Independence/Democracy European Parliament group
I/D logo
Name	Independence/Democracy
English abbr.	IND/DEM[1][2][3][4][5]
French abbr.	IND/DEM
Formal name	Independence/Democracy Group in the European Parliament[3][4]
Ideology	Euroscepticism
European parties	Alliance of Independent Democrats in Europe, EUDemocrats
From	20 July 2004[1]
To	present
Preceded by	Europe of Democracies and Diversities
Chaired by	Nigel Farage MEP and Kathy Sinnott MEP
MEP(s)	37[6][7] (20-23 July 2004) 28[1] (January 2007) 22[8] (24 June 2008)
Website	http://www.iadgroup.co.uk/ (2004) http://indemgroup.org/

The Independence/Democracy Group in the European Parliament was set up on 20 July 2004.^[1] It is the current Eurosceptic group.

History

Sixth Parliament

The 2004 European Parliament elections were reported as a good result for Eurosceptic parties.^[9][10] 37 MEPs (33 on July 20, with 4 more the next day) from the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), Junibevægelsen (Denmark), Mouvement pour la France (France), Lega Nord (Italy), ChristenUnie-SGP (Netherlands), LAOS (Greece), Junilistan (Sweden), Nezávislí (Czech Republic), the League of Polish Families (Poland) and an Independent from Ireland, joined together in the first week of the new Parliament to form the Eurosceptic group called "Independence/Democracy", succeeding the group called "Europe of Democracies and Diversities" that had existed before the elections.

In the first week, IND/DEM assigned a UKIP MEP to the women's rights committee. The MEP, Godfrey Bloom, promptly made comments including "No self-respecting small businessman with a brain in the right place would ever employ a lady of child-bearing age" and "I am here to represent Yorkshire women who always have dinner on the table when you get home. I am going to promote men's rights." The remarks engendered outrage from a range of fellow politicians.^[11]

One UKIP MEP never made it to IND/DEM. Ashley Mote was expelled from UKIP^[12] prior to IND/DEM's formation^[13] when it became known that he faced charges for housing benefit fraud. ^[12] Mote went on to join the far-right Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty group before being convicted in 2007.^[14]

The Lega Nord MEPs eventually all left the group after their expulsion from IND/DEM following an incident involving a t-shirt and the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy.^[15] MEPs from the League of Polish Families also left the group, although not all and not all at once.^[15][16][17]

By 24 June 2008, IND/DEM were down to 22^[8] MEPs.

Structure

Subgroups

IND/DEM is a coalition of MEPs from two distinct wings of Euroscepticism: a reformist subgroup made up of those MEPs who believe that the EU is essentially desirable if reformed and who support greater transparency and control over the EU bureaucracy, and a secessionist subgroup consisting of those MEPs (notably UKIP^[18]) who believe that the EU is inherently wrong even if reformed and who advocate withdrawal from the EU.^[19][1]

Organisation

IND/DEM has a joint political leadership. The group's co-chairs are Nigel Farage^[20] (UKIP) and Kathy Sinnott,^[20] the latter having replaced long-time MEP Jens-Peter Bonde (June Movement) on his retirement in May 2008. Farage represents the secessionist subgroup, and Sinnott the reformist subgroup. The leadership is loose, enabling the two subgroups to unite around the broad principles of democracy and transparency^[18] which are embodied in its statute and to which IND/DEM MEPs are expected to adhere.^[21] The day-to-day running of the group is performed by its secretariat, and its (again joint) current secretaries-general are Claudine Vangrunderbeeck and Herman Verheirstraeten.^[22]

Membership

Current membership by country

IND/DEM percentage of MEPs by member state December 2007 (see description for sources).

0% to 1%      1% to 5%      5% to 10%      10% to 20%      20% to 30%      30% to 40%      40% to 50%      50% plus

A December 2007 European Parliament document gave the percentage of MEPs for each Group and member state at that date. The results for IND/DEM are given on the diagram on the right.

