Which party is CEUS in the European elections: its candidates for 9J

With the elections to the European Parliament just around the corner, one of the parties that has started to attract attention is CEUS. This formation, relatively new on the European political scene, is presented as an alternative in the electoral scenario on June 9. But what party does CEUS represent and what is its proposal for European citizens?

Coalition for Europe in Solidarity (CEUS)

For years, Basque, Catalan and Galician nationalist parties have maintained a strong alliance in European Parliament elections. This collaboration dates back to 2004, when the Galeusca-Peoples of Europe coalition emerged. In the 2014 European elections, this alliance was consolidated under the name of Coalition for Europeheaded by Basque Nationalist Party, Convergència i Unió (federation formed by Convergència and Unió Democràtica de Catalunya) and Compromiso por Galicia, in collaboration with other peripheral nationalist parties such as the Canarian Coalition.

Therefore, CEUS arises with the purpose of participating in the elections to the European Parliament in both 2019 and 2024 in Spain. Yesand stands as the continuation of the Coalition for Europe, which competed in the 2014 and 2009 elections.

Constitution of the candidacy

On March 15, 2018, the Canarian Coalition (CC-PNC) and the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) announced their intention to renew their electoral alliance for the 2019 European elections.

In this way, on January 15, 2019, David Bonvehipresident of the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT), also confirmed a coalition agreement with the PNV and proposed Jordi Turull as a possible head of the list, which generated disagreement with CC due to the pro-independence positions of the PDeCAT. The definitive break between the PNV and the PDeCAT occurred after the announcement of the candidacy of Carles Puigdemont to the European Parliament.

Simultaneously, on March 14, 2019, Compromiso por Galicia (CxG) decided to renew its coalition with the PNV. And, on March 28, El Pi-Proposta per les Illes (El Pi) joined the candidacy, followed by Atarrabia Taldea (AT) on April 6 and Demòcrates Valencians (DV) on April 7. Units per Avançar, although not formally integrated, created a platform of support for the coalition.

On May 6, 2019, the candidacy was officially presented under the name Coalition for a Europe of Solidarity (CEUS) in Bilbao, with the participation of representatives of all the coalition forces: PNV, CC-PNC, CxG, GBai, El Pi and DV.

On this occasion, facing the European elections on June 9, 2024, the Coalition for a Europe of Solidarity (CEUS) is formed by The PNV and the Canarian Coalition, an alliance with which they obtained a MEP in the 2019 elections and that It includes three other parties: El Pi-Proposta per les Illes Balears, Geroa Socialverdes de Navarra and the Atarrabia Group.

CEUS has appointed Oihane Agirregoitia Martínez as head of the list for said electoral elections. She is a Spanish politician born in Bilbao in 1980 who has played significant roles in public administration, notably as general director of Good Government, Citizen Services and Digital Services of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia.

CEUS: result of the 2019 European Parliament elections

The Coalition for a Europe of Solidarity was positioned as the eighth candidate in terms of number of votes during the 2019 European elections. The coalition managed to obtain a total of 633,090 votes, which represented 2.82% of the total and gave them a seat in the European Parliament.

Below is the breakdown of votes by territory: