Vlaams Belang (VB)
The Flemish far-right party is a member of the newly founded far-right group Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty (ITS) in the European Parliament. The VB insists on the importance of the right to self-determination of the people. They support Flanders integration in the European Union, but advocate for the strict application of the subsidiarity principle and a clear partition of competences between the EU and the member states. The Vlaams Belang describes the EU as a bureaucratic entity that has ignored the peoples voices during the referendums on the Amsterdam and Nice treaties. Therefore the VB wants for a con-federal Europe of sovereign nations that respects the right to self determination of the people. These nations should be able to leave the EU at any moment. Their main demands are:
- A European Europe! Only the European nations that satisfy fixed economic requirements should be able to join the EU. The member states should also be stricter against the people who abuse from the asylum possibilities.
- Against Turkish membership: Because Turkey is not European.
- A democratic Europe: The Council of Minister should remain the most important institution, however more transparency is needed. The principle of subsidiarity has to be applied and decisions taken by qualified majority are unacceptable. Finally, the VB is against European citizenship and a European Constitution because these are the attributes associated with a superstate. Moreover, the VB considers the establishment of the EU institutions in Brussels as a threat to the Flemish culture and wishes for the institutions to be spread between several cities.
- The VB believes in the development of a European army and deeper cooperation between nations in order to protect borders, to be able respond rapidly to problems, humanitarian or not, and also to become less dependent on the United States. According to the far-right party, a defence capability is the best asset against international terrorism.