It may be too soon to savor some schadenfreude but now that the dust has settled after the May 25 European elections, it looks like the gains made by the far right were slightly overestimated, and the possibility of a coalition among them is in doubt.
At stake is the public funding the EU provides to the political groups in its Parliament.
The incoming assortment of xenophobics, racists, common bigots, nationalists, nativists, sovereignists, fascists, and neo-nazis still have a few weeks to find something they have in common as the basis for a political group. That is if they can get over the hatred that propelled them to Brussels in the first place.
The European Parliament’s 751 members from 28 countries belong to around 200 different political parties that function at the national level. In Brussels, MEPs are organized into groups that must have at least 25 members from 7 different countries to be officially recognized. In the last session there were 7 political groups while 33 individual members remained unaffiliated with any of them.
The EU provides public funding for the Parliament’s official political groups. Amounts are paid in more than one category and they can be substantial over a five-year mandate. The funds help political groups cover their expenses and advance their agenda. There is no funding for the unaffiliated members. The political groups also have advantages like additional time to speak in debate.
In the outgoing Parliament (2009-2014), Nigel Farage of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), led the far-right’s political group, Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD), with 31 members from 12 countries.
UKIP tripled the number of seats it will hold in the incoming Parliament, from 8 to 24 but the majority of Farage’s coalition partners in other countries didn’t get reelected. The requirement to have at least 25 members for a political group wasn’t in doubt. Finding them in 6 countries outside the UK left him scrambling. He had a competitor trying to assemble a coalition of her own.
Marine Le Pen and two other members of France’s far right party, Front National, held seats in the outgoing Parliament, but they didn’t join Nigel Farage’s EFD. They remained unaffiliated in the Parliament and focused on strategy at the national level in France. As a result, the Front National will increase its representation from 3 members to 24.
Le Pen showed up in Brussels before the weekend after the election to show off her new coalition friends. The press asked which countries would add their delegations to meet the minimum requirement of 7 but Le Pen had no answer. As of today, there are no additions to the partners announced a week ago. The Sweden Democrats are the most likely to join but the longer they stay on the fence, the less likely it seems. Even if they did join, the coalition would still be short one delegation.
Country
|
Party
|
# of MEPs
|
Austria
|
Freedom Party of Austria
|
4
|
Belgium
|
Vlaams Belang
|
1
|
France
|
Front National
|
24
|
Italy
|
Lega Nord
|
5
|
Netherlands
|
Party for Freedom
|
4
|
Sweden
|
Sweden Democrats
|
2
|
Nigel Farage hasn’t assembled a complete coalition with delegations from 7 countries either. The numbers were compiled from the
updated results reported by the European Parliament.
Country
|
Party
|
# of MEPs
|
Denmark
|
Dansk Folkeparti
|
4
|
Finland
|
Finns Party
|
2
|
Italy
|
5 Star Movement
|
17
|
Lithuania
|
Order and Justice
|
2
|
Netherlands
|
Christian Union/Politcal Reformed Party
|
1
|
UK
|
UKIP
|
24
|
Gaming out possible routes for Le Pen and Farage to reach the magic number needed for the Parliament’s recognition as a political group
is a European political junkie’s game. Why is there a shortage of possible matches for them? They chose to eliminate parties like the NPD in Germany, Jobbik in Hungary, and Golden Dawn in Greece.
Also, with numerous unknown newcomers, it’s impossible to predict political group preference for each one. When the election results came in, the traditional media erroneously reported as if the new members were exclusively far-right, except for Syriza in Greece. The new members are more diverse.
Maybe because of UKIP’s and the FN’s large gains, all of the new members were painted with the same broad brush by the media. Or it could be bias that made the press ignore gains made by the left. In the number of seats the media said were won by the far-right it turned out that there were 5 Podemos members from Spain who will probably affiliate on the left. Syriza already did affiliate with the left. 8 members of various political parties affiliated with the EPP. There aren’t many possible matches for Le Pen and Farage because there aren’t as many far-right members as originally reported.
It might seem that the most obvious solution would be for Le Pen and Farage to join forces. I don’t know much about Farage. I can say with confidence that Le Pen isn’t looking to play second fiddle in anyone else’s show. Here she is clashing with a BBC interviewer who crossed a line when she suggested that Le Pen's politics are too extreme for the British. The BBC provided subtitles. One stroke of luck in Le Pen's rise to prominence - she doesn't speak English so there's no chance Americans will be interested in her.