EUDemocrats
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Europeans United for Democracy – Alliance for a Europe of Democracies, formerly known as ''EUDemocrats'', was a
Eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform ...
and self-described Eurorealist alliance of parties and movements from 15 European countries. It operated as a transnational party at the European level ( European political party), according to
Regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...
(EC) No 2004/2003. It incorporated members from both the left and right of the
political spectrum A political spectrum is a system to characterize and classify different political positions in relation to one another. These positions sit upon one or more geometric axes that represent independent political dimensions. The expressions politi ...
. The party was set up under Danish law on 7 November 2005 and founded as a European Party in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
on 8 November 2005. Its first congress was held on 24 February 2006. Former Danish
MEPs A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
Jens-Peter Bonde Jens-Peter Rossen Bonde (27 March 1948 – 4 April 2021) was a Danish politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) with the June Movement. He resigned as an MEP in May 2008. Bonde was elected to the European Parliament in the ...
and
Hanne Dahl Hanne Dahl (born 30 August 1970) is a Danish priest and former politician from Aalborg. She was a member of the European Parliament, representing the June Movement The June Movement ( da, JuniBevægelsen) was a Danish Eurosceptic political or ...
inspired the EUD's creation and first years. In January 2009, Swedish economist and former MEP Sören Wibe succeeded Bonde as President of the EUD. Following Wibe's sudden death in December 2010, former Irish Green MEP
Patricia McKenna Patricia McKenna (born 13 March 1957) is an Irish Independent and former Green Party politician. She served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Dublin constituency from 1994 to 2004. She is a practising barrister having been ca ...
was named president of the EUD and
Lave Knud Broch Lave Knud Broch is a Danish politician and Vice President of the European Political Alliance, EUDemocrats and substitute member to the European Parliament for the People's Movement against the EU. Broch is the chair of the Danish UN Association ...
from
People's Movement against the EU The People's Movement against the EU ( da, Folkebevægelsen mod EU) is a political association in Denmark against the European Union. It was founded in 1972 as a cross-party campaign platform for a 'no' vote in Denmark's referendum on EEC members ...
as vice president. The EUD's platform was not concerned with specific matters of right or left wing ideology because it believed that such issues are best considered by national and regional parliaments under their citizens’ democratic control. It was committed to enhancing transparency, subsidiarity, diversity and budget control in the European Union. In 2009, four of its affiliated MEPs were members of the Independence and Democracy group 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 ...
. Also, two affiliated MEPs -
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 ...
and
Daniel Hannan Daniel John Hannan, Baron Hannan of Kingsclere (born 1 September 1971) is a British writer, journalist and former politician serving as an adviser to the Board of Trade since 2020. He is the founding president of the Initiative for Free Trade ...
, both British Conservatives - sat as independents. Hannan left EUD in October 2009 to join the newly formed Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists, while Helmer defected from the British Conservatives to British party UKIP. From 2010 to 2014 EUD had one member in the European Parliament: Rina Ronja Kari (replaced Søren Søndergaard 5 February 2014), who sits as an associate member of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left Group. In the 2014 European Parliament elections two EUD members Rina Ronja Kari and
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 ...
were elected. Ten members of national and regional parliaments from ten countries were also members of the EUD (as of 2014).


Political platform

The political aim of the EUDemocrats was to reform the present structures of the European Union. According to its political platform,EUD Political Platform http://www.eudemocrats.org/eud/content.php?id=18 the EUD believed that decisions should be made at the lowest possible level (
subsidiarity Subsidiarity is a principle of social organization that holds that social and political issues should be dealt with at the most immediate or local level that is consistent with their resolution. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defines subsidi ...
), thus giving an effective voice to the citizens of member states, regions and national minorities. It aimed to unite those who are critical of the EU for its undemocratic development and its ever-more centralising political features. The EUD was opposed to the
centralisation Centralisation or centralization (see spelling differences) is the process by which the activities of an organisation, particularly those regarding planning and decision-making, framing strategy and policies become concentrated within a particu ...
of political power in EU institutions, and demanded democratic scrutiny and control over EU institutional powers and actions by national and regional assemblies. Its four political core objectives were: *enhancing transparency on all political levels, especially in the EU by giving citizens insight into all documents and meetings; *strengthen real subsidiarity in the EU thus taking decisions at the lowest political level possible; *improving democracy and accountability by reforming EU institutions and structures making them function more democratically; *defending diversity in the EU by making it possible for member states to implement politics according to their national reality and by promoting flexible cooperation instead of fixed harmonisation. The operational aim of EUD was to act as an effective political platform and campaigning organisation which is able to influence pan-European politics towards extending democratic structures in the EU. The EUD also sought to have candidates elected in
European elections Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Until ...
that shared its core Eurorealist political ideas and thus influence politics in the European Parliament itself.


