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…
The British Conservatives, Polish Law and Justice party and Czech Civic Democrats (ODS) have succeeded in their ambition to form a new centre-right Eurosceptic alliance.
It was announced this morning that the ‘European Conservatives and Reformists Group’ will comprise 55 members as an ‘initial core’ - but that founding members hope to attract other MEPs in the near future, possibly even before the Parliament convenes for its constituent session on 14 July. Keep reading…
This week, political groups are convening in Brussels for their constituent sessions. We will be taking a look at the make-up of the groups, including the likely new European Conservatives formation.
We will also be taking a look at some of the key policy areas for the new European Parliament, including health, food and the environment. Our network of offices are also looking at the impact of the European elections on politics in member states. The view from the UK is the latest addition, and can be read here.
Finally, we will investigate at prospective coalitions in the European Parliament and take a closer look at some of the new MEPs - including an update of our MEP list.
As a result of the talks held after the first Irish referendum (and provided the Lisbon Treaty comes into force at the autumn) the number of MEPs should increase in 2010 from 736 to 754. Fearing that allocating seats now could be interpreted as anticipating a ‘Yes’ vote in the Irish ratification, some national governments have not yet decides how to fill the ‘additional’ places. But when the time comes… what will they do? Keep reading…