By: Srikrishnadeva and Vansh Pincha
Image: Snapshot of the Elections Newsletter
Situation Overview
Between the 6th and the 9th of June, 2024 nearly two million Europeans went to the polls in 27 countries to elect the 720 Members of European Parliament (MEPs) for the next 5 years. The number of MEPs to be elected from each EU country, based on the degressive proportionality. During the elections, the right-wing groups witnessed well-expected gains in the number of seats which was mostly driven by electoral dynamics in just a couple of countries in Europe, notably France and Germany. The elections were marked by setbacks to some popular leaders while right-leaning factions gained ground. For instance, in France, a coalition including President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance, Besoin d'Europe got only 14.60% of the vote. Whereas, in Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party was pushed to third rank with only 13.90% of votes, with far-right parties securing the top positions. Meanwhile, in Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, a right-wing populist party, dominated the election with a total vote share of 28.7%. Interestingly, the green and far-left parties outperformed in some of the European countries including the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. However, no single bloc emerged with an overall majority in the European Parliament.
Members within the European Union parliament consist of 7 groups which are not based on country-representation but political affiliations. The recent elections established a considerable standing for the following groups: 1) The European Peoples’ Party (EPP); 2) The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats; 3) Renew Europe; 4) Greens/European Free Alliance (EFA); 5)European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR); 6) Identity and Democracy (ID); 7) The Left Group.
As far as the far-right representation is concerned here, the ECR and ID occupy a significant influence over the EU representation. The ECR, composed of Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, the Polish Law and Justice Party, Vox (Sweden), Alliance (Germany) and the Finns Party (Finland), have managed to secure close to 83 seats in the European Parliament and are considered as the 3rd largest group. Additionally, the ID, composed of National Rally (France), Lega of Italy, Freedom Party (Austria), Vlaams Belang (Sweden), Conservatives Peoples’ Party (Estonia), Danish Peoples’ Party (Denmark), Freedom and Direct Democracy (Czech Republic) and the Party for Freedom (Netherlands) are considered the 5th largest group in the European Parliament.
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