Identity and Democracy Group
Identity and Democracy Group | |
Official abbreviation | ID |
Members |
76/705 |
Group leader | Marco Zanni |
founding | 2019 |
predecessor | Europe of Nations and Freedom |
Alignment |
EU skepticism , national conservatism Right-wing populism Nationalism Right-wing extremism |
European parties | Id party |
Website | identityanddemocracy.eu |
Identity and Democracy (ID) is a group of right-wing populist , nationalist and right-wing extremist parties in the ninth electoral term of the European Parliament (2019-2024). It was founded after the 2019 European elections as the successor to the Europe of Nations and Freedom Group (ENF), which had existed since 2015 . With currently 76 members, it is the fourth largest group in Parliament (as of February 1, 2020).
The chairman of the group, whose members come from nine parties, is Marco Zanni from the Italian Lega . Deputies are Jörg Meuthen ( AfD , Germany) and Nicolas Bay ( Rassemblement National , France).
The group's largest parties are the Lega (28 MPs) and the Rassemblement National (22 MPs). From the German-speaking countries, the AfD is represented by eleven members and the FPÖ by three members.
history
Period | fraction | Main parties |
---|---|---|
1984-1989 | European Right Group | FN , MSI |
1989-1994 | Technical Group of the European Right | FN, REP |
2007 | Identity, tradition, sovereignty | FN, PRM |
2015-2019 | Europe of Nations and Freedom | FN / RN |
from 2019 | Identity and democracy | Lega , RN, AfD |
At the invitation of the then Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini ( Lega ) met on April 8, 2019 Milan Meuthen Jörg representing the German AFD, Olli Kotro the party as a representative Perussuomalaiset (The Finns, PS) and Anders Vistisen from the Danish People's Party (DF ). There the founding of a new parliamentary group was announced under the name of the European Alliance of People and Nations , later the European Alliance of Peoples and Nations (European Alliance of Peoples and Nations). In the following days, the other parties of the previous ENF group announced their participation in the new group. Before the 2019 European elections , the Slovak party Sme rodina and the Estonian EKRE announced that they would join the group. Since the group feared confusion with the European Anti Poverty Network EAPN (European Poverty Network), a name change was announced at an early stage.
The declared aim of those involved was to found a large parliamentary group of all right-wing and nationalist forces in the European Parliament. The aim was to have over 150 members in the group. In particular, the Polish PiS ( ECR group ) and the Hungarian Fidesz ( EPP group ) were named by Salvini, Le Pen and Meuthen as potential members of the group. However, both remained in their parliamentary groups after the election. Some of the parties announced missed their entry into parliament: Sme Rodina and the Slovenska Nacionalna Stranka as well as the Dutch Partij voor de Vrijheid (PVV) (but can appoint a MEP once the United Kingdom has left the EU). Other parties refused to join the ID, such as Nigel Farage's Brexit Party , whose MPs remained non-attached, and the Spanish Vox , which joined the ECR group. MEPs from the Sweden Democrats and the Dutch Forum voor Democratie also joined this group.
The parliamentary group was founded on June 12, 2019. In the end it consisted only of the members of the European party “Movement for a Europe of Nations and Freedom” and the three parties announced in April: AfD, DF and PS. Marco Zanni was elected chairman. One day later the group was presented to the public under the new name “Identity and Democracy”. At the beginning of July the “Movement for a Europe of Nations and Freedom” also renamed itself to Identity and Democracy (ID Party).
Old faction | European party | MPs new | National parties |
---|---|---|---|
Europe of Nations and Freedom | MENL | 56 |
|
European Conservatives and Reformers | - | 3 |
|
Europe of freedom and direct democracy | - | 11 |
|
new in parliament | MENL | 3 |
|
Program
The ID wants to significantly reduce the influence of "Brussels" in the EU, the member states should be given more powers again. You want to "reform the head and its members, but not destroy it," said Meuthen. In addition, the continent should be developed into a "fortress", there must be "powerful protection of the external borders". There is also agreement that “ Islamization ” threatens and must be fought.
At the founding meeting, Salvini said that even if the parties had different attitudes, he had a “nationalist international” in mind. AfD MP Jörg Meuthen said after the official founding of the parliamentary group in June 2019: “We came here to be a thorn in the flesh of the Eurocrats. […] We envision a Europe of fatherlands in which national, regional and cultural idiosyncrasies are respected and defended ”.
Members
The following table shows the parliamentary group's members by national party:
_ - Members of the ID party
Individual evidence
- ^ Christoph G. Schmutz: Marine Le Pen: "We are not children" . June 13, 2019, ISSN 0376-6829 ( nzz.ch [accessed June 18, 2019]).
- ↑ Michael Stabenow, Brussels: Alliance in the EU Parliament: Announcement of the right-wing faction . ISSN 0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed June 18, 2019]).
- ↑ europarl.europa.eu
- ↑ Right-wing populists form a new parliamentary group in the EU Parliament. In: tagesschau.de. June 13, 2019, accessed June 17, 2019 .
- ^ AfD and Lega form new "patriotic" faction. In: t-online.de. April 8, 2019, accessed June 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Salvini wants to win European elections with right-wing party alliance. In: Welt.de. April 8, 2019, accessed June 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Matthias Rüb: Europe's common sense. In: FAZ.net. April 8, 2019, accessed June 17, 2019 .
- ^ FPÖ joins right-wing populist alliance. In: n-tv.de. April 9, 2019, accessed June 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Justus Bender: Because of the “risk of confusion”, European right-wing populists will change names again. In: FAZ.net. April 9, 2019, accessed June 17, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Far-right alliance: is this what Salvini wanted? Retrieved June 18, 2019 .
- ^ Le Pen courts Hungarian, Polish far right in bid for European Parliament alliance. May 5, 2019, accessed June 18, 2019 .
- ↑ Shaun Walker: Matteo Salvini launches campaign to forge far-right alliance . In: The Guardian . April 8, 2019, ISSN 0261-3077 ( theguardian.com [accessed June 18, 2019]).
- ↑ Ben Bolz and Katharina Schiele: Rights in the EU Parliament only in fifth place. NDR, June 14, 2019, accessed June 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Michael Stabenow: Announcement of the right-wing faction. In: FAZ.net. June 13, 2019, accessed June 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Europe's far-right touts 'new European harmony' in EU vote. In: euractiv.com. April 26, 2019, accessed June 17, 2019 .