Europe Ecology – The Greens (french: Europe Écologie Les Verts , EELV ) is a

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. The party is a member of the

European Green Party The European Green Party (EGP), also referred to as European Greens, is the European political party that represents national parties from across Europe who share Green values. The European Greens works closely with the Greens–European Free ...

. The party was formed on 13 November 2010 from the merger of

The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to: Current political parties *Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens'' *Greens of Andorra * Greens of Bosnia and Herzegovina *Greens of Burkina * Greens (Greece) * Greens of Montenegro *Greens of Serbia *Gree ...

and Europe Ecology.

History

Party foundation

Following the 2008 municipal elections,

sought to increase their political influence. Echoing these calls, Daniel Cohn-Bendit proposed the creation of open electoral lists for the 2009 European elections and the Greens' leadership allowed for the exploration of this possibility. Europe Ecology (EE), launched in the autumn of 2008, allowed The Greens to create a wider

electoral alliance An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections. E ...

with

environmentalists An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

and social activists who had not been party members in the past. The new structure included, alongside longtime Green politicians, new activists or environmentalists such as Jean-Paul Besset (close to

Nicolas Hulot Nicolas Jacques André Hulot (; born 30 April 1955) is a French journalist and environmental activist. He is the founder and honorary president of the Nicolas Hulot Foundation, an environmental group established in 1990. Hulot ran as a candida ...

José Bové Joseph "José" Bové (born 11 June 1953) is a French farmer, politician and syndicalist, member of the alter-globalization movement, and spokesman for Via Campesina. He was one of the twelve official candidates in the 2007 French presidential elec ...

(

alter-globalisation Alter-globalization (also known as alternative globalization or alter-mundialization—from the French alter- mondialisation—and overlapping with the global justice movement) is a social movement whose proponents support global cooperation and ...

activist from the ''Confédération paysanne''),

Yannick Jadot Yannick Jadot (; born 27 July 1967) is a French environmentalist and politician who has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since the 2009 European election, representing the West France constituency. Early career As an environ ...

(former head of Greenpeace France),

Eva Joly Eva Joly (; born Gro Eva Farseth; 5 December 1943) is a Norwegian-born French ''juge d'instruction'' (magistrate) and politician for Europe Écologie–The Greens. She represented that party as a candidate for the presidency of France in the 2012 ...

(magistrate) and Michèle Rivasi (founder of CRIIRAD). EE was successful in the 2009 European elections on 7 June 2009, reaching third place in France with 16.3% of the vote, only a few thousand votes behind the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

(PS), winning 14 of France's 72 seats in the European Parliament. The experience led to further attempts to expand the French green movement, ahead of the 2010 regional elections. Europe Ecology ran independent lists in the first round in every region, once again with the participation of new activists including Philippe Meirieu,

Laurence Vichnievsky Laurence Vichnievsky (born 5 February 1955 in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French magistrate and politician who has been serving as a member of the French National Assembly since the 2017 elections. She is a member of the Democratic ...

or Augustin Legrand. While they fell short of their 2009 success, EE nevertheless managed to win 12.5% of the vote nationally (third place). The Greens and those new activists who joined the movement by way of EE – but who did not wish to join the party – began talks to allow for the creation of a new, enlarged political movement. In October and November 2010, EE and later The Greens ratified new statutes and a new manifesto. Notably, these new statutes allowed for "cooperators" - individuals who did not join the party as full paying members but who are nonetheless allowed to run as candidates, vote in presidential primaries and partake in debates over the platform. The official launch of the new party, presented as a new political force, was held in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

