The party's founder, Paul van Buitenen, announced its establishment on 8 April 2004.
In the 2004 European Parliament election the party gained two seats, after a campaign that cost no more than €4,000.
[citation needed] Van Buitenen and the number two on the list, Els de Groen, who had written about corruption scandals in Eastern Europe, joined the Greens–European Free Alliance party group as independent members.
Because the pursuit of this goal was their primary occupation, they participated only to a limited extent in the normal system of debates, reports, meetings, etc.
Their ultimate goal was to be able to disband themselves when they had made the European Union transparent.