Institutionalization of environmental movements in Europe: from the emergence of non-governmental organizations to political parties

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the characteristics of the development of environmental movements in Europe from the moment they emerged as social organizations to their transformation into modern environmental parties. The research is based on the following types of sources: the official websites of "green" parties, statistical data reflecting the results of parliamentary elections, the works of Russian and foreign researchers involved in the analysis of the peculiarities, the ideological component and program approaches of environmental organizations and political parties. The article presents the stages of the formation and development of the environmental movement in the European states. In the 1960s, the environmental movement was heterogeneous and amorphous, its main activity was protests. Since the 1980s, there have been changes in the organizational structure and areas of activities of environmentalists. Environmental organizations became politicized, they started conversion processes of environmental non-governmental organizations to social and political structures, which finds its expression in the emergence of environmental parties. One can observe the ideological fragmentation of organizations. Currently, environmentalists hold different views (eco-conservatism, eco-reformism, etc.), which eventually weakens the position of environmentalists relatively to other political parties. In 2004, the European "Green" Party - the union of the environmental parties of the European countries - obtains representation in the European Parliament. The main provisions of the European program of the "Green" Party are presented in the "New "Green" course for Europe". The undisputed leader of the European Movement is the "Green" Party of Germany. In its policy documents ("Green Future", "Green Initiative 2017"), the "Green" Party of Germany draws attention to the problem of long-term development in terms of environmental issues, in particular, to such a question as the economical use of natural resources and transition to renewable sources of energy. At the same time the German environmentalists practically revised their priorities in 2014, displacing social policy issues (environment, education, health) with the importance of solving international problems of migration and resolution of the crisis that has engulfed Europe. Such changes in the programs and division of environmental movements along the ideological axis have a generally negative prospect for further development of the environmental movement in Europe. Positioning itself as a significant political force in the solution of environmental problems in recent years the "Green" have not always paid sufficient attention to environmental issues. This approach reduces the importance of environmental organizations and political parties as political actors and gives their activities a conjectural character directed at times to attract the public's attention during periods of acute environmental problems or during election campaigns.