending multiple MEPs, light red indicates member states sending a single MEP.

State	National party	European party		MEPs[22]
Belgium	Workers' Party of Belgium		None	2 / 22
Cyprus	Progressive Party of Working People		None / PEL (observer)	1 / 6
Denmark	Red–Green Alliance		ELA	1 / 15
Finland	Left Alliance		ELA	3 / 15
France	La France Insoumise		ELA	9 / 81
Germany	The Left		PEL	2 / 96
	Human Environment Animal Protection Party		Animal Politics EU	1 / 96
	Independent Carola Rackete		Independent	1 / 96
Greece	Syriza		PEL	4 / 21
Ireland	Sinn Féin		None	2 / 14
	Independent Luke 'Ming' Flanagan		Independent	1 / 14
Italy	Five Star Movement		None	8 / 76
	Italian Left		None / PEL (observer)	2 / 76
Netherlands	Party for the Animals		Animal Politics EU	1 / 31
Portugal	Left Bloc		ELA	1 / 21
	Portuguese Communist Party		None	1 / 21
Spain	Podemos		ELA	2 / 61
	Movimiento Sumar		None	1 / 61
	EH Bildu		EFA (individual member)[23] / PEL (observer)[b]	1 / 61
Sweden	Left Party		ELA	2 / 21
European Union	Total			46 / 720

9th European Parliament

Main article: List of members of the European Parliament (2019–2024)

State	National party	Ideology	European party		MEPs[24]
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		None / PEL (observer)	2 / 6
Czech Republic	Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia Komunistická strana Čech a Moravy (KSČM)	Communism		None / 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		None / PEL (observer)	1 / 14
France	La France Insoumise (LFI)	Democratic socialism Left-wing populism		None / PEL (observer)	5 / 79
	Republican and Socialist Left Gauche Républicaine et Socialiste (GRS)	Socialism		None / 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
	New Left Νέα Αριστερά (NA)	Democratic 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
	Independent 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
	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.^[25]

8th European Parliament

Main article: List of members of the European Parliament (2014–2019)

Country	National party		European party	MEPs
Cyprus	Progressive Party of Working People		PEL (observer)	2 / 6
Czech Republic	Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia		PEL (observer)	3 / 21
Denmark	People's Movement against the EU		EUD	1 / 13
Finland	Left Alliance		PEL/NTP	1 / 13
France	Left Front	French Communist Party	PEL	2 / 74
		Left Party		1 / 74
		La France Insoumise	NTP	1 / 74
	Alliance of the Overseas	Communist Party of Réunion		1 / 74
Germany	The Left		PEL	7 / 96
	Stefan Eck (independent)			1 / 96
Greece	Syriza (Coalition of the Radical Left)		PEL	3 / 21
	Popular Unity			1 / 21
	Kostas Chrysogonos (independent)			1 / 21
	MeRA25			1 / 21
Ireland	Sinn Féin			3 / 11
	Luke 'Ming' Flanagan (independent)			1 / 11
Italy	The Left	Italian Left	PEL (observer)	1 / 73
		Communist Refoundation Party	PEL	1 / 73
	Barbara Spinelli (independent)			1 / 73
Netherlands	Socialist Party			2 / 26
	Party for the Animals (Partij voor de Dieren)		Euro Animal 7	1 / 26
Portugal	Left Bloc		PEL/NTP	1 / 21
	Unitary Democratic Coalition	Portuguese Communist Party		3 / 21
Spain	Plural Left	United Left	PEL	4 / 54
		Anova-Nationalist Brotherhood		1 / 54
	Podemos (We Can)[26]		NTP	5 / 54
	The Peoples Decide (Los Pueblos Deciden)			1 / 54
Sweden	Left Party		NTP	1 / 20
United Kingdom	Sinn Féin			1 / 73

7th European Parliament

Main article: List of members of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left, 2009–14

Country	National party		European party	MEPs
Cyprus	Progressive Party of Working People		PEL (observer)	2 / 6
Czech Republic	Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia		PEL (observer)	4 / 22
Denmark	People's Movement against the EU		EUD	1 / 13
France	Left Front	French Communist Party	PEL	2 / 72
		Left Party	PEL	1 / 72
		Communist Party of Réunion		1 / 72
		Independent		1 / 72
Germany	The Left		PEL	8 / 99
Greece	Communist Party of Greece			2 / 22
	Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA)			1 / 22
Ireland	Socialist Party			1 / 12
Latvia	Harmony Centre	Socialist Party		1 / 8
Netherlands	Socialist Party			2 / 25
Portugal	Left Bloc		PEL	2 / 22
	Democratic Unity Coalition	Portuguese Communist Party		2 / 22
Spain	United Left	Communist Party of Spain	PEL	1 / 54
Sweden	Left Party			1 / 20
United Kingdom	Sinn Féin (Contests elections in Northern Ireland only)			1 / 3

