State of the political groups

The various national political parties in the European Parliament have had until today to form political groups: by allying with parties from at least 7 other Member States with a minimum of 25 MEPs between them, they are entitled to EU funding and are in a better position to get good seats on parliamentary committees. For the mainstream groups of the Socialists and Democrats, the European People's Party, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats and the European Greens-European Free Alliance, there has been little change, with most of the movement on the right of the political spectrum.

Current group positions:

EPP: 221
S&D: 191
ECR: 68
ALDE: 67
UEL: 52
Greens: 50
EFD: 48
Non-Attached: 43
[The EP still lists 11 as "others", so they might join a political group yet and possibly change the rankings again].

The Europe of Freedom and Democracy has managed to reform. The grouping that Nigel Farage led in the last Parliament looked like it might be squeezed between the European Conservatives and Reformists and the new far-right alliance of Le Pen and Geert Wilders, but in the end enough MEPs from different countries were found. The biggest gain for the EFD was the membership of the Five Star Movement, which had been considering joining the Greens. The EFD has grown from 32 to 48 MEPs despite the change in membership (the Danish People's Party has left for the ECR) and the reduction in total EP seats, and it remains the smallest group.

The European Conservatives and Reformists have been the biggest winners from this group reshuffle. From being the fifth group in size, behind the Greens, in the last Parliament, the ECR is set to edge out the Liberals as the third biggest group (growing from 54 to 68 MEPs). This should be a big boost to its political weight in the EP, but it's unlikely that it will win the EP Presidency given the likely EPP-PES deal to take turns over the post. The ECR attracted the Eurozone-skeptic AfD and the Danish People's Party, along with a smattering of other individual MEPs. It's possible that this intake could shift the ECR in a more national-conservative direction, so while the group may be founded on a free market platform, this could start to take a back seat to concerns over free movement of people and cultural issues. This might depend on how far the AfD takes a socially conservative direction and whether it can retain a free market outlook. It will be interesting to see if the ECR will "detoxify" the Danish People's Party, or if they will toxify the ECR...

The United European Left grouping has also boosted its numbers from 35 to 52, with the Spanish party Podemos. EUObserver reports that the group is split between those that are anti-EU and those who favour more integration to solve economic and social issues (it seems that Podemos leans towards federalism). Meanwhile the Le Pen-Wilders project for a far-right alliance has failed to bring together enough MEPs from across the EU to form a political group. For now the Front National and the PVV will sit as Non-Attached.

For the EPP and S&D, little has changed. The German delegation is the largest now in the EPP and the S&D's biggest delegation will be Italian, but apart from that there doesn't seem to be any major changes. Likewise ALDE and the Greens have not had any major additions or losses in the re-shuffle - which could be seen as both groups having settled identities (any liberal/Green party that could join probably is already aligned with them).

Over this splintered Parliament it looks like Martin Schulz will re-take the President's chair as part of the coalition between the EPP and S&D. It remains to be seen if the Grand Coalition will stick together on the big issues or if it will only stay in place as a deal over the top posts.

A Europe that Works: the Liberal Manifesto

One of the main gripes I had with Guy Verhofstadt's performance in the debate last week was the lack of any policy ideas (certainly not unique to him, however), so let's take a look at the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe's (ALDE) manifesto to see if it puts any meat on the federalist bones.

The slogan for the Liberals is "A Europe that Works", and the manifesto (PDF) stresses market integration and the defense of civil liberties. ALDE, like the AECR, also promotes the cutting of red tape, though from a more federalist perspective where the red tape is 28 sets of national rules that impede the single market. The Liberals want to "reinforce the single market in energy, the digital market, financial services, transport and healthcare sectors, while further facilitating the free movement of services and workers."

On the economy, trade and jobs, ALDE is for an EU-US Trade Agreement, easier access to finance for SMEs, a genuine single market in telecommunications (phasing out mobile phone voice and data roaming charges by 2016), and a "fifth freedom" of free movement of knowledge. This free movement of knowledge would focus on mobility for students, academics and researchers between Member States and would support dual training, university and enterprise across borders. ALDE wants a shift from EU support under structural and cohesion funds towards research and investment in "future oriented sectors such as the renewable energy sources sector".

Overall, ALDE wants to limit EU spending on subsidies and move the money towards job creation and investment. I assume that this means that EU money should be attached to particular cross-border infrastructure projects and the free movement of knowledge mentioned earlier. Another goal of ALDE s to have the Member States providing declarations that the EU money spent with them is spent legally and certifying it as adding value. (If memory serves a similar Dutch proposal went down like a lead balloon because the other Member States didn't want to risk getting blamed for the misspending of EU funds or to spend resources on the accounting).

On the Common Agricultural Policy, ALDE will shift EU support from subsidies to modern agricultural technologies and their introduction into farming. Similar to its general economic policy, the Liberals appear to go against direct subsidies, but want government support for developing new methods and technologies before introducing them into the market.

ALDE essentially supports the current Eurozone austerity approach: "Fiscal solidarity depends on fiscal discipline which avoids moral hazard and does not reduce economics incentives for sound public finance." They support the banking union and want better control and sanction mechanisms to enforce the stability and growth pact. On justice and home affairs, ALDE supports the Common European Asylum System and wants a common cybersecurity policy. They want to create a mechanism to monitor violations of fundamental rights in the EU and enforce sanctions - a policy clearly inspired by the concern over the constitutional changes in Hungary.

Overall, ALDE are standing on a economically right-wing platform mixed with strong support for fundamental rights and civil liberties in the area of justice and home affairs. Economically, it is probably quite close to the AECR and the EPP and would have few problems forming a coalition with them, but when it comes to civil liberties, justice and home affairs, and European integration, it is probably closer to the PES and European Greens. If you're attracted to liberal free markets and value a good voice on civil liberties when the EU is considering laws like the Arrest Warrant, ALDE might be for you.