Euroscepticism is normally expressed as part of the portfolio of other schools of political thought, and is rarely expressed as a stand-alone ideology. Consequently, IND/DEM draws its MEPs from few member states. Such support as is expressed comes from Northern European states, with especial reference to the member states of the North-West. Its strongholds are Sweden and Denmark, who send "June list" MEPs from Junilistan and JuniBevægelsen to the Parliament, and the United Kingdom, with 13% of its MEPs coming from UKIP and sitting with IND/DEM. Recent developments, such as the mooted creation of Libertas as a political party in Ireland and the schism of Conservative parties from EPP-ED, may increase IND/DEM's support after the 2009 elections, but as of December 2007 no member state has more than 13% of its MEPs sitting with IND/DEM and eighteen member states (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain) have none.

Current membership by party

IND/DEM member parties as of 24 July 2008 are as follows:

Membership at formation

The IND/DEM MEPs at 20-23 July 2004 were as follows:

Activities

In the news

Activities performed by IND/DEM in the period between June 1 2004 and June 1 2008 that resulted in an entry on Google News include: seeking to allow Parliament to be filmed;^[59][60] criticising EC President Barroso for taking a cruise on a yacht owned by Spiro Latsis prior to the Commission giving a Latsis shipyard a grant of €10 million;^[61][62] trying to get an European Parliament auditor's report on alleged abuses of staff allowances published;^[63][64] opposing the appointment of Rocco Buttiglione as Justice Commissioner;^[65][66] being against the Constitution Treaty,^{[67][68][69][70]} the Lisbon Treaty,^{[71][72][73][74]} and a deeper Europe;^[75] expelling Lega Nord and the League of Polish Families;^[76][77][78] arguing against the two-person Presidency,^[79][80] the two-seat Parliament,^[81][82] and attempts to fund plans to improve EP turnout;^[83] arguing for greater control of the Commission by Parliament,^[84] for decentralisation,^[85] mandatory lobbying disclosure,^[86] and supporting whistleblower Hans-Peter Martin.^[87]

Parliamentary activity profile

Group parliamentary activity profile, August 1 2004 to August 1 2008 (see description for sources).
     IND/DEM: 43 motions

The debates and votes in the European Parliament are tracked by its website and categorized by the Groups that participate in them and the rule of procedure that they fall into. The results give a profile for each Group by category and the total indicates the Group's level of participation in Parliamentary debates. The activity profile for each Group for the period August 1 2004 to August 1 2008 in the Sixth Parliament is given on the diagram on the right. IND/DEM is denoted in orange.

The website shows IND/DEM as participating in 43 motions, making it one of the most inactive Groups during the period.

Publications

IND/DEM publications include the Prague Declaration of October 2005, which restated their disapproval of the Constitution Treaty and belief that the values it embodied should not be resurrected,^[3] and the Delphi Declaration of July 2007, which made similar points concerning the Treaty of Lisbon.^[4] Since June 2006, IND/DEM has published a newsletter called EU Watch, which gives an eurosceptic view on the EU activities of the day.^[88]

Analysis

Hix and Nouri (part 1)

Hix-Lord model for first half of the Sixth Parliament (see description for sources).
     reformist subgroup (orange square at bottom-center): centrist Eurosceptics      secessionist subgroup (orange square at middle-right): right-wing Euroneutrals

The 3 January 2008 version of a working paper from the London School of Economics/Free University of Brussels by Hix and Nouri considered the positions of the Groups by analysing their roll-call votes. The results for each Group are given in the diagram on the right. The vertical scale is anti-pro Europe spectrum, (0% = extremely anti-Europe, 100% = extremely pro), and the horizontal scale is economic left-right spectrum, (0% = extremely economically left-wing, 100% = extremely economically right-wing). The IND/DEM subgroup is denoted on that diagram by two orange squares: one for the reformist subgroup, one for the secessionist subgroup.

The paper shows the reformist subgroup as being centrist Eurosceptics represented by the orange square at the bottom-center, and the secessionist subgroup as being right-wing Euroneutrals represented by the orange square at the middle-right.

