Key facts
- The European Parliament has begun a procedure to investigate the Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) party.
- The ESN party includes Alternative for Germany (AfD) and other far-right political groups.
- The investigation will assess ESN's compliance with fundamental EU values.
- If found non-compliant, ESN could lose its status as a European political party and its EU funding.
- The decision to proceed with the investigation was supported by a majority of MEPs.
The European Parliament has initiated a verification procedure against the Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) party, a coalition of far-right political forces including Germany's Alternative for Germany (AfD). The vote, which passed with 414 in favour, 224 against, and 18 abstentions, tasks the Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations (APPF) with investigating ESN's adherence to EU values. Should the investigation conclude non-compliance, ESN could be stripped of its status as a European political party and lose its associated funding.
According to parliamentary sources, the decision was opposed by the European Conservatives and Reformists and Patriots for Europe groups, while other parliamentary groups supported it. Socialist MEP Alessandro Zan stated that "No EU taxpayer money for those who trample on the fundamental values upon which the Union was founded." Members of the European People's Party cited alleged Nazi sympathies among AfD representatives and arguments for mass "remigration" by Thierry Baudet of the Dutch Forum for Democracy as reasons for concern.
A dossier compiled for a previous APPF report included evidence such as racist banners by Czechia's SPD party, an action by Bulgaria's Revival to block a film featuring homosexuality, and a German court ruling that deemed AfD's policy program "contrary to human dignity and freedom of religion."
ESN criticized the vote, asserting that its members should be free to discuss the concerns of their constituents without facing administrative or financial penalties for challenging the political consensus. The ESN party was established in August 2024 by eight far-right parties, including Poland's Confederation and France's Reconquête, with Italy's National Future party being the most recent addition. ESN is a distinct legal entity from the ESN political group within the European Parliament, which comprises the same parties and currently has 27 MEPs. Any consequences for losing ESN's status as a European party will not affect the political group or individual lawmakers.