Our group is a confederal one where each component party retains its own identity and policies while pooling their efforts in pursuit of common political objectives. The Group includes members from all corners of Europe.

For many years the various parties of the alternative left worked together in the same group in the European Parliament: the Communist and Allies Group. In 1989, four parties decided to form a Group called the Gauche Unitaire Européenne (GUE). (Its English name was European Unitarian Left, subsequently changed in 1992 to European United Left.)

After the European Elections of June 1994, a process of gathering together all the forces of the non-Socialist left then began. This alliance, enlarged to include other parties, was established as a political group at the beginning of the fourth parliamentary term, under the name Confederal Group of the European United Left (GUE).

Following enlargement of the EU to the Nordic countries and Austria in January 1995, the Group expanded to include: the Left Party (VP) of Sweden and the Left Alliance (Vas) of Finland. At the same time the Socialist Peoples’ Party (SF) of Denmark rejoined the group and together with the Swedish and Finnish parties formed the Nordic Green Left (NGL) component within the group.

The group was renamed the Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left, with GUE/NGL as the standard acronym.