6th European Parliament

Main article: List of members of the European Parliament (2004–2009)

Country	National party		European party	MEPs
Cyprus	Progressive Party of Working People		PEL (observer)	2 / 6
Czech Republic	Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia		PEL (observer)	6 / 22
Denmark	People's Movement against the EU		EUD	1 / 14
Finland	Left Alliance			1 / 13
France	French Communist Party		PEL	3 / 74
Germany	The Left		PEL	6 / 99
Greece	Communist Party of Greece			3 / 21
	Synaspismos		PEL	1 / 21
Ireland	Sinn Féin			1 / 13
Italy	Communist Refoundation Party		PEL	5 / 73
	Party of Italian Communists		PEL (observer)	2 / 73
Netherlands	Socialist Party			2 / 26
Portugal	Portuguese Communist Party			2 / 21
	Left Bloc			1 / 21
Spain	United Left		PEL	1 / 54
Sweden	Left Party			2 / 20
United Kingdom	Sinn Féin (Contests elections in Northern Ireland only)			1 / 73

5th European Parliament

Main article: List of members of the European Parliament (1999–2004)

4th European Parliament

Main article: List of members of the European Parliament (1994–1999)

Organization

Presidents

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.

European Parliament results

Election year	No. of overall seats won	+/–
1994	34 / 567
1999	42 / 626	8
2004	41 / 732	1
2009	35 / 766	6
2014	52 / 751	17
2019	41 / 751	11
2024	47 / 720	6

See also

• European Anti-Capitalist Left
• Initiative of Communist and Workers' Parties
• List of communist parties represented in European Parliament
• Now the People
• Party of the European Left

Notes

1. The group is described as far-left by some sources.^[2][3][4]
2. Pernando Barrena is member of Sortu which is observer in PEL.

References

1. • "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.
2. Hudson, Kate (19 June 2012). "The Party of the European Left". The New European Left. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 46–65. ISBN 978-0-230-24876-2.
3. Herder, Sabine (8 February 2024). "The different political groups in the European Parliament". Shaping Europe. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
4. Mudde, Cas (2024). "The Far Right and the 2024 European Elections". Intereconomics. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
5. "EUL/NGL on Europe Politique". Europe-politique.eu. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
6. 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.
7. "Movers and Shakers – 15 January 2021". The Parliament Magazine. 15 January 2021.
8. Alexander H. Trechsel (13 September 2013). Towards a Federal Europe. Taylor & Francis. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-317-99818-1.
9. 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.
10. "Political Groups Annual Accounts 2001–2006". European Parliament. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
11. "Group names 1999". European Parliament. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
12. "European Parliament profile of Alonso José Puerta". European Parliament. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
13. Tapio Raunio; Teija Tiilikainen (5 September 2013). Finland in the European Union. Routledge. p. 59. ISBN 978-1-135-76204-9.
14. Izzo, Federica (25 April 2014). "From the Italian Communist Party to Tsipras: The path of Europe's radical left" (PDF). CISE.
15. "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.
16. "Ilaria Salis e Mimmo Lucano si presentano al Parlamento Ue" (in Italian). 26 June 2024. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
17. "MSN". www.msn.com. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
18. "GUE/NGL Site". Guengl.eu. 14 July 1994. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
19. 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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
20. "We asked 13 MEPs why they voted no to condemn Russia's war in Ukraine". euronews. 2 March 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
21. "Tensions rise over Mick Wallace's and Clare Daly's views". The Irish Times. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
22. "MEPs by Member State and political group". Retrieved 17 July 2024.
23. "Members of the European Parliament". EFA. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
24. "MEPs by Member State and political group". Retrieved 9 December 2022.
25. "First GUE/NGL group meeting – 05/19". GUE/NGL. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
26. "Podemos acuerda con Tsipras entrar en el grupo de la Izquierda Unitaria de la Eurocámara". Público (in Spanish). 26 May 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2018.