The vice chair of the European Parliament's right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group has begun gathering signatures to force a vote on asking the EU's political-parties watchdog to investigate the European Left Alliance (ELA) — a process that could ultimately lead to its deregistration and loss of EU funding, effectively banning it. The trigger: the violent school protests convulsing France.
What is being proposed
According to an email seen by Politico, ECR Vice Chair Charlie Weimers began gathering signatures on Friday to force a plenary vote on referring the ELA to the EU political-parties watchdog (the APPF) for breaching EU values. The vote would take place in the plenary session on October 19. Weimers needs 180 signatures from at least three political groups by October 16 — a threshold he could reach with support from right-wing and far-right lawmakers. But once in plenary, the motion would need the support of the center-right European People's Party (EPP) to pass; the office of EPP chief Manfred Weber declined to comment.
The ELA is home to Spain's Podemos, Denmark's Enhedslisten, Italy's Left and Portugal's Bloco de Esquerda — as well as its French member, La France Insoumise (LFI).
Why: the French school riots
Weimers argues that Parliament should act because the office of French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu accused LFI of organizing school protests, some of which turned violent. The student movement began in the Paris region roughly two weeks ago over overcrowded classes, dilapidated buildings, teacher shortages and poor conditions — and has since spread nationwide with escalating violence.
The scale is striking: more than 400 schools closed on Friday, around 5,000 people arrested since the protests began (most of them teenagers), according to Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, and 65 education staff injured, including 40 headteachers, per Education Minister Edouard Geffray. Protesters set fires at schools in Marseille and Strasbourg, and riot police used tear gas and rubber bullets in several cities. Trade unions have called a teachers' strike.
LFI legislator Louis Boyard has denied the party orchestrated the violence, and French intelligence reporting has been contested. In France itself, Les Républicains leader and presidential candidate Bruno Retailleau told BFM that the "question of banning LFI has arisen" following the riots, calling the party "fascinated by violence."
The ELA hits back
"Standing with young people asking for better education is not a breach of EU values." — Catarina Martins, Co-President of the European Left Alliance
Martins accused the ECR of "abusing an EU procedure to try to avert attention from investigations of breaching EU values by the far- and extreme right" — a reference to the fact that Parliament earlier this year launched its first-ever values probe against the AfD-led far-right ESN party alliance, which the ECR and Patriots for Europe had opposed.
What happens next
If the motion passes, the APPF — the EU authority that registers and can deregister European political parties — would assess whether the ELA still fulfils the legal requirements for registration. Any deregistration decision would still require a period of democratic scrutiny, with both Parliament and the Council able to object. But the political symbolism is enormous: a major European political family could lose its EU status and funding over its members' stance during youth unrest.
Takeaway
The signature drive tests whether Europe's values-enforcement machinery — designed to safeguard democracy from extremism — is now being turned into a weapon against the democratic opposition itself. With 180 signatures due by October 16 and a vote possible on October 19, the next two weeks will show whether this is a serious threat to the European Left or political theater aimed at the 2027 French presidential race.
Watch
Watch: France school protests — thousands detained as nationwide unrest deepens (The Hindu)