The reformist subgroup is able to pursue a reformist agenda via the Parliament. The secessionist subgroup is unable to pursue a secessionist agenda via the Parliament (it's out of the Parliament's purview) and pursues a right-wing agenda there instead. Ironically, this results in the secessionist subgroup being less eurosceptic in terms of roll-call votes than other, non-eurosceptic parties. UKIP (the major component of the secessionist subgroup) has been criticised for this seeming abandonment of its Eurosceptic core principles.^[89]

Hix and Nouri (part 2)

The 21 August 2008 version of the same working paper gave figures for the level of cooperation between each Group: how many times they vote with a Group, and how many times they vote against. The paper's figures for IND/DEM are given below.

McElroy and Benoit

A 2005 discussion paper from the Institute for International Integration Studies by Gail McElroy and Kenneth Benoit gave these figures for IND/DEM's predecessor, EDD, just before IND/DEM's creation in July 2004:

Heinemann et al.

2007 Group attitude to EU tax (see description for sources).
     IND/DEM: 100% against

An April 2008 discussion paper from the Centre for European Economic Research by Heinemann et al. analysed each Group's stance on a hypothetical generalised EU tax. The results for each Group are given in the diagram on the right. The horizontal scale denotes their stance (-100% = totally against, 0% = neutral, 100% = totally for). IND/DEM is denoted in orange.

The paper shows IND/DEM as being unanimously against a hypothetical generalised EU tax.

Faas

2002 Group cohesion (see description for sources).
     EDD: approx 35% cohesive

Cohesion is the term used to define whether a Group is united or divided amongst itself. A 2002 paper from European Integration online Papers (EIoP) by Thorsten Faas analysed the Groups as they stood in 2002. The results for each Group are given in the diagram on the right. The horizontal scale denotes cohesion (0% = totally split, 100% = totally united). EDD (IND/DEM's predecessor) is denoted in orange.

The paper shows EDD as being the most uncohesive Group in 2002.

Stokes

2006 Group gender balance (see description for sources).
     IND/DEM: 9% female

The March 2006 edition of "Social Europe: the journal of the European Left included a chapter called "Women and Social Democratic Politics" by Wendy Stokes. That chapter gave the proportion of female MEPs in each Group in the European Parliament. The results for each Group are given in the diagram on the right. The horizontal scale denotes gender balance (0% = totally male, 100% = totally female, but no Group has a female majority, so the scale stops at 50%). IND/DEM is denoted in orange.

The chapter shows IND/DEM as being the most unbalanced Group in 2006 in terms of gender balance.

Other

Other placements of IND/DEM by outside observers include:

Sources

• BBC News Online^[9][11][13]
• Europe Politique^[7]
• U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Italy web site^[19]
• Communication Workers Union^[1]
• The Europa Institute of the University of Edinburgh January 2008 Treaty of Rome conference^[2]
• Independence/Democracy website^{[3][4][21][20][22][88]}
• International Herald Tribune^{[10][59][60][61][66]}
• de Volkskrant^[62]
• Forbes^[63]
• Algemeen Dagblad^[64]
• CNN^[65]
• People's Daily Online^[70]
• The Parliament Magazine^{[71][79][80][81][83][17]}
• EurActiv.com^[72][84]
• EUobserver.com^[15][16]
• eGovMonitor^[85]
• Taipei Times^[87]
• Österreich Journal^[73]
• Trouw^[82]
• Wiener Zeitung^[77]
• Varese News^[78]
• Cato Institute^[74]
• Inform^[76]
• ZDNet News^[86]
• The Times^{[67][68][69][75][12][14][89]}
• European Parliament^[8][6]
• Irish Department of Foreign Affairs/An Roinne Gnóthaí Eachtracha^[5]
• Luleå University of Technology^[18]
• London School of Economics^[90]
• Institute for International Integration Studies^[91][92]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Postal Services: Liberalisation & Privatisation in the European Union, from the CWU, January 2007
2. ^ ^{a b} Winning entries in the Europa Institute’s Essay Competition on the general topic of The Treaty of Rome, the European Parliament and the Regions and Substate Nations in the European Union, held Autumn 2007, awarded January 2008
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Independence/Democracy Group in the European Parliament: The Prague Declaration on the future of Europe, 18th October 2005
4. ^ ^{a b c d} Independence/Democracy Group in the European Parliament: The Declaration of Delphi, 2-5 July 2007
5. ^ ^{a b} Fourth Annual Report on Developments in the European Union in 2006, DFA, 2007
6. ^ ^{a b} The Week, 20 July 2004
7. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af} Results of the 2004 European Parliament elections from Europe Politique
8. ^ ^{a b c} European Parliament directory listing for Independence/Democracy Group
9. ^ ^{a b} Eurosceptics storm the citadel, BBC News Online report dated Monday, 14 June, 2004, 18:01 GMT
10. ^ ^{a b} Political divide is said to deepen further: Populist parties make big gains in EU vote, IHT, June 15, 2004
11. ^ ^{a b} UKIP MEP in row over working women, BBC News Online report dated Wednesday, 21 July, 2004, 11:22 GMT
12. ^ ^{a b c} UKIP plans alliance to scupper constitution, Times, July 20, 2004
13. ^ ^{a b} UKIP suspends fraud trial Euro MP, BBC News Online report dated Friday, 16 July, 2004, 11:47 GMT
14. ^ ^{a b} British MEP convicted for benefit fraud, Times, August 17, 2007
15. ^ ^{a b c} Eurosceptics kick out Italian Lega Nord party, EUO, 16 March 2006
16. ^ ^{a b} Parliament nations group gets a power boost, EUO, 13 December 2006
17. ^ ^{a b} Polish MEPs splinter, PM, 19 December 2005
18. ^ ^{a b c d} Turkey as a member of the European Union: a discourse analysis of the views presented in the European Parliament. Martin Olof Persson, ISSN 1402-1552, 2007
19. ^ ^{a b} Congressional Research Service Report RS21998, on the European Parliament, by Kristin Archick, Specialist in European Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division, Updated January 23, 2008
20. ^ ^{a b c} Independence/Democracy Group in the European Parliament: Our Members
21. ^ ^{a b} Independence/Democracy Group in the European Parliament: Program
22. ^ ^{a b} Independence/Democracy Group in the European Parliament: Staff
23. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Kathy Sinnott (incl. Membership)
24. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Robert Kilroy-Silk (incl. Membership)
25. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Nigel Farage (incl. Membership)
26. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Gerard Batten (incl. Membership)
27. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Godfrey Bloom (incl. Membership)
28. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Graham Booth (incl. Membership)
29. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Derek Roland Clark (incl. Membership)
30. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Roger Knapman (incl. Membership)
31. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Michael Henry Nattrass (incl. Membership)
32. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Jeffrey Titford (incl. Membership)
33. ^ European Parliament archive entry for John Whittaker (incl. Membership)
34. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Tom Wise (incl. Membership)
35. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Jens-Peter Bonde (incl. Membership)
36. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Paul Marie Coûteaux (incl. Membership)
37. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Patrick Louis (incl. Membership)
38. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Philippe De Villiers (incl. Membership)
39. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Mario Borghezio (incl. Membership)
40. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Umberto Bossi (incl. Membership)
41. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Matteo Salvini (incl. Membership)
42. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Francesco Enrico Speroni (incl. Membership)
43. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Johannes Blokland (incl. Membership)
44. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Bastiaan Belder (incl. Membership)
45. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Georgios Georgiou (incl. Membership)
46. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Hélène Goudin (incl. Membership)
47. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Nils Lundgren (incl. Membership)
48. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Lars Magnus Wohlin (incl. Membership)
49. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Vladimír Železný (incl. Membership)
50. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Urszula Krupa (incl. Membership)
51. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Witold Tomczak (incl. Membership)
52. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Filip Adwent (incl. Membership)
53. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Sylwester Chruszcz (incl. Membership)
54. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Maciej Giertych (incl. Membership)
55. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Dariusz Maciej Grabowski (incl. Membership)
56. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Mirosław Mariusz Piotrowski (incl. Membership)
57. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Bogdan Pęk (incl. Membership)
58. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Bogusław Rogalski (incl. Membership)
59. ^ ^{a b} Media facing bans at EU complex, IHT, March 17, 2005
60. ^ ^{a b} Europe's legislature sees hope in its own TV and comedy, IHT, March 20, 2005
61. ^ ^{a b} Barroso, hit by charges over cruise, fires back, IHT, May 26, 2005
62. ^ ^{a b} MEPs see no bread in motion against Barroso, dV, 9 June 2005
63. ^ ^{a b} Report on EU parliament funding abuse to remain secret, dV, February 26 2008
64. ^ ^{a b} van Buitenen puts pressure on EP, AD, March 11, 2008
65. ^ ^{a b} Barroso defends delay in EU vote, CNN, October 27, 2004
66. ^ ^{a b} Nominees struggle in Parliament, IHT, October 12, 2004
67. ^ ^{a b} EU's poll data 'propaganda': Millions are to be spent on promoting the constitution among member states, Times, February 17, 2005
68. ^ ^{a b} Leaders plan for a robust constitution as remedy to voter apathy, Times, June 15, 2004
69. ^ ^{a b} They don't like the EU constitution? Quick, send in the force, Times, January 21, 2005
70. ^ ^{a b} EU charter's fate still uncertain after Luxembourg's Yes vote, PD, July 11, 2005
71. ^ ^{a b} MEPs: Kosovo and Lisbon treaty should top EU agenda, PM, 16 January 2008
72. ^ ^{a b} EU Treaty deal meets praise and criticism, EA, 27 June 2007
73. ^ ^{a b} Students discuss with top-level representatives of the EU Parliament, OJ, 20 December 2005
74. ^ ^{a b} Brussels Will Lose Moral Authority on Democracy, CI, December 21, 2007
75. ^ ^{a b} Many tongues, now some teeth, Times, June 10, 2004
76. ^ ^{a b} Lega Nord expelled from the Eurosceptic group Independence and Democracy. Borghezio announces appeals, IN, 16 March 2006
77. ^ ^{a b} Northern League as a free radical, WZ, 18 March 2006
78. ^ ^{a b} Lega Nord permanently expelled from the Eurosceptic group, VN, 18 March 2006
79. ^ ^{a b} Bonde calls for ‘election not coronation’ in EU parliament vote, PM, 15 January 2007
80. ^ ^{a b} Wurtz urges sea change in EU parliament elections, PM, 12 January 2007
81. ^ ^{a b} Strasbourg 'spinelessness' angers EU deputies, PM, 15 June 2006
82. ^ ^{a b} EP President no longer talking about Strasbourg, TR, 15 June 2006
83. ^ ^{a b} MEPs outline plans to boost EU parliament election turnout, PM, 27 November 2007
84. ^ ^{a b} Parliament strengthens its control over the Commission, EA, 11 September 2006
85. ^ ^{a b} MEPs debate Commission 2007 work programme, EGOV, 16 November 2006
86. ^ ^{a b} More MEPs demand transparency after patent debacle, ZDNET, 19 July 2005
87. ^ ^{a b} EU perks-buster wins little popularity, TT, June 13, 2004
88. ^ ^{a b} Independence/Democracy Group in the European Parliament: EU Watch
89. ^ ^{a b} Leader of the UKIP accused of selling out, The Sunday Times, May 27, 2007
90. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} "After Enlargement: Voting Patterns in the Sixth European Parliament", by Simon Hix and Abdul Noury, LSE/ULB, 21 August 2008 original figure taken from "Table 3. Party Competition and Coalition Patterns"
91. ^ ^{a b c d} "Party Groups and Policy Positions in the European Parliament" by Gail McElroy and Kenneth Benoit, Trinity College, Dublin, 10 March 2005 original figure taken from "Table 2. Policy Positions of European Party Groups", figure converted from 0 to 20 scale to 0% to 100% scale
92. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "Party Groups and Policy Positions in the European Parliament" by Gail McElroy and Kenneth Benoit, Trinity College, Dublin, 10 March 2005 original figure taken from "Table 2. Policy Positions of European Party Groups", figure converted from 0 to 20 scale to 0% to 100% scale and subtracted from 100% to have scale start at "extremely against"

External links

• Independence/Democracy Group in the European Parliament