Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD or EFD²) was a
Eurosceptic and
populist
Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...
political group
A political group is a group consisting of political parties or legislators of aligned ideologies. A technical group is similar to a political group, but with members of differing ideologies.
International terms
Equivalent terms are used differ ...
in the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
. The EFDD group was a continuation for the
Eighth European Parliament
The eighth European Parliament was elected in the 2014 elections and lasted until the 2019 elections.
Major events
* 22–25 May 2014
** Elections to the Eighth Parliament.
* 1 July 2014
** First meeting (constitutive session) of the Eighth Pa ...
of the
Europe of Freedom and Democracy
Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) was a Eurosceptic political group in the European Parliament. The group was formed following the 2009 European parliamentary election, mostly composed of elements of the Independence/Democracy (IND/DEM) and ...
(EFD) group that existed during the
Seventh European Parliament
The seventh European Parliament was elected in the 2009 elections and lasted until the 2014 elections.
Major events
* 4–7 June 2009
** Elections to the Seventh Parliament.
* 14 July 2009
** First meeting (constitutive session) of the Sev ...
, with significant changes to group membership.
In 2017, it was one of the seven political groups of the parliament. This group was opposed to
European integration
European integration is the process of industrial, economic integration, economic, political, legal, social integration, social, and cultural Regional integration, integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integrat ...
.
Twenty-four out of its 47 MEPs were from the United Kingdom, representing the
UK Independence Party
The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...
.
Its president was British politician
Nigel Farage
Nigel Paul Farage (; born 3 April 1964) is a British broadcaster and former politician who was Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Brexit Party (renamed Reform UK in 2021) from 2 ...
, who was first elected for the
UK Independence Party
The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...
, and then became an independent in 2018 before becoming leader of the
Brexit Party
Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded with support from Nigel Farage in November 2018 as the Brexit Party, advocating hard Euroscepticism and a no-deal Brexit, and was briefly a significant ...
in 2019.
David Borrelli of the Italian
Five Star Movement was co-president until January 2017,
when he had to resign the co-presidency after a failed attempt by his party to transfer to the
ALDE group.
The parliamentary group was originally linked to the
Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe
The Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe, abbreviated to ADDE, was a European political party founded in 2014. It was composed of parties belonging to the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) group in the European Parliament (EP). T ...
(ADDE); however, the Alliance later ceased activities in 2016 after an auditors' inquiry found misspending of EU funds and was eventually dissolved on 24 May 2017. Nonetheless, the group continued its activities until 26 June 2019, when it was also dissolved following the
2019 European Parliament election.
History
7th European Parliament
Formation for the 8th European Parliament
Following the
2014 European parliament elections, the
Europe of Freedom and Democracy
Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) was a Eurosceptic political group in the European Parliament. The group was formed following the 2009 European parliamentary election, mostly composed of elements of the Independence/Democracy (IND/DEM) and ...
(EFD) group faced difficulties reforming for the
8th European Parliament
The eighth European Parliament was elected in the 2014 elections and lasted until the 2019 elections.
Major events
* 22–25 May 2014
** Elections to the Eighth Parliament.
* 1 July 2014
** First meeting (constitutive session) of the Eighth Pa ...
, with various member parties and MEPs of the previous term's EFD either defecting to different parliamentary groups or failing to be re-elected.
On 4 June 2014, the
Danish People's Party
The Danish People's Party ( da, Dansk Folkeparti, DPP/DF) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Denmark. It was formed in 1995 by former members of the Progress Party (FrP).
The DPP lent its support to the Venstre– C ...
(Denmark) and
Finns Party
The Finns Party, formerly known as the True Finns ( fi, Perussuomalaiset, PS, sv, Sannfinländarna, Sannf.), is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party.
The ...
(Finland) were admitted into the
European Conservatives and Reformists
The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a soft Eurosceptic, anti- federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party) European pol ...
(ECR) and therefore were no longer attached to the EFD.
On 12 June 2014, the
Five Star Movement (M5S) of Italy, having been rejected by the
Greens/EFA and
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe groups, offered its activists a limited-choice online referendum to choose a European Parliament group for the party, in which 78% of participating activists voted for the EFD.
On 16 June 2014, Dutch MEP
Bas Belder
Bastiaan "Bas" Belder (born 25 October 1946) is a Dutch politician and former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the Netherlands. He is a member of the Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij, part of the European Conservatives and Reformists.
...
of the
Reformed Political Party (SGP) moved from the EFD to the ECR group.
