A signature drive has begun in the European Parliament to force a vote on an investigation into the European Left Alliance (ELA), a European political party whose members include Spain’s Podemos, Denmark’s Enhedslisten, Italy’s Left and Portugal’s Bloco de Esquerda, as well as France’s La France Insoumise (LFI).
The initiative was launched on Friday by Charlie Weimers, vice-chair of the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group. According to Politico, which has seen the MEP’s email, the aim is for Parliament to ask the Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations (APPF) to examine whether the ELA is breaching EU values. Such a review could ultimately lead to the party being deregistered and stripped of EU funding — in effect, a ban on its activity as a European party.
The move follows accusations by the office of French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu against LFI, which is alleged to have organized school protests, some of which turned violent. The student protests, over teacher shortages and the condition of school buildings, began in the Paris region in late September and then spread across the country; there have been reports of injuries and arrests.
To get the issue onto the agenda, Weimers needs to collect 180 signatures from MEPs in at least three political groups by 16 October. The initiators believe that threshold is reachable with support from right-wing and far-right lawmakers. The vote is scheduled for the plenary session on 19 October.
