| Europe of Freedom and Democracy | |
|---|---|
| European Parliament group | |
 | |
| Name | Europe of Freedom and Democracy[1][2] |
| English abbr. | EFD[3] |
| French abbr. | ELD |
| Formal name | Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group[3] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Right-wing tofar-right |
| European parties | Movement for a Europe of Liberties and Democracy |
| From | 1 July 2009 (de facto)[10] |
| To | 24 June 2014 |
| Preceded by | Independence/Democracy |
| Succeeded by | Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy |
| Chaired by | Nigel Farage (UKIP) Francesco Speroni (LN) |
| MEP(s) | 34 |
| Website | efdgroup.eu (archived URL) |
Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) was afar-right,[11][12][13][14]Euroscepticpolitical group that operated in theEuropean Parliament from 2009 to 2014.[15][16][17][18] It was composed of 34MEPs and it existed during theEuropean Parliament's 7th and8th terms. After 2011, EFD had a loose relationship with theMovement for a Europe of Liberties and Democracy political party.
Ideologically, EFD wasconservative,right-wing populist and strongly opposed to European integration.[19] Its members included parties such as theUK Independence Party andLega Nord. Founded as a merger of theIndependence/Democracy (IND/DEM) andUnion for Europe of the Nations after the2009 European Parliament election, EFD was morenationalistic and strongly opposed to immigration than its main predecessor, IND/DEM.[9] In the aftermath of the2014 European Parliament election, EFD became theEurope of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) group, though only two EFD parties continued their membership in the EFDD.
Following the2009 European Parliament elections, theIndependence/Democracy (IND/DEM) andUnion for a Europe of Nations (UEN), twopolitical groups of the European Parliament, were in trouble. TheUK Independence Party (UKIP) component of IND/DEM had done well, but the other parties of this group fared very poorly.[10] UEN had also lost MEPs and both groups had fallen below the threshold required for a group to exist.[20][21] The remnants of both groups needed to find a new group before the constitutive session of the7th European Parliament on 14 July 2009.
Speculation regarding the new group surfaced on 30 June 2009. The name of the group was originally speculated asA Europe of Free Peoples,[10][22] orA Europe of Peoples for Liberty,[10][22] or a phrase involving the wordIndependence[10] orFreedom[23] orDemocracy[23] orPeople.[10] In the absence of an official name, the nascent group was given theplaceholder name ofLiberty.[10] On 1 July 2009 a press conference was held launching the group.[1][2][24] That press conference named the groupEurope of Freedom and Democracy.[1][2]
Andreas Mölzer, the leader of theFreedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) European Parliament list, announced in July 2009 that FPÖ and EFD were in negotiations over FPÖ joining the group; each side had reservations about the other,[25] with UKIP, theReformed Political Party (SGP) of the Netherlands, and theSlovak National Party (SNS) each uneasy about the inclusion of the FPÖ.[26] In June 2011, the FPÖ tried again to have its two MEPs join the faction, but was again denied, being opposed by five or six of the nine parties in the EFD.[27] EFD was positioned by scholars as aright-wing[28][29][16] andfar-right.[11][12][13][14]
In March 2010 it was announced that MEPNikki Sinclaire had had the UKIP whip withdrawn.[30] Sinclaire had refused to join the EFD on the grounds that it was a grouping with "extreme views" and consequently had not sat with her UKIP colleagues in the European parliament.[30] In June 2010 MEPMike Nattrass also left the EFD, albeit on other grounds than Sinclaire, stating that "I don't share the same principles of some of the Group, on balance, the majority of the Group want to stay in the EU and I've always believed that we should leave." Nattrass later rejoined the group in December 2012.[31] In March 2011 MEPTrevor Colman left the EFD, allegedly due to an "unresolved dispute over financial and staffing issues." However Colman continued to represent UKIP as aNon-Attached MEP.[32][33] On 24 May 2011, British MEPDavid Campbell Bannerman defected to theConservative Party, and theEuropean Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group.[34]
In March 2011, Danish MEPAnna Rosbach left the EFD, and in turn joined the ECR group as anindependent.[35]
The EFD was joined by Belgian MEPFrank Vanhecke in November 2011, after Vanhecke leftFlemish Interest (VB).[36] It was joined byMagdi Allam in December 2011, when Allam defected from theUnion of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDC) in theEPP group.[37] The four MEPs fromUnited Poland defected from the ECR group on 26 December 2011, taking the group's numbers to 33. In March 2012Roger Helmer who was elected as a British Conservative Party MEP and previously sat with the ECR group, defected to UKIP and the EFD, raising the group's numbers to 34.[38]
In late 2012,Slavcho Binev MEP ofPeople for Real, Open and United Democracy (PROUD) joined the group.
In February 2013 Marta Andreasen announced she was leaving UKIP and defected to the Conservative Party.[citation needed]
In late September 2013,National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria (NSFB) joined the group.[39]
Europe of Freedom and Democracy had 34 elected members between 2009 and 2014, they are as follows:
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