The Party was founded 1982, originally named the Portuguese Ecologist Movement – Party "The Greens" , by a group of Portuguese citizens interested in the promotion of the ecologist movement in Portuguese society, with the support of the Portuguese Communist Party, including in its founders one of its members, Zita Seabra. In the end of the 1970s, Earth was facing new ecological problems, such as the greenhouse effect and the depletion of the ozone layer and the lack of awareness of this in Portuguese society, along with the lack of an organized Ecologist movement, led to the foundation of the Ecologist Party "The Greens" in order to put such problems on the political agenda. The Party created regional groups immediately following its foundation, groups that have continued to grow since then. The growth of the Party throughout the country allowed many members to integrate the electoral lists of the CDU, some being elected to very different tasks. Currently, The PEV has several members elected in Municipal Assemblies and Parish Assemblies, as well as two members elected in the Assembly of the Republic. Those two members are Heloísa Apolónia and José Luís Ferreira. There is some criticism of its close ties to the Communist Party. Given that PEV never stood in elections on its own, some right-wing politicians have gone to the point of nicknaming PEV "The Watermelons – Greens Outside, Reds Inside". However, official positions of both parties on certain questions can be quite different. The PEV is also present in the National Electoral Commission and also in the National Council of Education. The youth wing of the Party is the Ecolojovem, founded in 1989, which is a founding member of the Federation of Young European Greens. The PEV edits a newspaper, the Folha Verde, which received several press prizes for its unique design and style. The PEV supported the minority Socialist Costa Government with a confidence and supply agreement.
Electoral results
In elections, the PEV is closely allied with the Portuguese Communist Party, first in the Unitary Democratic Coalition. This explains a nickname given to Os Verdes by some: "melancias" : green outside, red inside.
Results in parliamentary elections
Note:
In brackets is the number of MPs elected by the PEV in the total elected by CDU.
In 1991 the overall number of MPs changed from the original 250 to 230.''
In 2004, after the enlargement of the European Union, the number of MEPs elected by Portugal decreased from the original 25 to 24, and in 2009 it further decreased to 22.
