In light of the recent elections in France which saw the far-right National Rally (RN) securing a victory with twice the number of seats as the centrist Renaissance party, European Parliament groupings associated with French political parties are feeling the pressure. The decisive RN win, led by Marine Le Pen, led to the French president, Emmanuel Macron, calling for immediate parliamentary elections.
The overwhelming defeat in France factored into the centrist Renew grouping in the European Parliament losing around 20% of its seats. This has ramped up the stress on Valerie Hayer, the French MEP and group leader. There were discussions in a Brussels meeting about potential changes in leadership, particularly as the French representation had suffered significantly in the European elections.
Eric Ciotti, the head of France’s central-right party, Les Républicains, has announced he will retain his post amid a unanimous expulsion vote from significant party members. The vote was a response to Ciotti’s controversial proposition to forge an alliance with Le Pen’s National Rally. If the partnership goes ahead for the parliamentary elections later this month, Les Républicains face the risk of expulsion from its European Parliament grouping in the European People’s Party (EPP).
Other developments include negotiations by the Left, having secured 36 seats provisionally, with multiple smaller parties and independent MEPs about potential inclusion in their grouping, which already counts Sinn Fein in its ranks. Speculations about further alignments include the potential for the Italian populist Five Star Movement, which has been tilting more left of late, to merge with the grouping. However, no formal discussions about this have been recorded, despite the party having won eight seats in the recent election.
The recent election victory of Aodhán Ó Ríordáin for the Labour Party in the Dublin constituency is poised to potentially scupper the slim chance Sinn Féin had of moving towards the larger Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group, where Ó Ríordáin holds membership.
The European People’s Party (EPP), composed of Fine Gael, the Christian Democratic Union in Germany and the Civic Coalition led by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, retained its position as the largest faction in the 720-seat parliament following the latest elections, securing 189 seats.
The S&D group, falling within the centre-left spectrum, claimed 135 seats while Renew, part of the prior leading majority, saw its seat share decrease from 102 to 79. The Greens’ representation was also reduced to 53 MEPs.
Populist and nationalist right-wing parties garnered roughly 160 seats. However, these are dispersed amongst the staunchly right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), the far-right Identity and Democracy (ID), and a handful of unaffiliated parties.