European Alliance

Last updated
European Alliance group in the European Committee of the Regions
PresidentKarl Vanlouwe
Founded1996
Ideology Regionalism (politics) Centrism
European Committee of the Regions
14 / 329
Website
http://www.ea.cor.europa.eu

The European Alliance (EA) is a political group in the European Committee of the Regions composed of a mix of regionalist parties and independent members. It was established in 1996, with strong influence of the European Free Alliance, and has since then existed in several incarnations.

Contents

Currently, the group gathers 29 local and regional politicians from the following Member States: Belgium, France, Ireland, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain.

History

Since its foundation in 1996 until 2004, the European Alliance group consisted of the European Free Alliance's member parties aligned with a group of independents and the then-governing party of the Republic of Ireland, Fianna Fáil, thus serving as a relatively loose grouping of regionalist and non-regionalist members of the European Committee of the Regions. The group's main founding principles included:

In 2004 the group was reconstituted as Union for Europe of the Nations – European Alliance (UEN–EA), uniting a wide range of political options, from traditionally centrist parties to more national-conservative ones. At the time, the group was partly affiliated with the European Parliament's Union for Europe of the Nations.

In 2009, the group restored its original name and has since returned to its regionalist roots.

Present

EA group currently gathers 29 members and alternates from Catalonia, Corsica, Flanders, Friesland, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Navarra, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

Political priorities

Apart from its regionalist affiliations, the group gathers a significant number of independent members active in the development of Europe's disadvantaged regions, particularly rural, mountainous and island areas. In addition, a strong focus is put on the promotion of green economy and the protection of Europe's cultural and linguistic diversity, especially regional identities.

Some of the group's main priorities include: [1]

Presidents

The current president of the group is Mr Karl Vanlouwe, Member of the Flemish Parliament.

Previous presidents include:

PeriodNameAuthorityCountry
1998 – 2002 Seán Ó Neachtain Galway County CouncilIreland
2002 – 2004Annette McNamaraCork County CouncilIreland
2004 – 2006 Keith Brown Clackmannanshire CouncilScotland
2006 – 2007 Maria Corrigan Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council and Dublin Regional AuthorityIreland
2007 – 2010Paul O' DonoghueKerry County CouncilIreland
2010 – 2012Jerzy ZająkałaMayor of LubiankaPoland
2012 – 2015Uno SilbergKose Municipality CouncilEstonia
2015 – 2017Stanisław SzwabskiGdynia City CouncilPoland
2017 – 2020 Karl Vanlouwe Member of the Flemish ParliamentFlanders
2020 – 2022Kieran McCarthyCork City CouncilIreland
2022 – Karl Vanlouwe Member of the Flemish ParliamentFlanders

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References

  1. "Political priorities". web.cor.europa.eu. European Alliance. Retrieved 31 March 2020.