Campaigns

In March 2011, the EUDemocrats launched a campaign against the idea of direct-tax income for the European Union (including a tax on citizens, the banking sector, or the air traffic sector. The campaign was launched a
www.noeutax.com
In an effort to bring balance to the euro debate in the Baltics, EUDemocrats has started a Latvian web information campaign a
www.parlatu.lv


Membership

: * Michael Balter,
Vivant Vivant is a small social-liberal political party in Belgium founded by millionaire Roland Duchâtelet. In the regional elections in June 2004, the party formed a strategic alliance with the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD). Both parties are ...
group leader at the Parliament of the Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft Belgiens : *
People's Movement against the EU The People's Movement against the EU ( da, Folkebevægelsen mod EU) is a political association in Denmark against the European Union. It was founded in 1972 as a cross-party campaign platform for a 'no' vote in Denmark's referendum on EEC members ...
: *
Arise the Republic Debout la France (, ; DLF) is a French political party founded by Nicolas Dupont-Aignan in 1999 under the name Debout la République (''Republic Arise'', DLR) as the "genuine Gaullist" branch of the Rally for the Republic (RPR). It was relaunched ...
(''Debout la République'') *MP
Nicolas Dupont-Aignan Nicolas Dupont-Aignan (; born 7 March 1961), sometimes referred to by his initials NDA, is a French politician serving since 2008 as President of minor party Debout la France. He is its only member of the National Assembly, elected for Essonne' ...
: *
National Platform The National Platform for EU Research and Information Centre shortened to National Platform is an Irish Eurosceptic lobby group which campaigns against greater European Union integration, and against a Federal superstate. It is a member of the ...
* People's Movement *Independent TD
Thomas Pringle Thomas Pringle (5 January 1789 – 5 December 1834) was a Scottish writer, poet and abolitionist. Known as the father of South African poetry, he was the first successful English language poet and author to describe South Africa's scenery, nati ...
: * Euro Sceptic Party (''Euro Scettici – Partito Animalista Italiano'') : *MEP
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 ...
* Eiroskeptiķu Rīcības Partija (''Eiroskeptiķu Rīcības Partija'') * Demokrāti.lv : * Direct Democracy (Slovakia) (''Priama Demokracia - Hnutie Domova'') * Rudolf Kusy member of the regional parliament of
Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...
*
Peter Kopecký Peter Kopecký is a Slovak romanist and politician. Previously the Slovak Ambassador to Romania and Moldova and Rector of Comenius University in Bratislava, he is now Assistant Director of the Institute of European Studies and International Relat ...
: * June List (''Junijska lista'') * EUDemocrats Slovenia (''EUDS'') * Gorazd Drevensek : * June List (''Junilistan'')


Notes


References

* Laure Neumayer: ''Euroscepticism as a political label''; in: European Journal of Political Research 2/2007. * Géraud de Ville: ''Eurosceptics are Eurocritics or Eurorealists;'' in: Politeia 10/2007.


External links


EUDemocrats
official site
Independence and Democracy group in the European Parliament
official site
Swedish EUD blogEuropean Referendum Campaign
official site
Article by Géraud de Ville in Politeia: Eurosceptics are Eurocritics or Eurorealists.Article by Jens-Peter Bonde in the EUObserver: New composition of the European Parliament should be a wake-up call.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eudemocrats Political parties established in 2005 Pan-European political parties 2005 establishments in the European Union Eurosceptic parties Political parties disestablished in the 2010s