EP groups after the elections....

[doktorb]

With the increase in IND/DEM and "other" MEPs this year, the new requirement for forming Groups, and seeming disquiet over the British Conservatives choice of new bedfellows, what Parliament groups and alliances will be formed for the next session in July... ?

[freek]

CU/SGP (Netherlands) and Lijst Dedecker (Belgium) have expressed interest in joining the new EP group that the Conservatives intend to start.

[justfollowingtheelections]

I'm interested in this as well.  If anyone hears something, please post it here.  If the Tories form a new conservative group, there's a good chance that the PES will become the largest parliamentary group.  Does the EU really need that many right-wing groups?  Has immigration and the muslim threat really made Europe more conservative than the US?

[doktorb]

I am not sure what will happen to the 80-odd currently under the term "others" . If Cameron gets his way and forms this "new conservative" group, then what happens to (and what will be the chosen name?) of the existing EDD?

[Hash]

Let me do the TOK presentation due tomorrow first and I'll have an answer to this (kind of) after.

[Hash]

About a new European Conservative group, based on numbers from Wikipedia:

Belgium: 1 from Dedecker (Oth)
Czech: 9 ODS (Oth)
Denmark: 2 DFP (UEN)
Italy: 9 Lega (UEN)
Latvia: 1 TB/LNNK (UEN)
Lithuania: 2 Order and Justice (ID)
Netherlands: 2 CU/SGP (ID) and 4 PVV (Oth)
Poland: 15 PiS (UEN)
UK: 25 Conservatives and 1 UUP (Oth)
71 MEPs

Both ways, both UEN and ID are below the threshold for a group. All UEN members will probably go into the Conservative group. ID is now 13 UKIP (probably NI with the assorted fascists), 2 LAOS (not sure, maybe NI), 2 CU/SGP (see above) and de Villiers (probably NI, maybe the new Conservative group).

A far-right group (FPÖ, VB, Attack, FN, Jobbik, PRM, SNS, BNP) has only 18 MEPs. With PVV, 22. Still not enough.

UPyD's MEP will NOT join ALDE and sit with Basque and Catalan nationalists. Pirates probably NI, Lithuanian Poles maybe G-EFA (like PCTVL in Latvia), same for the Latvian Harmony Centre.

[freek]

About a new European Conservative group, based on numbers from Wikipedia:

Belgium: 1 from Dedecker (Oth)
Czech: 9 ODS (Oth)
Denmark: 2 DFP (UEN)
Italy: 9 Lega (UEN)
Latvia: 1 TB/LNNK (UEN)
Lithuania: 2 Order and Justice (ID)
Netherlands: 2 CU/SGP (ID) and 4 PVV (Oth)
Poland: 15 PiS (UEN)
UK: 25 Conservatives and 1 UUP (Oth)
71 MEPs

Both ways, both UEN and ID are below the threshold for a group. All UEN members will probably go into the Conservative group. ID is now 13 UKIP (probably NI with the assorted fascists), 2 LAOS (not sure, maybe NI), 2 CU/SGP (see above) and de Villiers (probably NI, maybe the new Conservative group).

A far-right group (FPÖ, VB, Attack, FN, Jobbik, PRM, SNS, BNP) has only 18 MEPs. With PVV, 22. Still not enough.

UPyD's MEP will NOT join ALDE and sit with Basque and Catalan nationalists. Pirates probably NI, Lithuanian Poles maybe G-EFA (like PCTVL in Latvia), same for the Latvian Harmony Centre.

Before the elections, PVV announced that they would not be part of any group in the EP. I see no reason why they would join the Conservatives group.

Joining a far right group would be the stupidest thing PVV could do. The Dutch media would have a field day. Geert Wilders is very careful about selecting his candidates, to make sure that no neo-Nazi is standing for the PVV. No way he is joining a group with Jobbik, Attack and the BNP in it.

Maybe Harmony Centre and UPyD will join PES?

There is an independent MEP from Estonia elected. Any idea which group he will join?

[MaxQue]

About a new European Conservative group, based on numbers from Wikipedia:

Belgium: 1 from Dedecker (Oth)
Czech: 9 ODS (Oth)
Denmark: 2 DFP (UEN)
Italy: 9 Lega (UEN)
Latvia: 1 TB/LNNK (UEN)
Lithuania: 2 Order and Justice (ID)
Netherlands: 2 CU/SGP (ID) and 4 PVV (Oth)
Poland: 15 PiS (UEN)
UK: 25 Conservatives and 1 UUP (Oth)
71 MEPs

Both ways, both UEN and ID are below the threshold for a group. All UEN members will probably go into the Conservative group. ID is now 13 UKIP (probably NI with the assorted fascists), 2 LAOS (not sure, maybe NI), 2 CU/SGP (see above) and de Villiers (probably NI, maybe the new Conservative group).

A far-right group (FPÖ, VB, Attack, FN, Jobbik, PRM, SNS, BNP) has only 18 MEPs. With PVV, 22. Still not enough.

