Since the European elections at the beginning of the month, the parties have started to form groups in the hemicycle. Forming the broadest alliances allows funds to be distributed and influence within Parliament. Hence the decision concerning the five MEPs from the federalist group is therefore additional bad news for Emmanuel Macron’s liberal Renew Europe coalition.
Because rumors have been circulating for several days that the group could have joined Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renew Europe party. But it was after a vote among party members that the European federalist movement Volt and its five MEPs announced that they would remain in the Greens group in the European Parliament.
“I am pleased that Volt members followed our recommendation to sit with the Greens/EFA, as the Group supported our mission to act on EU reform, humane migration rules, a competitive economy, transition towards climate neutrality and social justice.
We also hope that this will strengthen the Greens/EFA to be part of the majority Ms Von der Leyen to protect the Green Deal,” said Damian Boeselager, MEP and co-founder.
The decision – supported by 87% of Volt members – appears partly motivated by Renew’s failure to punish the Dutch VVD party for joining the governing coalition in the Netherlands led by the extreme Party for Freedom by Geert Wilders.
“The fight against right-wing populists is at the heart of Volt’s agenda and one of the reasons why the movement was founded.
For us, the Greens/EFA are among the most credible groups to counter right-wing populism and it is clear that Volt members across Europe feel the same way,” said Anna Strolenberg, MEP.
The Greens and European Free Alliance (EFA) group, founded in 1999, brings together environmentalist and regionalist parties from different countries of the European Union. It obtained 53 seats in the hemicycle of Strasbourg and Brussels following the European elections, held on June 9, 2024. The group thus came sixth, far behind the European People’s Party (EPP), the Socialists and Democrats (S&D). ), the centrist group Renew and the two far-right groups (European Conservatives and Reformists, and Identity and Democracy). The Greens and the European Free Alliance were until now the fourth political force with 72 deputies from 17 countries, but the environmentalist breakthrough during the 2019 European elections, with a gain of around twenty seats, now seems distant.
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