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| European Green Movement | |
|---|---|
| Name | European Green Movement |
| Abbreviation | EGM |
| Formation | 1970s–1990s |
| Type | Political movement |
| Region | Europe |
| Key people | Erich Fromm, Petra Kelly, Joschka Fischer, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Caroline Lucas, Reinhard Bütikofer, Ska Keller, Jose Bové, Marina Silva, Sven Giegold, Eva Joly |
| Affiliations | European Green Party, Greens–European Free Alliance, Friends of the Earth Europe, WWF European Policy Office, Greenpeace European Unit |
European Green Movement The European Green Movement is a transnational political and social network promoting environmental protection, social justice, and grassroots democracy across Europe. It spans political parties, non-governmental organizations, social movements, and think tanks active in European Union institutions, national parliaments, and local councils. The movement draws on intellectual currents from deep ecology, social ecology, and the anti-nuclear campaigns of the late 20th century.
The movement emphasizes ecological sustainability, renewable energy advocacy, and biodiversity protection championed by groups such as Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth International, and World Wide Fund for Nature; it links social justice campaigns like those of ATTAC and Trade Union Confederation affiliates with participatory democracy promoted by Open Society Foundations-supported initiatives and municipalist experiments in Barcelona and Freiburg im Breisgau. Core principles are influenced by theorists and activists associated with Murray Bookchin, Arne Naess, Rachel Carson, and Petra Kelly and implemented through networks including European Green Party, Global Greens, and the Youth of the European Greens.
Roots trace to postwar conservation groups such as RSPB-linked organisations, the anti-nuclear movement around events like the Chernobyl disaster and the Three Mile Island accident, and New Social Movements exemplified by protests at Glastonbury Festival and occupations like Greenham Common. Parties emerged in the 1970s and 1980s from electoral experiments in West Germany, France, Netherlands, Austria, and Denmark culminating in transnational coordination at founding congresses of the European Green Party and formal representation in the European Parliament with the creation of the Greens–European Free Alliance. Influential moments include the 1984 European Parliament election, the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, and policy shifts following the Kyoto Protocol negotiation.
Major parties include Alliance 90/The Greens of Germany, Les Verts of France, Green Party of England and Wales, Miljøpartiet De Grønne of Norway, Los Verdes in Spain, Partito dei Verdi in Italy, and Bündnis 90 affiliates; umbrella bodies include the European Green Party, parliamentary group Greens–European Free Alliance, and youth wing Federation of Young European Greens. NGOs and policy institutes active in the ecosystem include Greenpeace International, Friends of the Earth Europe, WWF, ClientEarth, OpenDemocracy, Institute for European Environmental Policy, Centre for Liberal Modernity, and grassroots networks such as Extinction Rebellion, Fridays for Future, and Last Generation.
Typical platform items encompass decarbonization targets echoing Paris Agreement commitments, support for European Green Deal-style programs, advocacy for renewable energy deployment like offshore wind in North Sea projects, and agroecological reforms influenced by campaigns tied to Common Agricultural Policy negotiations. Policy proposals reference legal instruments like the Aarhus Convention and market mechanisms debated under the Emissions Trading System; social measures include universal basic income pilots in Finland and welfare reforms debated in national parliaments such as the Bundestag and Assemblée nationale.
Greens have held ministerial positions in coalition governments in countries including Germany (federal ministries), Austria, Ireland, Luxembourg, and Portugal and have influenced policy through votes in the European Parliament, seats in municipal governments in Stockholm, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and city-level experiments like the Freiburg energy transition. Electoral milestones include successes in the 1999 European Parliament election, the surge in the 2019 European Parliament election, and local breakthroughs in campaigns such as those led by Caroline Lucas in Brighton and Daniel Cohn-Bendit in Strasbourg.
Campaign portfolios range from anti-nuclear campaigns tied to closures after incidents at Chernobyl to biodiversity projects supporting the Natura 2000 network, forest protection linked to debates over Białowieża Forest, and marine conservation in the Mediterranean Sea. Activist interventions include direct actions by Greenpeace at sites like Thames estuaries, legal challenges by ClientEarth in European Court of Justice, and mass mobilizations such as Fridays for Future strikes inspired by Greta Thunberg and civil disobedience by Extinction Rebellion at locations like London and Brussels.
Critiques stem from tensions between radical grassroots factions exemplified by Deep Ecology adherents and pragmatic coalition actors such as ministers in coalition governments noted during negotiations in the Bundesregierung; controversies include debates over agricultural policy stances in France and backlash over urban protest tactics in Italy and Spain. Accusations of elitism and policy trade-offs emerged during negotiations over the European Green Deal and energy transitions affecting regions like Silesia and Nord-Pas-de-Calais, while legal disputes have involved organizations like Greenpeace and national authorities in courts such as the European Court of Human Rights.
Category:Politics of Europe