The Rainbow Group in the European Parliament was a
regionalist political group
A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller political parties, who a ...
in the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two 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 ...
from 1989 to 1994.
History
In
1989
1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
the previous
Rainbow Group split. For the
third term of the European Parliament, the
green parties formed
The Green Group, whilst the regionalist parties stayed in the remaining Rainbow Group.
This second Rainbow Group was the highpoint of the
European Free Alliance
The European Free Alliance (EFA) is a European political party that consists of various regionalist, separatist and minority political parties in Europe. Member parties advocate either for full political independence and sovereignty, or some ...
(EFA) to that date.
But the
1994 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 1994.
Africa
* 1994 Botswana general election
* 1994 Guinea-Bissau general election
* 1994 Malawian general election
* 1994 Mozambican general election
* 1994 Namibian general election
* 1994 South Afr ...
saw a considerable reduction in Regionalist representation in the Parliament, with only the
Canarian Coalition
The Canarian Coalition (, CC or CCa) is a regionalist and Canarian nationalist political party in Spain operating in the Canary Islands. The party's aim is for greater autonomy for the islands but not independence. Its position has been labeled a ...
,
Lega Nord
Lega Nord (LN; ), whose complete name is (), is a right-wing politics, right-wing, federalism, federalist, populism, populist and conservatism, conservative list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy. In the run-up to the 201 ...
,
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...
and
People's Union keeping their MEPs.
But Lega Nord had been suspended from the EFA following its decision to join the
Italian coalition government alongside the right-wing
National Alliance.
The weakened EFA was no longer able to maintain their own group, and instead allied with members of the French ''
Energie Radicale'' to form the Group of the
European Radical Alliance.
Sources
*"Regionalist Parties in Western Europe", , de Winter & Türsan 1998
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Development of Political Groups in the European Parliament/ref>
Europe Politiqueref name="t1s11
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Democracy in the European Parliament
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Democracy in the European Parliament
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European Parliament MEP Archives
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European Parliament profile of Jaak Vandemeulebroucke
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rainbow Group (1989-1994)
Former European Parliament party groups
Regionalism (politics)