Being part of a political group pays off.

HS – 07/2024

At least 23 MEPs from seven different countries are needed to form a political group in the European Parliament. Political groups can be formed at any time, and MEPs can change political groups whenever they wish. However, prior to the constituent sitting of the European Parliament – for the 10th legislative period, this will take place from 16th to 19th July – most political groups are formed, and most MEPs join one of them. This is related to the fact that MEPs can exert significantly more influence as members of a parliamentary group.

Political groups in the 10th legislative period

During the 9th parliamentary term, 63 MEPs were non-attached, including the AfD MEPs following their expulsion from the ID group. Now the newly elected AfD MEPs have founded the new "Europe of Sovereign Nations" group with allies. There is also a second new right-wing populist group, the "Patriots for Europe". It has largely replaced the now disbanded ID group. The other groups of the 9th legislative period remain in place: EPP, S&D, ECR, Renew, Greens/EFA and Left. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance has not yet found a parliamentary group. The formation of a new parliamentary group together with the Italian Five Star Movement had previously failed.

Political influence through important posts

Above all, group membership means an increase in political influence in the European Parliament. For example, the posts of the 14 Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament, the five Quaestors and the (Vice) Chairmen of the committees are awarded exclusively to members of the political groups, depending on their size. In terms of legislative work, the chairmanships of committees are particularly interesting. Committee chairs set the agenda and play a leading role in the legislative process.

Opportunities to have a say through the COP

Furthermore, non-attached members have no say in the Conference of Presidents (COP), which is made up of the group chairs as well as the President of Parliament, is responsible for organising procedures and legislation. A representative of the non-attached members may attend the COP meetings, but only as an observer. The COP decides, among other things, what is discussed in plenary, allocates speaking time during plenary debates and proposes the composition of the committees at the beginning of a legislative period.

Speaking time in plenary and committees

Speaking time is allocated to the groups in plenary according to their size. Non-attached MEPs are also given speaking time, albeit significantly less. They are treated as a parliamentary group and make agreements among themselves on how to divide up speaking time. By contrast, in the committees they are dependent on the favour of the committee chair: They can decide whether to grant speaking time to non-attached members at all. As far as legislative work is concerned, non-attached members can receive a report, but this happens very rarely, for example if no one else is interested. They cannot become shadow rapporteur.

Financial resources

Being a member of a political group also means more money for the political work of MEPs. The groups are allocated funds per member by the parliamentary administration to finance the work of the groups. This includes maintaining the secretariat and organising campaigns. Non-attached MEPs also receive money but on average only slightly more than half. In a second distribution round, money is distributed to the parliamentary groups according to size – with the smaller ones receiving more than the larger ones.