Identity, tradition, sovereignty


Identity, tradition, sovereignty

Official abbreviation	ITS
Members	20/785 (January 2007) 23/785 (November 2007)

Group leader	France Bruno Gollnisch

founding	January 15, 2007
predecessor	Technical Group of the European Right (until 1994)
resolution	November 14, 2007
successor	Europe of Nations and Freedom (from 2015)

Alignment	Right-wing extremism , nationalism

Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty (ITS) was an existing between January 2007 and November 2007, faction in the European Parliament nationalist and right-wing MPs. After internal disputes, the Romanian MPs left the parliamentary group. After the faction had lost its strength, the faction was dissolved on November 14, 2007. The group chairman was the French politician Bruno Gollnisch , deputy chairman of the Front National .

development

In the past there have been efforts by right-wing extremist members of the European Parliament to form a common group, but so far the legal requirements such as the minimum number of parliamentarians have not been met. Due to the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the EU on January 1, 2007 and the sending of MPs from these countries, the group had the necessary number of 20 members from six countries. In addition to the 14 MPs from Belgium, France, Italy, Austria and the United Kingdom, 9 came from the two newly acceding countries. A political charter was adopted on January 9, 2007. The group was officially registered in the European Parliament on the same day. The constitution of the Group took place on 15 January, the first sitting day of Parliament in the new year.

Group leader Bruno Gollnisch announced that the ITS would primarily speak out on issues relating to immigration and the liberalization of services. The MP Andreas Mölzer declared the fight against the EU constitution, the maintenance of a European confederation and the simultaneous prevention of a centralized federal state as the most important goals. The group wants to fight for “national identities”. Turkey's accession to the EU is rejected, as is “mass immigration”.

The basis for the joint work of the new parliamentary group is the “Vienna Declaration of the European Patriotic and National Parties and Movements”, which a large number of the parties in the ITS parliamentary group adopted at a meeting in Vienna in 2005. The signatories refer to the "inalienable values of Christianity and natural law" , which they see as threatened by "globalization, mass immigration and [the] denial of reality by representatives of 'political correctness'" . According to its will, the European Union should develop into a confederation of sovereign nation states . A constitution of the EU (see Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe ), which should lead to a “centralized European superstate” , is rejected; likewise Turkey's membership in the European Union , which is described as part of a “limitless expansion of European integration to […] religiously and ethnically non-European areas of Asia and Africa” . Other demands include the "protection of Europe against dangers such as [...] superpower imperialism and economic aggression by low-wage countries" , an immediate stop to all immigration to all EU states (including in the area of family reunification ) and a "pro-natalistic" Family policy, which is supposed to aim at "having a large number of children among the European peoples in the traditional family" .

After the founding of the group, the spokesman for the social democratic group in the European Parliament , Martin Schulz ( SPD ), called on the other groups to keep members of identity, tradition and sovereignty away from prominent posts such as the chairman and deputy from parliamentary committees or delegations. The Liberal , Left and Green parliamentary groups supported this proposal. Furthermore, the Social Democrats suggested making the formation of parliamentary groups more difficult in the coming legislative period. Members of the EPP had already announced in advance that they wanted to legally challenge the new alliance. Conservative and Social Democratic MPs subsequently tried to challenge the ITS with the argument that there was a lack of political common ground. However, the project failed due to resistance from the newly elected President of Parliament Hans-Gert Pöttering . There is a tense relationship between the FPÖ and the Alternativa Sociale on the question of the status of South Tyrol . While the FPÖ insists on the protective power function of the Republic of Austria and independence, the Alternativa Sociale rejects the autonomy of South Tyrol .

The end of the group finally came as a result of the disputes over Romanian immigrants in Italy. At the beginning of November 2007, five MPs from the Romanian Partidul România Mare (“Greater Romania Party”) announced that they would be leaving the alliance “as a sign of protest against the xenophobic attitude and accusations against the Romanian people of MP Alessandra Mussolini ”. The faction was officially dissolved on November 14th as it had fewer than 20 members.

organization

The parliamentary group was led by Bruno Gollnisch , whose Front National was the strongest party in the group. His deputies were the Belgian Philip Claeys , the Romanian Eugen Mihăescu and the Briton Ashley Mote . Members of the board were also the Austrian Andreas Mölzer , the Italians Luca Romagnoli and Alessandra Mussolini and the Bulgarian Dimitar Stojanow . The Romanian Petre Popeangă had taken on the role of treasurer .

Members

country	Political party	MPs
country	Political party	number	Members
Belgium Belgium	Vlaams Belang	3	Philip Claeys , Koenraad Dillen , Frank Vanhecke
Bulgaria Bulgaria	Koalizija Ataka	3	Dimitar Stojanow , Slavcho Binew (from June 6, 2007), Dessislaw Tschukolow (from June 6, 2007)
France France	Front National	7th	Bruno Gollnisch , Marine Le Pen , Carl Lang , Fernand Le Rachinel , Jean-Marie Le Pen , Lydia Schenardi , Jean-Claude Martinez
Italy Italy	Alternative social	1	Alessandra Mussolini
Italy Italy	Fiamma Tricolore	1	Luca Romagnoli
Austria Austria	Freedom Party of Austria	1	Andreas Mölzer
Romania Romania	Partidul România Mare	5	Daniela Buruiană Aprodu , Eugen Mihăescu (until November 11, 2007), Viorica Moisuc (until November 12, 2007), Petre Popeangă (until November 11, 2007), Cristian Stănescu
Romania Romania	independent (chosen for PNL )	1	Dumitru Gheorghe Mircea Coșea (from March 12, 2007)
United Kingdom United Kingdom	independent (chosen for UKIP )	1	Ashley Mote

literature

Christoph Busch: Right International. The new ITS Group in the European Parliament . In: Blätter für German and international politics , issue 3, 2007, ISSN 0006-4416 , pp. 320–328.