The EU Parliament: Who’s In, Who’s Out, and What It Means

Summary

The European Parliament elections in June saw the election of 720 MEPs, leading to a month of political maneuvering as parties formed alliances. The Centre-Right EPP won most seats, but the real intrigue was the reshuffling of groups, with new alliances like 'Patriots for Europe' emerging and others like the ID group collapsing. The non-aligned parties, including the German AfD, formed 'The Sovereignists', the smallest group. Despite a rightward shift, unity among the far-right remains elusive due to differing stances on issues like Russia and Ukraine.

Takeaways

• 🗳️ In June, Europeans voted for 720 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), who will influence EU decisions for the next five years.
• 🤝 Voters cast their ballots for national parties, which then form EU political groups by collaborating with other national parties from across Europe.
• 🏆 The Centre-Right EPP won the election with 190 seats, followed by the Centre-Left S&D with 136 seats, and liberal Renew Europe with 80 seats.
• 🔄 Post-election, there was significant reshuffling as political groups were formed, with parties moving between groups or remaining unaligned.
• 📉 Renew Europe dropped from the 3rd to the 5th largest group, and new groups were created while one disappeared entirely.
• 🆕 The ECR, aiming to be the third largest group, expanded to 85 seats by attracting parties from the unaligned stack.
• 🔄 A new group, 'Patriots for Europe', was formed by Fidesz, ANO, and Austria’s Freedom Party, and quickly grew to become the third largest group with 84 seats.
• 📉 The ID group dissolved as key parties moved to the 'Patriots for Europe', leaving it with no seats.
• 🔎 The non-aligned group, including significant parties like Germany's AfD, played a crucial role in shaping the EU political landscape.
• 🏛️ The final composition of the European Parliament reflects a rightward shift, with right-wing groups holding a significant number of seats.

Q & A

What is the significance of the European Parliament elections?

The European Parliament elections are one of the world's largest democratic events, where hundreds of millions of Europeans vote to elect 720 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) who will make important decisions for Europe over the next five years.

How do voters participate in the election of the European Parliament?

Voters participate by voting for their national parties, which then collaborate with other national parties from different countries to form EU political groups, essentially coalitions of like-minded parties across all European countries.

What happened after the European Parliament elections in June?

After the elections, there was significant behind-the-scenes activity, including haggling and horse trading, as political groups were formed in the European Parliament.

Which political group won the most seats in the European Parliament elections?

The Centre-Right EPP won the most seats with 190, including parties like the German CDU, Spain’s PP, and Italy’s Forza Italia.

What is the role of unaligned members of parliament?

Unaligned members of parliament are those not affiliated with any political group. Their presence can significantly influence the EU political landscape, as seen with the German AfD, Italy’s Five Star Movement, or Hungary’s Fidesz.

How did the ECR group change after the elections?

The ECR group, initially aiming to become the third largest party, managed to pick up multiple parties from the unaligned stack, increasing their seat count to 85.

What is the 'Patriots for Europe' group?

The 'Patriots for Europe' is a new political group created by parties including Austria’s Freedom Party, Fidesz from Hungary, and ANO from Czechia, which believes in a Europe of strong and independent nations.

Why did the ID group cease to exist?

The ID group ceased to exist as several of its member parties, including France’s National Rally, switched to the newly formed 'Patriots for Europe' group, leaving the ID group with no seats.

What is the current status of the 'Sovereignists' group in the European Parliament?

The 'Sovereignists' is a far-right and ultra-nationalist group that is pro-Russian and very eurosceptic. They have 25 seats and are the smallest political group in the European Parliament.

How has the distribution of seats in the European Parliament changed since the elections?

The distribution has seen significant shifts with the formation of new groups like 'Patriots for Europe' and the decline of others like the ID group. The ECR, Renew Europe, and the Greens have also experienced changes in their seat counts.

What is the general political alignment in the European Parliament based on the current seat distribution?

The current seat distribution shows a larger number of seats on the right side of the EU parliament than on the left, indicating a stronger right-wing presence in the political landscape.

Outlines

00:00

🗳️ European Parliament Election and Political Group Formation

The script describes the European Parliament election process, where hundreds of millions of Europeans voted to elect 720 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). The election involves voting for national parties that then form EU political groups with like-minded parties from other countries. The Centre-Right EPP won the most seats, followed by the Centre-Left S&D, liberal Renew Europe, right-wing conservative ECR, Far-Right I&D, far-left The Left, and unaligned parties. The script details the post-election dynamics, including the formation and reorganization of political groups, with significant shifts in the political landscape, such as the creation of new groups and the decline of others.

