Sweden Democrat Charlie Weimers is trying to gather enough support in the European Parliament to initiate a formal investigation of the European party that includes Sweden’s Left Party. The question is whether the left-wing alliance meets the EU’s requirements for respect for the union’s fundamental values.

If the left-wing alliance is deemed to be violating the rules, it could ultimately be deregistered as a European political party and thus lose its right to financial support from the European Parliament.

The party in question is the European Left Alliance for the People and the Planet, ELA, of which the Left Party is a member. The Left Party’s former EU parliamentarian Malin Björk is one of the organization’s two chairs, together with Portugal’s Catarina Martins, according to the party’s own presentation.

In addition to the Left Party, other members include France’s La France insoumise, Spain’s Podemos, Poland’s Razem, Denmark’s Enhedslisten, Portugal’s Bloco de Esquerda, the Netherlands’ Socialistische Partij, Italy’s Sinistra Italiana, and Finland’s Vasemmistoliitto.

Charlie Weimers is now rallying support among members for the European Parliament to request that the EU authority for European political parties and foundations investigate whether ELA still fulfills the conditions for registration.

According to EU regulations, a registered European party must respect human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and human rights. The requirement applies to both the European party and its member parties.

The Right Has Already Been Investigated

The initiative comes after the European Parliament earlier this year decided to request a similar investigation into Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN), which includes Germany’s AfD among others.

In July, the parliament voted 414 to 224 to proceed with the investigation. Eighteen members abstained. According to the European Parliament, this was the first time the current investigation procedure had been used.

To bring up the issue, support had first been gathered from at least a quarter of the European Parliament’s members and at least three political groups. Weimers now wants the same option used to scrutinize the European left-wing alliance.

Almost a Million Euro Granted

ELA was registered as a European political party in 2024. The organization is therefore entitled to apply for funding from the European Parliament’s budget. For 2025, ELA was granted up to 995,500 euros in funding, according to the European Parliament’s compilation.

There is also another registered European left-wing party, the Party of the European Left, which includes Greece’s Syriza among others. ELA was formed in 2024 as a separate organization.

If an investigation concludes that ELA has committed a serious and manifest breach of the EU’s fundamental values, the party may be deregistered. This would also mean the loss of eligibility for EU funding as a registered European political party.