on 9 November 2010. The new party adopted the name Europe Ecology – The Greens (''Europe Écologie Les Verts'', EELV). However, the launch of the party was marked by tensions between longtime politicians from the former Green party and new activists from various non-political social movements. Jean-Paul Besset, for example, resigned all his leadership responsibilities in EELV within weeks and denounced a "poisonous Cold War atmosphere". A month later, Philippe Meirieu was named as the first president of the party's new federal council, created by the EELV statutes. In the 2011 cantonal elections, EELV won 8.2% of the vote nationally – becoming the third largest force on the left behind the PS and Left Front (FG). Although the traditional runoff deals were sealed with both of these parties, some EELV candidates qualified for the runoff against other left-wing candidates did not withdraw, creating tensions with EELV's traditional left-wing allies. Ultimately, EELV won 27 seats, 16 more seats than what the Greens had won in the same series of cantons in 2004. A presidential primary to nominate a candidate for the 2012 presidential election, open to members and cooperators, was held in June and July 2011. Four candidates sought the EELV nomination, most notably

, an MEP and

, a well known TV personality and environmentalist. Joly emerged victorious in the runoff on 12 July with 58.16%. In the 2011 senatorial elections, an agreement with the PS allowed for the first left senatorial majority under the Fifth Republic and the creation of the first entirely green parliamentary group. On 15 November 2011, EELV and the PS signed a coalition agreement prior to the 2012 presidential election. The agreement included a commitment to reduce the share of nuclear energy in France from 75% to 50% by 2025, the progressive shutdown of 24 nuclear reactors, the creation of a

carbon tax A carbon tax is a tax levied on the carbon emissions required to produce goods and services. Carbon taxes are intended to make visible the "hidden" social costs of carbon emissions, which are otherwise felt only in indirect ways like more sev ...

and raising taxes on very high incomes. The agreement also included an ad hoc electoral deal for the 2012 legislative elections in which the PS conceded over 60 constituencies to EELV, which would allow EELV to form a parliamentary group. On 8 May 2012, following the left's victory with François Hollande, EELV's federal council voted in favour of cabinet participation in the new left-wing government.

2012–2015: presidential and legislative elections, partners of the government

In the 2012 presidential election, EELV candidate Eva Joly won 2.3% of the vote and was eliminated in the first round. In the 2012 legislative elections, EELV candidates won 5.46% nationally and elected a record 17 deputies (in addition to one member of the regionalist Breton Democratic Union, backed by EELV). However, every EELV deputy who was victorious had benefited from the endorsement of the PS, although many faced local PS dissidents. In the government of Jean-Marc Ayrault formed on 16 May 2012, EELV has two cabinet ministers: former party leader Cécile Duflot as minister of housing and territorial equality, and former MEP Pascal Canfin as junior minister for international development. In the 2014 European elections on 25 May 2014, EELV received 8.95% of the vote, sixth place nationally, returning 6 MEPs.

Since 2017: opposition to Emmanuel Macron, European elections and municipal victories

In the 2019 European elections, EELV performed significantly above expectations, winning 13.5% of the vote and 13 out of 79 MEPs, placing third behind LREM and RN. This came despite EELV having not polled above 10% during the campaign. Following the success of the 2019 European elections, the polls for the municipal elections predict good results for EELV. Thus, cities like Rouen,

Villeurbanne Villeurbanne (; frp, Velorbana) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. It is situated northeast of Lyon, with which it forms the heart of the second-largest metropolitan area in France after ...

, Strasbourg,

Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzer ...

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...

are considered as being able to be won. On the evening of the first round, around twenty environmentalist lists won the elections in the first round (including outgoing mayors such as in Schiltigheim), and EELV came out on top in several large cities (

, Strasbourg or

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

), or second but favorite in others (

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

, Poitiers). The scores are however disappointing in several big cities like

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, Nîmes, Montpellier or

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

. In the latter, however, the EELV's list (8% in the first round) merges with the union list of the left which came in first (23%), moreover led by an environmental candidate from but suspended from the party,

Michèle Rubirola Michèle Rubirola (born 28 July 1956) is a French politician who served as Mayor of Marseille from 4 July to 21 December 2020. A physician by occupation, she succeeded Jean-Claude Gaudin, who chose not to run for reelection to a fifth term in of ...

