The Greens/European Free Alliance is a European parliamentary group made up of Greens and representatives of stateless nations ("regionalists").
It is born in July 1999 from the will of two separate and progressive European political families to co-operate in the European Parliament.
Our project is to :
- build a society respectful of fundamental human rights and environmental justice: the rights to self‑determination, to shelter, to good health, to education, to culture, and to a high quality of life;
- increase freedom within the world of work, not only by tackling unemployment but also by widening people's choices, releasing human creative potential ;
- deepen democracy by decentralisation and direct participation of people in decision‑making that concerns them, and by enhancing openness of government in Council and Commission, and making the Commission fullv answerable to Parliament.
- build a European Union of free peoples based on the principle of subsidiarity who believe in solidarity with each other and all the peoples of the world.
- re‑orientate the European Union, which currently over‑emphasises its economic conception at the expense of social, cultural and ecological values
The Greens/European Free Alliance" is working for :
- economic and social reforms to make development sustainable for both human beings and the natural world;
- a democratic process linking trade, security, economic and social issues to environmental, cultural and democratic rights;
- high ecological, social and democratic standards to ensure the quality of life ;
- solidarity, guaranteed human and citizen's rights for everybody, including people who have come from non‑EU countries ;
- a foreign policy designed to resolve problems by peaceful means rather than by military force;
- improved structures for democratic participation in political decision‑making, involving NGOs, Trade Unions, citizens and civic authorities at all levels, with measures to ensure equal participation of women;
- guaranteed equal rights and opportunities, as well as cultural and linguistic diversity
- a policy of employment and redistribution of work with special attention to gender issues, in order to end the existing unbalanced division of labour and share the workload more fairly between women and men, ensuring that women are fully able to take part in the formal labour market as well as in political life.
- the involvement of the relevant elected authorities that have constitutional powers in the decisions of the Council of Ministers relating to matters that fall within their competence
- Development of Article 299.2 of the Treaty of Amsterdam that provides for a permanent special status of the most remote regions ( The Canaries, the Azores, Madeira and the French D.O.M.)
The two constituent parts of the Group agree to determine a yearly common programme for political action in relation to the Parliament's work programme.