The EFD group was reformed on 18 June 2014 with MEPs from existing member parties: the
UK Independence Party
The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...
(United Kingdom) and the
Order and Justice
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
(Lithuania), in addition to new affiliates: the Five Star Movement, the
Sweden Democrats (Sweden), the
Party of Free Citizens
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...
(Czech Republic), the
Latvian Farmers Union (Latvia) and a French independent MEP, formerly of the
National Front.
On 24 June 2014, the EFD group name was revised to Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD), and
David Borrelli of the Five Star Movement was chosen as the group's co-president.
Events during 8th European Parliament
On 16 October 2014, it was announced that
Iveta Grigule
Iveta is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
People
*Iveta Apkalna (born 1976), Latvian organist
* Iveta Bartošová (1966–2014) was a Czech singer, actress and celebrity
*Iveta Benešová (born 1983), Czech tennis player
*Iveta ...
MEP from the
Latvian Farmers' Union
The Latvian Farmers' Union ( lv, Latvijas Zemnieku savienība, LZS) is an agrarian political party in Latvia.
Initially formed in 1917 during the period of Latvian War of Independence, it was banned in 1934. It was re-established in 1990. It i ...
defected from EFDD to the ALDE group, resulting in the collapse of the group because it was no longer composed of representatives from at least a quarter of the EU's Member States. The criterion was restored on 20 October, with one Polish MEP,
Robert Iwaszkiewicz from
Congress of the New Right
The Congress of the New Right ( pl, Kongres Nowej Prawicy, Nowa Prawica or just KNP) is an economically libertarian, socially conservative and Eurosceptic list of political parties in Poland, political party in Poland. The party was founded on ...
(KNP), joining the group, although the other party's MEPs remained
Non-Inscrits.
On 24 January 2015, Amjad Bashir was suspended from UKIP pending a party investigation into financial fraud: Bashir defected to the Conservative Party within an hour of his suspension. On 20 March 2015,
Janice Atkinson was suspended from UKIP and later expelled on 23 March for alleged financial fraud. Atkinson joined the
Europe of Nations and Freedom
Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF; french: link=no, Europe des nations et des libertés, ENL) was a political group in the European Parliament launched on 15 June 2015. The group was the smallest within the European Parliament during the eighth ...
(ENF) group at its launch on 15 June 2015.
In April 2015,
Valentinas Mazuronis
Valentinas Mazuronis (born 18 November 1953) is a Lithuanian politician and a member of the European Parliament.
Background
Valentinas Mazuronis was born in Molėtai. After graduating from high school in Utena in 1971, he studied in Lithuanian ...
left
Order and Justice
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
and joined the ranks of
Labour Party, also leaving the EFDD.
On 8 April 2016,
Alternative for Germany (AfD) MEP
Beatrix von Storch
Beatrix Amelie Ehrengard Eilika von Storch (née Herzogin von Oldenburg; 27 May 1971) is a German politician and lawyer, who has been the Deputy Leader of the Alternative for Germany since July 2015 and a Member of the Bundestag since Septembe ...
left the ECR group to join EFDD.
On 24 October 2016,
Steven Woolfe
Steven Marcus Woolfe (born 6 October 1967) is a British politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for North West England from 2014 until 2019.
Woolfe was born in Moss Side in Manchester and studied law at Aberystwyth Unive ...
left the group to sit as Non-Inscrits, followed by
Diane James
Diane Martine James (born 20 November 1959) is a British politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 2014 to 2019. She was briefly leader-elect of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from September 2 ...
on 20 November 2016.
On 9 January 2017, the Five Star Movement voted in an online referendum to leave EFDD in order to join the ALDE group; however, they were rejected by ALDE later the same day. In the aftermath, two MEPs left the group, with
Marco Affronte defected to the Greens/EFA group, and
Marco Zanni
Marco Zanni (born 11 July 1986) is an Italian politician, member of the European Parliament for the League.
Biography
Marco Zanni was born in Lovere, near Bergamo, in 1986. He graduated in business administration at the Bocconi University of Mi ...
to the
ENL group.
Other Five Star Movement MEPs pulled out of switching parliamentary group after threatened by party leader
Beppe Grillo
Giuseppe Piero "Beppe" Grillo (; born 21 July 1948) is an Italian comedian, actor, blogger, and politician.
He has been involved in politics since 2009 as the co-founder (together with Gianroberto Casaleggio) of the Italian Five Star Movement ...
with a fine of €250,000.
