The European Parliament has voted to ask the independent Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations (APPF) to verify whether the Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) party complies with the EU’s core values required for registration and funding.
Meeting in Strasbourg on July 7, 2026, MEPs approved the request by 414 votes to 224, with 18 abstentions.
The move follows a letter from the APPF raising doubts about the party’s adherence to fundamental EU principles, including democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights. The authority’s director, Pascal Schonard, wrote to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission in late May, attaching a dossier running to almost 300 pages that cited court rulings, public statements and social media posts by members of the party, according to Euronews, which has seen the document.
Registration and public funding of European political parties are conditional on compliance with these values, which are reportedly designed to protect democratic standards and the EU budget.
Lawmakers from the Left, the Greens and the Socialists and Democrats drove the request, which also drew support from parts of the centre-right European People’s Party, according to European media reporting.
The APPF is the body responsible for assessing and enforcing these conditions.
The Parliament’s vote is a procedural step and does not constitute a substantive judgment on the party.
The APPF will now carry out the verification under the rules set out in the relevant EU regulation. The party has one month to submit observations, after which a committee of independent figures is due to give an opinion before the authority reaches a decision.
Any decision to deregister a party would require the absence of objection from Parliament or the Council.
The ESN group in the European Parliament voted against the proposal. Group co-chair René Aust criticised the move as an attack on democratic principles and freedom of expression.
“It is therefore a disgrace that the European Parliament has voted to initiate proceedings that could ultimately lead to the banning of a European political party [ … ] While we stand for fair political competition, the left, together with the so-called centre, is calling for one-sided bans. This should make it clear to everyone which side truly stands for democracy – and which does not,” Aust said.
“They could not bear the fact that we were able to successfully push through our policy agenda across the entire spectrum of parliamentary issues. That is why they resorted to this desperate, undemocratic move.”
ESN representatives stressed that their opposition is based on principle and would apply to any party facing similar scrutiny.
This is the first time the verification procedure has been triggered since the revised regulation on European political parties and foundations was approved in October 2025, which strengthened rules on transparency, foreign interference and value compliance.
The independent authority will now verify ESN’s compliance with core EU values, such as democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights, a prerequisite for registration as a European political party, in line with the procedure set out in Article 13 of the regulation.
Earlier, in reply to the scrutiny by the Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations, the Europe of Sovereign Nations party adopted the Berlin Declaration, a joint statement reaffirming its commitment to democracy, freedom and the rule of law.
