Verts, les

   the French Green Party, founded in 1984 from the amalgamation of two ecology parties. The French Green Party has deputies in the National Assembly, Eurodeputies (MEPs), and also a strong presence in local government in France, notably in towns or other authorities where the Greens are allied with the Socialists. As allies of the Socialists, the Greens even had two ministers in the first Jospin government from 1997 to 2002, in particular the most prominent of their leaders, madame Dominique Voynet.

   The Greens came to prominence in the1990s, when "red-green" alliances with the Socialists in local politics and national politics led to the election of deputies, of a number of Green mayors, and to the appointment of a number of Greens as deputy mayors in many French cities, notably including Paris. After the 2008 municipal elections, the Greens officially controlled 42 municipalities in France; however, their place in the political landscape of France was weaker than it was a decade earlier, and with the environmental issue being seized by most of France's mainstream political parties, the party faced an uncertain future as a force in French politics. However, under the inspiration of Daniel Cohn Bendit, the French Greens surged back in the 2009 european elections, coming third, just a few thousand votes behind the socialist Party.