European Communist Action

The European Communist Action (ECA) is a Marxist–Leninist European political alliance. It was established on 18 November 2023 after its predecessor organization Initiative of Communist and Workers' Parties was dissolved,^[1] following ideological and political differences between the association's members over the topic of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[2]

European Communist Action
Leader	Collective leadership
Founded	18 November 2023; 13 months ago (2023-11-18)
Preceded by	INITIATIVE
Headquarters	Athens, Greece
Ideology	Communism Marxism–Leninism Anti-revisionism Anti-imperialism Euroscepticism
Political position	Far-left
European Parliament group	Non-Inscrits
Colours	Red
European Parliament	2 / 720 Member Parties
Website
www.eurcomact.org
Politics of European Union Political parties Elections

The European Communist Action is a coalition of communist and workers' parties in Europe. It was established with the aim of promoting scientific socialism, opposing the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and challenging capitalist exploitation and imperialism. The ECA regards the EU as an imperialist bloc and is dedicated to the principles of class struggle and the rights of workers, advocating for socialism as an alternative to the current capitalist system in Europe.

History

The ECA has its origin in a split within the Initiative of Communist and Workers' Parties (ECI or Initiative). The Initiative was founded in 2013, with similar goals and membership as the ECA. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 caused significant disagreements between Initiative member parties. Several member parties, such as the Russian Communist Workers' Party of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, were openly supportive of the invasion, whereas other parties condemned the invasion as an imperialist act. These disagreements came to a high point after several ECI member parties attended the World Anti-Imperialist Platform (WAP).^[3]

The WAP is an anti-imperialist international organization, although it sharply differed in viewpoint from the Initiative in the sense that it does not view China or Russia as imperialist states.^[4][5] Among the signatories of WAP's founding declaration are also non-communist parties, such as the United Socialist Party of Venezuela and the Spanish Vanguard.^[6] Other disagreements between member parties also arose, with some parties being more critical towards migration to the European Union.^[7]

Eventually, these disagreements made the Initiative dysfunctional and the main sponsor, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), therefore decided to withdraw support and dissolve the ECI. Two months after the dissolution of the ECI, 12 Communist and workers' parties, most of them members of the ECI before its dissolution, established the ECA in Athens.

In the 2024 European Parliament elections, members of the ECA gathered 0.22% of votes.^[8] The only ECA party to win seats in the EU parliament was the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), which won two seats.

Membership

The founding meeting was attended by delegations from 12 parties in Europe.^[9][10]

Member parties

Country	Party	2024 European Parliament election	Seats in European Parliament
Austria	Party of Labour of Austria (PdA, Partei der Arbeit Österreichs)	Did not contest	0 / 20
France	Communist Revolutionary Party of France (PCRF, Parti communiste révolutionnaire de France)	Did not contest	0 / 81
Greece	Communist Party of Greece (KKE, Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas)	367,796 (9.3%)	2 / 21
Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (part of  United Kingdom)	Workers' Party[a] (Páirtí na nOibrithe)	Did not contest	0 / 14
Italy	Communist Front (FC, Fronte Comunista)	Did not contest	0 / 76
Finland	Communist Workers' Party – For Peace and Socialism (KTP, Kommunistinen Työväenpuolue – Rauhan ja Sosialismin Puolesta)	Did not contest	0 / 15
Netherlands	New Communist Party of the Netherlands (NCPN, Nieuwe Communistische Partij Nederland)	Did not contest	0 / 31
Spain	Communist Party of the Workers of Spain (PCTE, Partido Comunista de los Trabajadores de España)	15,281 (0.09%)	0 / 61
Sweden	Communist Party of Sweden (SKP, Sveriges Kommunistiska Parti)	1,629 (0.04%)	0 / 21
Switzerland	Swiss Communist Party[b] (PC, Parti Communiste Suisse)	Not part of the European Union
Turkey	Communist Party of Turkey (TKP, Türkiye Komünist Partisi)	Not part of the European Union
Ukraine	Union of Communists of Ukraine (СКУ, Союз комуністів України)	Not part of the European Union

See also

• Communist International
• International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties

Notes

1. The Workers Party that participates in the ECA is the one led by Ted Tynan, not the original Workers' Party founded in 1970.
2. Not to be confused with the Communist Party (Switzerland), the party founded in 1944, or the Communist Party of Switzerland, the party founded in 1921.

References

1. "European Communist Action | Founding Declaration". www.eurcomact.org. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
2. "Initiative of Communist & Workers' Parties - ON THE TERMINATION OF THE ACTIVITY OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNIST INITIATIVE". www.initiative-cwpe.org. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
3. "On the Dissolution of the "European Communist Initiative"". On the Dissolution of the "European Communist Initiative". 22 September 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
4. "Communist Party of Greece - On the so-called World Anti-Imperialist Platform and its damaging and disorienting position". inter.kke.gr. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
5. wap21 (14 October 2022). "Towards the World Anti-Imperialist Platform, the Locomotive of World Anti-Imperialist Revolution". Platform. Retrieved 13 December 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
6. wap21 (14 October 2022). "Paris Declaration: The rising tide of global war and the tasks of anti-imperialists". Platform. Retrieved 13 December 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
7. "European Communist Initiative ends its activity". Retrieved 16 December 2023.
8. "European Parliament Election 2024".
9. "Communist Party of Greece - On the founding meeting of the European Communist Action". inter.kke.gr. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
10. "European Communist Action | Parties". www.eurcomact.org. Retrieved 17 December 2023.