05:02

🌐 Shifts in the European Parliament's Political Landscape

This paragraph delves into the changes within the European Parliament after the election, highlighting the reconfiguration of political groups. It discusses the rise of the ECR to the third largest group, the formation of the 'Patriots for Europe' by parties like Fidesz, ANO, and the Freedom Party, and the demise of the ID group. The paragraph also covers the fluctuation in seats among various groups, the non-aligned parties' efforts to form 'The Sovereignists' group, and the current distribution of political power within the Parliament. It concludes with an analysis of the right-wing groups' stances on issues like national sovereignty, EU integration, and Ukraine, emphasizing the lack of unity among them despite their shared right-wing ideology.

Keywords

💡European Parliament

The European Parliament (EP) is the directly elected legislative body of the European Union (EU), representing the citizens of the EU member states. It plays a central role in the EU's law-making process. In the video, the election of 720 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) is discussed, highlighting the importance of these representatives in shaping the EU's future policies and decisions over the next five years.

💡MEPs

MEPs, or Members of the European Parliament, are the individuals elected by EU citizens to represent their interests at the supranational level. The script mentions the election of 720 MEPs, emphasizing their role in forming EU political groups and making important decisions for Europe.

💡Political Groups

In the context of the European Parliament, political groups are alliances of political parties from different EU countries that share similar ideologies or policy goals. The script describes how these groups are formed after the election, with examples such as the Centre-Right EPP and the Centre-Left S&D, and how they influence the political dynamics within the Parliament.

💡EPP

The European People's Party (EPP) is a centre-right political group within the European Parliament. It is highlighted in the script as the group that won the most seats in the election, with 190 MEPs, indicating its significant influence in the legislative process of the EU.

💡S&D

The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) is a centre-left political group in the European Parliament. The script notes that the S&D secured 136 seats, making it one of the major political forces within the Parliament, advocating for social justice and progressive policies.

💡Renew Europe

Renew Europe is a liberal political group within the European Parliament, which the script mentions as having secured 80 seats. This group is characterized by its support for liberal values and policies, such as free markets and individual rights.

💡ECR

The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a right-wing conservative political group in the European Parliament. The script discusses the ECR's efforts to become the third largest group by attracting parties from the unaligned stack, showcasing its role in the shifting political landscape of the EU.

💡I&D

Identity and Democracy (I&D) is a far-right political group in the European Parliament. The script describes how this group suffered a significant loss of members, leading to its eventual dissolution, reflecting the fluid nature of political alliances within the EU.

💡Non-Aligned

In the context of the European Parliament, non-aligned refers to MEPs or parties that do not belong to any political group. The script mentions a large non-aligned group, including significant parties like the German AfD, which could potentially alter the EU's political landscape due to their size and influence.

💡Patriots for Europe

The 'Patriots for Europe' is a new political group formed after the election, as described in the script. This group, which includes parties like Fidesz from Hungary, is characterized by its Eurosceptic stance and advocacy for national sovereignty, illustrating the fragmentation and realignment of political forces in the EU.

💡Sovereignists

The 'Sovereignists' is another new political group mentioned in the script, which includes parties with far-right and ultra-nationalist views. This group is notable for its opposition to EU policies and its desire to return powers to the national level, including the abandonment of the Euro and holding referendums on EU membership.

Highlights

Hundreds of millions of Europeans participated in the election of 720 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs).

The election process involves voting for national parties that form EU political groups with like-minded parties from different countries.

Political groups are formed through negotiations and alliances among parties after the election.

The Centre-Right EPP won the most seats with 190, followed by the Centre-Left S&D with 136 seats.

The liberal Renew Europe secured 80 seats, while the Greens won 52 seats.

The right-wing conservative ECR and the Far-Right I&D group obtained 76 and 58 seats respectively.

The far-left The Left took 39 seats, including parties from France, Greece, and Germany.

89 members of parliament were elected unaligned to any political group, impacting the EU political landscape.

Renew Europe dropped to the 5th largest political group, and new groups were created post-election.

The ECR group grew to become the third largest group after picking up parties from the unaligned stack.

The creation of the 'Patriots for Europe' group by Fidesz, ANO, and Austria’s Freedom Party.

The ID group lost significant parties to the 'Patriots for Europe', leading to its dissolution.