. The second round confirms these good scores since the party wins the municipalities of

, Strasbourg and

, the latter not having known alternation since 1945, but also

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...

, Poitiers and

. The candidates of

and

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

both suffer a narrow loss of 200 votes, respectively against and with the

. The Rouen and

's lists join those of the Socialist Party, both elected, like that of

Ideology

As a green party, EELV prioritises and emphasises environmental issues. It calls for a 40% reduction in CO₂ emissions, phasing out nuclear energy in favour of renewable energy, the creation of 600,000 'green jobs', eco-friendly

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

(the creation of green housing and the promotion of

public transportation Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

), the development of

sustainable agriculture Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem ser ...

and a moratorium on the use of genetically modified organisms. EELV, like the Greens before it, has generally opposed large-scale development projects, most recently the '' Aéroport du Grand Ouest'' in Notre-Dame-des-Landes ( Loire-Atlantique), although the PS and the incumbent government officially support the project. On economic issues, EELV leans strongly to the left. Besides the creation of 'green jobs' in fields such as thermal isolation and renewable energies, it also supports a

and raising the

progressive income tax A progressive tax is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases.Sommerfeld, Ray M., Silvia A. Madeo, Kenneth E. Anderson, Betty R. Jackson (1992), ''Concepts of Taxation'', Dryden Press: Fort Worth, TX The term ''progre ...

levels for high earners (60% for incomes between €100,000 and €500,000, 70% for incomes over €500,000). EELV is close to some anticapitalist and many

activists. In its alternative budget in 2011, EELV proposed to reduce the

public debt A country's gross government debt (also called public debt, or sovereign debt) is the financial liabilities of the government sector. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits. A deficit oc ...

by closing fiscal loopholes. The party has traditionally supported European federalism, although many of its European policies are in conflict with the current direction and leadership of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. EELV, like the Greens before it, has been one of the strongest proponents of decentralisation, officially supporting "differentiated federalism" which would devolve significant powers to the

regions of France France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (french: régions, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas colle ...

. The regionalist federation '' Régions et Peuples Solidaires'' has long been closely allied to the green movement in France. François Alfonsi of the Party of the Corsican Nation (PNC) was elected to 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 ...

on an EE list in 2009. The green movement supports political reform, including voting rights for foreigners in both local and national elections, abolishing the ''

cumul des mandats A dual mandate is the practice in which elected officials serve in more than one elected or other public position simultaneously. This practice is sometimes known as double jobbing in Britain and ''cumul des mandats'' in France; not to be confused ...

'', term limits and a 'Sixth Republic' with a more powers for the

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

and direct democracy. The greens have long promoted

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

in politics, its leadership and electoral candidates tend to respect gender parity and the EELV group in the French National Assembly has two co-presidents, one male and one female.

Electoral results

Presidential

Legislative

* 18 (incl. Paul Molac of the UDB) were elected, but Cécile Duflot resigned her seat while minister in the government, the seat went to PS. She re-took her seat in May 2014. Isabelle Attard left EELV for New Deal in December 2013.

European Parliament

Other elections

* 2010 regional elections: EE lists won 12.2% nationally in the first round. It won its best result (17.82%) in

Rhône-Alpes Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône ...

. All its lists withdrew and merged with PS lists, except in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

, where it maintained its own separate list and won 17.4% of the votes in the runoff. * 2011 cantonal elections: EELV won 8.22% nationally and 27 seats. * 2020 municipal elections : EELV won, as senior member of coalitions (mostly with left parties such as PS or LFI), some of the largest French cities, including

, Strasbourg,

, Nancy and

, while keeping the city of

(mayor reelected in first round). EELV was close to victory in

and

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

. The press called it a "green wave", highlighting the importance of ecology in French politics.