UPyD's MEP will NOT join ALDE and sit with Basque and Catalan nationalists. Pirates probably NI, Lithuanian Poles maybe G-EFA (like PCTVL in Latvia), same for the Latvian Harmony Centre.

Before the elections, PVV announced that they would not be part of any group in the EP. I see no reason why they would join the Conservatives group.

Joining a far right group would be the stupidest thing PVV could do. The Dutch media would have a field day. Geert Wilders is very careful about selecting his candidates, to make sure that no neo-Nazi is standing for the PVV. No way he is joining a group with Jobbik, Attack and the BNP in it.

Maybe Harmony Centre and UPyD will join PES?

There is an independent MEP from Estonia elected. Any idea which group he will join?

UPyD will probably not join PES. They won't be in the same group than PSOE. Harmony Centre, maybe.

The independant MEP is the son of a PES MEP from 2004 to 2009, but he was an advisor for the PM Mart Laar, who was for ''Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica'', a member of EPP. He is near the two parties, according to my research.

[Hash]

UPyD could join EPP with their fellow Basque and Catalan-haters, PP.

[doktorb]

There's about a month of trading and comprimise between now and the first meeting, so all kinds of groups could be considered ...

[Lief 🗽]

Why do the Conservatives want a new conservative EP group?

[justfollowingtheelections]

Because the EPP isn't eurosceptic and the other two conservative parties (UEN and I/D) are too far right.

[justfollowingtheelections]

After reading that very interesting article I'm beginning to think that the conservatives will have a really hard time finding enough members for their group.  They will have to either accept some very far right parties or join one of the existing groups.
Can someone explain why no one wants to work with the Great Romania Party?  It just seems strange because many of these guys that consider them too extreme are unapologetic nazis themselves.

[Hash]

Can someone explain why no one wants to work with the Great Romania Party?  It just seems strange because many of these guys that consider them too extreme are unapologetic nazis themselves.

Because the unapologetic 'western' Nazis want to throw out all Romanian immigrants from their turf. And the PRM doesn't take kindly to that.

It was the PRM which walked out of ITS after Mussolini called all Romanians criminals (in matter of immigration) and gypsies.

[doktorb]

As far as I understand it (from rumour and message boards and what not)

Socialist group to be renamed

IND/DEM and UEN to break up, some members flirting with the idea of a grouping but may not go anywhere

EPP-ED to become "EPP" on one side, "ED" on the other, though not enough parties yet to form the latter.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Yeah, at this moment it seems that the new parliament will consist of the following groups:

EPP
ASDE (Alliance of Socialists and Democrats for Europe, formerly PES)
ALDE
MER (Movement for European Reform)
Greens-EFA
EUL-NGL

Of course, all of this could still be subject to change.

[Hash]

ASDE (Alliance of Socialists and Democrats for Europe, formerly PES)

To accommodate the entire PD, which includes members (the old Daisy thingee) who sat in the ALDE and EPP groups in the past legislature. Don't know if it will work.

[Harry Hayfield]

ASDE (Alliance of Socialists and Democrats for Europe)
ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe)

So why not have ACDE (Alliance of Conservatives and Democrats for Europe)?

[Middle-aged Europe]

Yeah, I don't know why the Socialists have to plagiarize the Liberals here. ;-)

[justfollowingtheelections]

Something I found interesting:  The new Conservative party has only one member from a country that is in the Eurozone (and that member is from newly introduced Slovakia).  Is there a division forming between countries that are in the Eurozone and everyone else?

[doktorb]

If there is, it's by accident rather than design. There has been a division, of sorts, since the introduction of the €.

[doktorb]

guidofawkes: Guido Fawkes : +++ New Group “European Conservatives and Reformists” +++: Tagged: EU

[doktorb]

Bit more detail, from VoteUK forum via ConservativeHome

ConHome says the new group with the Tories is called European Conservatives and Reformists. Its composition so far:
26 British Conservative MEPs
15 Polish MEPs from the Law and Justice Party
9 Czech MEPs from the Civic Democratic Party
1 MEP from Belgium's Lijst Dedecker - Derk Jan Eppink, a Dutchman who is a former senior European Commission official
1 MEP from Finland's Centre Party, Keskusta - Hannu Takkula (who has left the Liberal Group where the rest of his party sits)
1 MEP from the Hungarian Democratic Forum - Lajos Bokros, a former finance minister
1 MEP from the Latvian National Independence Movement - Roberts Zile, a former finance and transport minister
1 MEP from the Dutch Christian Union - Peter van Dale

[freek]

1 MEP from the Dutch Christian Union - Peter van Dale

The SGP  MEP (Bas Belder) will not be a member of the group (at least for now), he has not been granted access by the British Conservatives because of the SGP view on the role of women in politics.

[Jens]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8112581.stm

And no Danish People's Party - The Tories don't consider them a mainstream centre left party acording to James Holtum, press secretary for the Conservative in the parliament.
http://politiken.dk/politik/article737561.ece (in Danish)