The 'Patriots for Europe' quickly became the third largest group with 84 seats.

The ECR, Patriots for Europe, and Sovereignists show a rightward shift in the EU parliament.

The ECR, Patriots, and Sovereignists have differing stances on Russia and Ukraine, preventing unity among the far-right groups.

The Sovereignists, a far-right and ultra-nationalist group, oppose most EU policies and seek to return powers to the national level.

Despite changes, the overall structure of the EU parliament remains with a significant number of seats held by right-wing parties.

Transcripts

At the start of June, hundreds of millions  of Europeans went to vote in one of the  

biggest democratic events in the world.  They elected 720 Members of the European  

Parliament (MEPs) who will make important  decisions for Europe over the next five years.

The election process is quite fascinating:  people vote for their national parties,  

and these national parties then  collaborate with other national  

parties from different countries  to form EU political groups. These  

groups are like coalitions of like minded  parties across all European countries.

While the elections themselves are long over,  the real excitement has been happening behind  

the scenes. For the past month, there's  been plenty of haggling and horse trading  

as these political groups were being  formed in the European Parliament.

Right after we voted on June 9th, seats were  distributed among seven political groups.

The Centre-Right EPP won the most seats,  190, with Ursula von der Leyen at the helm.  

This group includes parties like the German CDU,  Spain’s PP and Italy’s Forza Italia and many more.

Next came the Centre-Left S&D with 136 seats,  including parties like Italy’s Democratic Party,  

the Spanish Socialist Workers  Party and the German SPD.

Following them, the liberal  Renew Europe secured 80 seats,  

including parties like France’s Renaissance,  Progressive Slovakia and the German FDP.

The Greens managed to win 52 seats,  including parties like Germany’s Greens,  

France’s Ecologists and Italy’s Green Europe.

The right-wing conservative ECR garnered 76  seats, including parties like Brother’s of Italy,  

Poland’s Law and Justice and the Sweden Democrats.

Then the Far-Right I&D group obtained 58 seats,  including parties like France’s National Rally,  

Austria’s Freedom Party and Italy’s League party.

while the far-left, The Left, took 39 seats,  including parties like France’s La Insoumise,  

Greece’s Syriza and Germany’s The Left.

Now let's order these by their current size.

Additionally, there were 89 members of  parliament elected who were unaligned to  

any political group. For example, the German AfD,  Italy’s Five Star Movement, or Hungary’s Fidesz.

This is critical, as such  a big non-aligned group was  

poised to change the EU political  landscape since the election.

And oh wow, it did. Spoiler: Since the election,  

Renew Europe has dropped from 3rd  largest political group to 5th,  

2 new groups have been created, and 1  political group has disappeared completely.

It all started right after the election, it all  started off with Meloni’s group,  

the ECR, who had their sights set on  becoming the third biggest party in the  

EU parliament. They quickly managed to pick  up multiple parties from the unaligned stack,  

most notably 5 seats from the Romanian  AUR party. Not to mention a seat from  

the Greens (51), ID, and 2 more from the  aligned stack, bringing ECR to 85 (85).

Renew Europe, meanwhile, suffered a major  setback as Czechia’s ANO and their 7 seats  

left the political group due to disagreements  over immigration and the Green Deal (73).

So, just like that, Meloni’s ECR became the third  

largest group in the European  Parliament. For the time being.

Do you remember this guy? It’s Mr. Orban  from Hungary, whose party Fidesz has been  

unaligned for years since being kicked  out of the EPP group in 2019. This time,  

he wanted to do things differently.  He got together with his mates from  

the Czech Republic and Austria with the  aim of creating a new political group.

It didn’t take long. On the 30th of June,  

Austria’s Freedom Party left the ID  group and joined Fidesz and ANO from  

the non-aligned stack to create a new  group called the “Patriots for Europe.”

But to be recognized by the EU, a  new group needs parties from at least  

seven countries and 23 seats, meaning  they didn’t yet meet the threshold.

No time was wasted, though. Within days  after the formation and announcement,  

the EU right-wing political  landscape completely changed.

From the Nonaligned stack:

Czechia’s Prisaha and Motorists 

Latvia First Greece’s Voice of Reason

All joined the Patriots for Europe.

The ECR lost their 6 VOX seats  (79), and the EPP (189) lost 1 seat,  

all of whom joined the Patriots.

But the party that got completely  decimated was the ID group.

