The ALDE Group, meeting today in Brussels, has just elected Guy Verhofstadt as leader of the Group. Mr Verhofstadt, who was prime minister of Belgium from 1999 to 2008, was elected unopposed, despite indications that Diana Wallis, the leader of the UK’s Liberal Demorats in the European Parliament, was also standing for the post. (It is thought that Mrs Wallis will now retain her position as one of the vice-presidents of the Parliament.) Keep reading…
Energy policy is becoming increasingly important in the EU, in terms of its industrial, economic, environmental and foreign policy impact: go to our ‘Policy impact’ page to read the Insight by the Burson-Marsteller Brussels Energy team.
Also new on TheNewEP.eu today:
Our latest national Insight comes from Denmark, where unlike in many other countries, the Social Democrats came out on top. It can be read here.
In the political Groups, the far-left GUE/NGL Group has chosen a leader to succeed French communist stalwart Francis Wurtz, one of the few MEPs who had spent 30 years as a deputy in Brussels and Strasbourg. The new leader is Lothar Bisky, a member of the Left Party in Germany, now the biggest faction in the GUE/NGL. Mr Bisky is currently leader of the Party of the European Left. Keep reading…
New information has been added to TheNewEP.eu today, including:
Just as a Finnish member announces that he will not join the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group, a new member arrives: Valdemaras Tomaševskis of the ‘Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania’ will join the ECR, according to the party leader. More information, in Polish, here.
A number of new Group positions have now been decided in the EP - and there has already been a departure from the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group.
According to reports in Finland, Hannu Takkulu (right; photo: European Parliament) will not join the ECR, but will remain with his Centre Party colleagues in the ALDE Group. The ECR would now have representatives from just seven member states - the bare minimum to form a Group.
If the ECR loses another member before the constituent session, it would not be able to form; however, Parliament sources believe that if a member were to leave after the official formation of the Group on 14 July, the ECR could hobble on to the mid-way point of the Parliament - with its leader maintaining a valuable seat in the Parliament’s Conference of Presidents. Only then would the Group, should it not have a sufficient number of member states represented, have to fold. Keep reading…
This afternoon, the centre-right EPP announced that the formation of its Group for the 2009-2014 session. Joseph Daul will continue to lead the Group.
Meanwhile the Socialist Group has now been re-baptised the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. It was announced today that the Group, comprising 183 members, will be led by Martin Schulz, who chaired the Socialist Group in the last parliament.
Click here to read Donath-Burson-Marsteller’s analysis of the impact of the European elections on politics in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Our provisional MEP list has been updated again, principally on the basis of the formation of the new European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group.
It can be found here, along with analysis of the balance between ‘new’ and ‘old’ MEPs and the gender balance of the new Parliament.
The Socialist Group (as was) is expected to re-form in the next couple of days under a new name. The Alliance of Socialists & Democrats (ASDE) - which has been used frequently since the election (including on this site) - seems likely to give way to the ‘Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament’ (APSD is being mooted as the acronym, from the French version of the name). Keep reading…