| Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy | |
|---|---|
| European Parliament group | |
 Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy Group logo | |
| Name | Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy |
| English abbr. | EFDD |
| French abbr. | ELDD |
| Formal name | Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy Group in the European Parliament |
| Ideology | Euroscepticism Right-wing populism[1] Direct democracy[2] |
| Political position | Right-wing[3] tofar-right[6] |
| European parties | Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe (2014–16) |
| From | 24 June 2014 |
| To | 26 June 2019 |
| Preceded by | Europe of Freedom and Democracy |
| Chaired by | Nigel Farage (UKIP/BXP) David Borrelli (M5S) (until 2017) |
| Website | http://www.efddgroup.eu/ |
Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD orEFD²) was aEurosceptic[7][8][9][10] andpopulistpolitical group in theEuropean Parliament. The EFDD group was a continuation for theEighth European Parliament of theEurope of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) group that existed during theSeventh European Parliament, with significant changes to group membership.
In 2017, it was one of the seven political groups of the parliament. This group was opposed toEuropean integration.[11] Twenty-four out of its 47 MEPs were from the United Kingdom, representing theUK Independence Party.
Its president was British politicianNigel Farage, who was first elected for theUK Independence Party, and then became an independent in 2018 before becoming leader of theBrexit Party in 2019.David Borrelli of the ItalianFive Star Movement was co-president until January 2017,[11] when he had to resign the co-presidency after a failed attempt by his party to transfer to theALDE group.[12]
The parliamentary group was originally linked to theAlliance for Direct Democracy in Europe (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.[13][14] Nonetheless, the group continued its activities until 26 June 2019, when it was also dissolved following the2019 European Parliament election.[15]
Following the2014 European parliament elections, theEurope of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) group faced difficulties reforming for the8th European Parliament, 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, theDanish People's Party (Denmark) andFinns Party (Finland) were admitted into theEuropean Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and therefore were no longer attached to the EFD.[16][17]
On 12 June 2014, theFive Star Movement (M5S) of Italy, having been rejected by theGreens/EFA[18] andAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe[19] 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.[20][21]
On 16 June 2014, Dutch MEPBas Belder of theReformed Political Party (SGP) moved from the EFD to the ECR group.[22]
The EFD group was reformed on 18 June 2014 with MEPs from existing member parties: theUK Independence Party (United Kingdom) and theOrder and Justice (Lithuania), in addition to new affiliates: the Five Star Movement, theSweden Democrats (Sweden), theParty of Free Citizens (Czech Republic), theLatvian Farmers Union (Latvia) and a French independent MEP, formerly of theNational Front.[23][24]
On 24 June 2014, the EFD group name was revised to Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD), andDavid Borrelli of the Five Star Movement was chosen as the group's co-president.[25][26]
On 16 October 2014, it was announced thatIveta Grigule MEP from theLatvian Farmers' Union 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.[27][28] The criterion was restored on 20 October, with one Polish MEP,Robert Iwaszkiewicz fromCongress of the New Right (KNP), joining the group,[29][30] although the other party's MEPs remainedNon-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.[31] On 20 March 2015,Janice Atkinson was suspended from UKIP and later expelled on 23 March for alleged financial fraud.[32][33] Atkinson joined theEurope of Nations and Freedom (ENF) group at its launch on 15 June 2015.[34]
In April 2015,Valentinas Mazuronis leftOrder and Justice and joined the ranks ofLabour Party, also leaving the EFDD.
On 8 April 2016,Alternative for Germany (AfD) MEPBeatrix von Storch left the ECR group to join EFDD.[35][36]
On 24 October 2016,Steven Woolfe left the group to sit as Non-Inscrits, followed byDiane James 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.[37][38][39] In the aftermath, two MEPs left the group, withMarco Affronte defected to the Greens/EFA group, andMarco Zanni to theENL group.[40] Other Five Star Movement MEPs pulled out of switching parliamentary group after threatened by party leaderBeppe Grillo with a fine of €250,000.[40]
In October 2017, with change in theFrench National Front,Florian Philippot, president of the "Patriotes",Sophie Montel andMireille d'Ornano join the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group.[41]
On 13 February 2018, former group co-president David Borrelli left the M5S and moved toNon-Inscrits.[42]
On 3 July 2018, the 2Sweden Democrats MEPs moved to ECR group.[43]
In December 2018, Farage and multiple other MEPs left UKIP in protest overGerard Batten's leadership. Batten in turn left the EFDD[44] and then withdrew the remaining further 6 UKIP MEPs.
In April 2019, group leader Nigel Farage launched theBrexit Party, which he and ten of the other former UKIP MEPs in the group joined, along with one UKIP MEP from theEurope of Nations and Freedom group.[45]
On the 26 June 2019 it was reported that the EFDD had failed to register for the9th European Parliament, making them no longer an official political group.[46] Most of the former members of EFDD have now become part of theIdentity and Democracy political group.
At foundation, the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy had 48 elected members as follows:
| Member state | Party | MEPs | Previous group | Additional notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Czech Republic | Party of Free Citizens | 1 / 21 | N/A | |
 France | Joëlle Bergeron (independent MEP) | 1 / 74 | N/A | FormerFN member |
 Italy | Five Star Movement | 17 / 73 | N/A | |
 Latvia | Latvian Farmers Union | 1 / 8 | N/A | |
 Lithuania | Order and Justice | 2 / 11 | Europe of Freedom and Democracy | |
 Sweden | Sweden Democrats | 2 / 20 | N/A | |
 United Kingdom | UK Independence Party | 24 / 73 | Europe of Freedom and Democracy |
In 2019 the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy had 42 members of the European Parliament along with other affiliated parties as follows:
Roger HelmerJoëlle BergeronPiernicola Pedicini
Robert Jarosław IwaszkiewiczRolandas PaksasTiziana BeghinThe bloc's primary goal was the reduction in the powers of, or even the dissolution of, the European Union.Nigel Farage, the bloc's president, was also the leader of theUK Independence Party and latterly theBrexit Party, both of which advocated for the immediate withdrawal of the UK from the European Union.
During the European Parliament debate aboutCatalan independence referendum in 2017, the EFDD, by the voice ofRay Finch 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.[50]
Two right-wing groups in Parliament, the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) […]
two far-right groupings, Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) and Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF).
anti-establishment, far-right Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy EP group
{{cite web}}:|author= has generic name (help)Several Parliament officials said that Farage's former "Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy" group had not been added to the official list. "Farage and 5Star doesn't have a group," said one official, referring to Italy's 5Star movement which was also part of the EFDD.
Media related toEurope of Freedom and Direct Democracy at Wikimedia Commons
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