Belgium’s Flemish Interest, the Danish People’s Party, 

the Dutch Party for Freedom, Portugal’s Chega, 

Italy’s Lega, and most importantly, France’s National Rally

all switched to the Patriots.

So yeah, the ID group is dead, with the 1  leftover seat joining the nonaligned stack (0).

As for the Patriots of Europe,  within the space of two weeks,  

they have been catapulted from nonexistence  to becoming the third biggest group in the  

European Parliament, with 84  seats. But more on them later.

So what else changed?

Well:

The ECR lost another seat to the Non-Aligned  group, bringing their total to 78 (78) 

And Renew Europe was able to wrestle 2  seats away from the EPP (187) and 2 from  

the Nonaligned stack. Bringing their total to 77 The EPP took 1 seat back from the Greens (50) to  

bring their final tally to 188 seats (188). The Greens won 3 new seats from the  

Nonaligned pile, taking their total to 53 (53) 

The Left had one party leave to  the unaligned stack. But they made  

significant gains as Italy’s 5 Star Movement  was recently accepted into the group. This  

brings their tally up to 46 (46) seats. And lastly, there is the S&D,  

where absolutely nothing happened. They  still have 136 seats, just like 1 month ago.

So that’s our European Parliament right?

Not so fast, there are still 58 seats in  the nonaligned stack with parties from  

over 13 countries. This includes the German  Far-Right AfD, who have a staggering 14 seats.

The AfD, after being kicked out of the ID,  now the Patriots Group, didn’t want to sit  

by the sidelines, and they created yet another  political group, called “The Sovereignists”.

The Sovereignists include the following  parties and have a total of 25 seats,  

making it the smallest political  group in the European Parliament.

So this is the current parliament.

Now let's plot these parties on a  horizontal line: the far left on the left,  

the far right on the right, and centre parties  in the middle. This is what it would look like.

Here, you can clearly see that there is a  larger number of seats on the right side of  

the EU parliament than on the left. In fact, if  you take the 3 parties on the very right of the  

spectrum and add their seats together, they would  be almost as big as the EPP group, with 187 seats.

So, why are these three right-wing groups  not working together? What do they stand for?

The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR)  is a right-wing conservative group that champions  

traditional conservative values and policies.  As soft Eurosceptics, the ECR advocates for  

limiting further European Union integration while  supporting the sovereignty of member states.  

Except in the area of defence, where  they support increased EU cooperation  

to enhance the collective security of  member states. Additionally, the ECR is  

a strong advocate for Ukraine, supporting  humanitarian, financial, and military aid.

The Patriots for Europe are a far-right  leaning group that believes in a Europe  

of strong and independent nations. As  Eurosceptics, they promote national  

sovereignty and oppose any further transfers  of power to European institutions. In fact,  

they advocate for power to be returned to the  Member States, and go back to an economic union,  

and uphold each nation's right to independent  diplomacy. Regarding Ukraine, they allow their  

members to take their own sta nce. For instance,  the Dutch PVV is willing to consider more Ukraine  

military aid, while the Hungarian Fidesz party is  strongly opposed to military support. Essentially,  

there is no unifying manifesto on this issue,  with each party deciding independently.

The Sovereignists are a far-right  and ultra-nationalist group that  

is pro-Russian and very eurosceptic.  They were born mainly out of the will  

of AfD Germans not to be marginalised as a  nonaligned party, and they have no formal  

manifesto or report detailing their goals.  However, some of their intentions are clear:  

they oppose most EU policies and seek to  return powers from Brussels to the national  

level. This includes abandoning the Euro and  holding referendum votes on EU membership.

Now let's return to our original question: Has  the Far Right finally united? No, not even close.

The ECR is significantly different from  the Patriots and the Sovereignists,  

especially regarding their stances on  Russia and Ukraine. The Sovereignists  

are simply too extreme, even for the  Patriots. Additionally, many parties  

and their leaders simply don’t like each  other, which prevent any form of unity.

So here is an overview of our new  EU parliament for the next 5 years.  

A seat here and there might still change, but  overall, this is what we will need to work with.

Who will lead this bunch you ask? We have a video  coming soon. So subscribe if interested. Thank you  

to our 2 contributors for this video who helped  with research and quality - you guys are awesome.

And check out our videos on who will join  

the EU next here. Or who will  join the Eurozone next here.

And if you like the content, please like  the video , and if you are a real believer,  

check out our Patreon. Links in the description.

Until next time!