Technical Group of Independents (1999–2001)

Technical Group of Independents (99-01)
European parliamentary group
Name	Technical Group of Independents
English abbr.	TGI
French abbr.	TDI
Formal name	Technical Group of Independent Members – mixed group
Ideology	Heterogeneous
From	20 July 1999 (version 1) 1 December 1999 (version 2)
To	13 September 1999 (version 1) 4 October 2001 (version 2)
Preceded by	n/a
Succeeded by	n/a
Chaired by	Gianfranco Dell'alba, Francesco Speroni,
MEP(s)	18 (July 23, 1999)

The Technical Group of Independent Members was a heterogeneous political technical group with seats in the European Parliament between 1999 and 2001. Unlike other political groups of the European Parliament, it did not have a coherent political complexion. Its existence prompted a five-year examination of whether mixed Groups were compatible with the Parliament. After multiple appeals to the European Court of First Instance (now known as the General Court) and the European Court of Justice, the question was finally answered: overtly mixed Groups would not be allowed.

MEPs in the European Parliament form themselves into Groups along ideological, not national, lines. Each Group is assumed to have a common set of political principles, (known as a common "affinity", or "complexion"), and each Group thus formed is granted benefits. This puts MEPs who cannot form themselves into Groups at a disadvantage. In the Parliament's past, they got around this by forming Groups with only tenuous common ground, and Parliament turned a blind eye. But the crunch point arrived on 20 July 1999, when a Group called "TGI" ("TDI" in French, from "technique des deputes indépendants") was formed. The Group consisted of the spectacularly unlikely partnership of the far-right French Front National, the regionalist-separatist Lega Nord of Italy, and liberal Italian Bonino List. Further, the 19 July letter ("constituent declaration") setting up the Group emphasised the political independence of the Group members from each other:

The various signatory members assert that they are politically entirely independent of each other...

At the plenary sitting of 20 July 1999 the President of Parliament announced that the TGI Group had been set up.

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