Conservatives Europeans want to ban European Left Alliance

ANDat the European Parliament plenary session this week in Strasbourg (France), the Vice-President of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), Charlie Weimers, indicated that he decided to initiate this process after last week the French Government indicated that he received information from the secret services that the French Unsubmissive Party, which belongs to the European Left Alliance, would be behind the student challenge movement.

“ These demonstrations have led to urban violence and, as the rules of European political parties indicate that these parties must act in line with European values, including the rule of law, I propose that the European Parliament ask the Authority for European political parties to assess whether the European Left Alliance respects these values or if it is violating them,” said the Swedish MEP.

Asked if his final goal is for the European Left Alliance to be banned, Charlie Weimers replied that his main objective is “to end the public funding of organisations that promote political violence.”.

As to whether this request is not disproportionate, since it aims to punish a European party when the alleged offender may be only a national party, the MEP countered that if the European Left Alliance wants to keep France Unsubmissive as a member, then it must be scrutinised.

In order for this initiative to be voted on in plenary, the ECR will have to gather 180 signatures from three different political groups by 16 October.

Mr Weimers has expressed his conviction that he will succeed by stressing that in just 24 hours he has already managed to bring together some 70 signatures from four political groups, all right-wing, including the European People's Party (PPE).

If you can get your signatures together, this initiative will then be voted in plenary session on 19 October in Brussels.

In case of approval, the Authority for the Political Parties Europeans must assess whether the European Left Alliance complies with the values set out in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union (EU), namely respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law.

If that authority finds that there has been a “serious and manifest violation” of these values – which has never happened – it may decide to cancel the European Left Alliance register as a European political party, causing it to lose access to Community funding.

The European Left Alliance was founded in 2024, on the initiative of parties such as the Left Block (BE), after announcing its disaffiliation from the European Left Party, which they considered to be “weakened by internal fragmentation, the result of sectarianism”.

Today, the European Left Alliance is composed of nine parties – including France Unsubmissive, but also the Spanish Podemos or the Italian Left – who have 20 MEPs in the European Parliament.

BE Catarina Martins' MEP is one of the presidents.