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Pirate Party joins the Greens in EU Parliament

Politics | 2009-06-25

Pirate Party logo.
The Swedish Pirate Party will join the G/EFA party group in the EU Parliament. By giving an extra employee, having an internal work group on information issues and promising not to use any party whip the G/EFA was able to convince the Pirate Party to join them with their one mandate.

But this does not mean that the party has taken a stance along the right-left political spectrum, MEP Christian Engström promises.

The Greens in the EU parliament is not oriented to the left, as in Sweden, and during the process of finding a party group they have found many political allies among MEPs of different party groups and hopes to be able to form some sort of cross-party group for issues on information and integrity. Further their staff in Brussels will consist of something of a ‘rainbow-coalition’ with advisors ranging from socialist to libertarians.

Early speculations pointed out both the green G/EFA group and the liberal ALDE group. The Pirate Party says that they have received formal invitations from those two but also the leftist GUE/NGL group and another party group they do not want to name.

“They have all been very interested in getting us to join. They have competed over our vote, which stands for the new generation”, Party leader Rickard Falkvinge tells the political newsmagazine Riksdag & Departement.

The decision to join the Greens in the EU Parliament was taken with a unanimous vote and was rather easy, according to Falkvinge and Engström.

MEP Christian Enström.
Photo: Johan Rehbinder
“Their 54 mandates gives us a good platform. Besides they have a running internal work group dedicated to information issues and have the same view as us on the IPRED directive. We also have the opportunity to be included in the Subcommittee on Human Rights and the G/EFA pays an employee for us”, Engström explains.

Even if anything not has been formally decided on who shall be employed as part of the staff in Brussels, it is as good as already set who will be advisors to the Pirate Party in the EU Parliament, this writes news website Makthavare.

In total the Pirate Party will have four political secretaries in their EU Parliament staff. It looks like it will be a cross-party ‘rainbow-coalition’ that establishes themselves in the European power center of Brussels.

MEP Christian Engström is himself a former member of the Liberal Peoples Party, now turned Pirate, helping him as an advisor is Erik Josefsson, who himself run for an seat as MEP for the Left Party (socialist). Henrik Alexandersson, libertarian opinion maker with a history in the Moderate Party (liberal conservative), will be employed as political secretary together with Amelia Andersdotter, number two on the Pirate Party’s list to the EU parliament and member in the left-wing activist organization Attac.

If there will be a fourth employee to the Brussels staff is still unclear, it is possible that those recourses instead will be moved to the party organisation in Sweden

David Jonasson
david.jonasson@stockholmnews.com

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