Elected officials

Member of the National Assembly

* Christine Arrighi ( Haute-Garonne's 9th constituency) *

Julien Bayou Julien Bayou (born 11 June 1980) is a French activist, lawyer and politician who has represented the 5th constituency of Paris in the National Assembly since 2022. A member of the Europe Ecology – The Greens (EELV) party, he served as its nati ...

( Paris's 5th constituency) * Lisa Belluco ( Vienne's 1st constituency) * Cyrielle Chatelain ( Isère's 2nd constituency) * Charles Fournier ( Indre-et-Loire's 1st constituency) * Marie-Charlotte Garin ( Rhône's 3rd constituency) * Jérémie Iordanoff ( Isère's 5th constituency) * Julie Laernoes ( Loire-Atlantique's 4th constituency) * Francesca Pasquini ( Hauts-de-Seine's 2nd constituency) * Marie Pochon ( Drôme's 3rd constituency) * Jean-Claude Raux ( Loire-Atlantique's 6th constituency) * Sandra Regol ( Bas-Rhin's 1st constituency) * Sandrine Rousseau ( Paris's 9th constituency) *

Éva Sas Éva Sas (born 13 August 1970) is a French politician from Europe Ecology – The Greens. She was a Member of Parliament from 2012 to 2017, and has been again since 2022. Early life Sas was born in Nice in 1970. Political career She was el ...

( Paris's 8th constituency) * Sabrina Sebaihi ( Hauts-de-Seine's 4th constituency) * Nicholas Thierry ( Gironde's 2nd constituency)

Member of the
French Senate The Senate (french: Sénat, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' a ...

* Esther Benbassa ( Val-de-Marne) * Ronan Dantec ( Loire-Atlantique) * Raymonde Poncet (

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

) * Thomas Dossus (

) * Jacques Fernique (

Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin (; Alsatian: ''Unterelsàss'', ' or '; traditional german: links=no, Niederrhein; en, Lower Rhine) is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est super-region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its low ...

) * Monique de Marco ( Gironde) * Guy Benarroche (

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in Southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and ...

) * Daniel Salmon (

Ille-et-Vilaine Ille-et-Vilaine (; br, Il-ha-Gwilen) is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named after the two rivers of the Ille and the Vilaine. It had a population of 1,079,498 in 2019.

) * Guillaume Gontard ( Isère)

MEPs

* Benoît Biteau * Damien Carême *

David Cormand David Cormand (born 30 November 1974) is a French politician who was elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in 2019. A member of Europe Ecology – The Greens (EELV), he was its national secretary from 2016 to 2019. Cormand also ser ...

* Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield * Karima Delli *

* Michèle Rivasi * Mounir Satouri * Marie Toussaint

Other elected officials

EELV claims 34 departmental councillors, 65 regional councillors and 50 mayors. Cities with an EELV mayor include

, Strasbourg and Poitiers.

Leadership

The party executive is formed by the Executive Bureau. The national secretary is the leader of the executive bureau and is the party's most senior leader. The federal council is composed of 150 members (75 men and 75 women) and serves as the party's parliament, meeting on a monthly basis. * National secretaries: Cécile Duflot (2010–2012), Pascal Durand (2012–2013),

Emmanuelle Cosse Emmanuelle Cosse (born 15 November 1974) is a French activist with LGBT and feminist groups, and a politician with the green party Europe Ecology – The Greens, as well as a journalist and magazine editor. Biography A member of a prominent L ...

(2013–2016),

(2016–2019),

(2019–2022) * President of the federal council: Philippe Meirieu (2010–2013), Thierry Brochot (2013–2016), Nicolas Bonnet (2016–2019), Henri Arevalo (2019–present)

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Europe Ecology - The Greens 2010 establishments in France Political parties established in 2010 Green political parties in France European Green Party Political parties of the French Fifth Republic Global Greens member parties Left-wing parties in France Pro-European political parties in France pt:Grupo dos Verdes/Aliança Livre Europeia