In October 2017, with change in the
French National Front,
Florian Philippot
Florian Philippot (born 24 October 1981) is a French politician. He served as Vice President of the National Front (France), National Front from 2012 to 2017 before quitting the party to found The Patriots (France), The Patriots in September 201 ...
, president of the "Patriotes",
Sophie Montel
Sophie Montel (born 22 November 1969 in Montbéliard) is a French politician.
Member of the Franche-Comté Regional Council and later regional council of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté since 1998.
She contested the 2018 Territoire de Belfort's 1st ...
and
Mireille d'Ornano join the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group.
On 13 February 2018, former group co-president David Borrelli left the M5S and moved to
Non-Inscrits.
On 3 July 2018, the 2
Sweden Democrats MEPs moved to ECR group.
In December 2018, Farage and multiple other MEPs left UKIP in protest over
Gerard Batten
Gerard Joseph Batten (born 27 March 1954) is a British politician who served as the Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2018 to 2019. He was a founding member of the party in 1993, and served as a Member of the European Parliament ( ...
's leadership. Batten in turn left the EFDD and then withdrew the remaining further 6 UKIP MEPs.
In April 2019, group leader Nigel Farage launched the
Brexit Party
Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded with support from Nigel Farage in November 2018 as the Brexit Party, advocating hard Euroscepticism and a no-deal Brexit, and was briefly a significant ...
, which he and ten of the other former UKIP MEPs in the group joined, along with one UKIP MEP from the
Europe of Nations and Freedom
Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF; french: link=no, Europe des nations et des libertés, ENL) was a political group in the European Parliament launched on 15 June 2015. The group was the smallest within the European Parliament during the eighth ...
group.
On the 26 June 2019 it was reported that the EFDD had failed to register for the
9th European Parliament
The ninth European Parliament was elected in the 2019 elections and is to last until the 2024 elections.
Major events
*23–26 May 2019
** Elections to the 9th European Parliament.
***EPP (182 seats), S&D (154), RE (108), Greens/EFA (74) ...
, making them no longer an official political group.
Membership
8th European Parliament, 2014
At foundation, the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy had 48 elected members as follows:
9th European Parliament, 2019
In 2019 the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy had 42 members of the European Parliament along with other affiliated parties as follows:
Leadership
*Chair/Co-president:
Nigel Farage
Nigel Paul Farage (; born 3 April 1964) is a British broadcaster and former politician who was Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Brexit Party (renamed Reform UK in 2021) from 2 ...
(2014–2019)
*Chair/Co-president:
David Borrelli (2014–2017)
*Chair of the Bureau:
Roger Helmer
Roger Helmer (born 25 January 1944) is a British politician and businessman. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East Midlands (European Parliament constituency), East Midlands regions of England, region from 1999 to 2017. B ...
*Vice-chair:
Joëlle Bergeron
*Vice-chair:
Piernicola Pedicini
*Vice-chair:
Robert Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz
*Vice-chair:
Rolandas Paksas
Rolandas Paksas (; born 10 June 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who was the sixth President of Lithuania from 2003 to 2004. He was previously Prime Minister of Lithuania in 1999 and again from 2000 to 2001, and he also served as Mayor of Vilniu ...
*Treasurer:
Tiziana Beghin
Political positions
The bloc's primary goal was the reduction in the powers of, or even the dissolution of, the European Union.
Nigel Farage
Nigel Paul Farage (; born 3 April 1964) is a British broadcaster and former politician who was Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Brexit Party (renamed Reform UK in 2021) from 2 ...
, the bloc's president, was also the leader of the
UK Independence Party
The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...
and latterly the
Brexit Party
Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded with support from Nigel Farage in November 2018 as the Brexit Party, advocating hard Euroscepticism and a no-deal Brexit, and was briefly a significant ...
, both of which advocated for the immediate withdrawal of the UK from the European Union.
During the European Parliament debate about
Catalan independence referendum in 2017, the EFDD, by the voice of
Ray Finch
Raymond Finch (born 2 June 1963) is a British politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England between 2014 and 2019.
The fourth named candidate on the UK Independence Party (UKIP) list for the South Ea ...
considered that European Union should have made some intervention against Spain to protect Catalan independence. He considered that this referendum led to human rights abuses. According to him, people should have the right to vote even when the referendum is illegal.
See also
*
European Alliance of Peoples and Nations
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Europe Of Freedom And Democracy
European Parliament party groups
Euroscepticism
2014 establishments in the European Union
2019 disestablishments in Europe
Right-wing populism in Europe