Pirate Party is a label adopted by various political parties worldwide that share a set of values and policies focused on civil rights in the digital age. The fundamental principles of Pirate Parties include freedom of information, freedom of the press, freedom of expression, digital rights and internet freedom. The first Pirate Party, initially named "Piratpartiet", was founded in Sweden in 2006 by Rick Falkvinge. Since then, the movement has expanded to over 60 countries.
The European Pirates (PIRATES) or European Pirate Party (PPEU) is a pirate European political alliance. Despite its organisation and sometimes being referred to as a "European party" or "transnational party", the European Pirate Party does not meet the requirements to register as a European political party.
The European Pirates were founded on 21 March 2014 at the European Parliament in Brussels in the context of a conference on "European Internet Governance and Beyond", and consists of pirate parties of European countries. The parties cooperated to run a joint campaign for the 2014 European Parliament elections.