At least the MEPs of the Left Alliance and Basic Finns may come across pro-Russian MEPs in their new circles who want to undermine the support given to Ukraine.
Read in this article what kind of effect the election result has on the power relations of the parliamentary groups.
The Left: Kicking out the pro-Russians would reduce the weight of the small left-wing group
The group promotes a strong climate and human rights policy and economic equality. The left-wing group is divided by its attitude towards Russia and support for Ukraine.
MEPs from the Left Alliance have belonged to The Left group in the EU Parliament.
Helsingin Sanomat’s calculations according to the report, a significant part of the group has not supported decisions supporting Ukraine, while the Nordic MEPs in particular have voted for them.
The group may shrink after the election due to conflicts. Chairman of the Left Alliance and future MEP Lee Andersson hopes for changes to the composition of the group.
According to Andersson, the Left Alliance requires that all members of the group condemn the Russian attack. He denies that the group’s opposition to support for Ukraine is related to its members being pro-Russian.
– There are parties that have a long tradition of pacifism, meaning they oppose all arms exports and armaments. Statements and policies are based on such arguments, says Andersson.
Specialist investigator Kimmo Elo The University of Turku’s Center for Parliamentary Studies says that there is hardly any consensus on the Russia issue in the left-wing group.
– They have to live with it or they have to throw out those who don’t fit into the group. As has been done in other groups. The flip side is that the left is not a significantly large group anyway. If they put a crowd in the yard, their importance would decrease even more.
Andersson says that the Nordic left-wing MPs are one of the largest, like-minded delegations within the group. In addition to Finland’s three MEPs, Sweden’s left-wing party also increased its support. The weight of Nordic representatives in the group is therefore increasing, Andersson estimates.
The current election forecast according to the left-wing group is about to lose one seat in the EU Parliament.
ECR: The group of basic Finns is attracted in different directions
Basic Finnish MEPs have belonged to the far-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group. The group wants to reduce the EU’s decision-making power, fight immigration and curb climate action.
The Basic Finns changed their group last year.
In the past, the Basic Finns belonged to the Identity and Democracy (ID) group, some of whose members have a positive attitude towards Russia. According to basic Finns, the decision was influenced by differing perceptions of security policy.
The ECR group is now being attracted in different directions.
The big winner of the French European elections Marine Le Pen represents the largest party in ID. Le Pen has proposed that the groups unite.
On the other hand, the center-right EPP has also been speculated to seek cooperation with the ECR.
Specialist researcher Elo does not consider a merger very likely.
– However, there are also deep contradictions between ECR and ID, and cooperation would be quite artificial, says Elo.
According to the forecast, the ECR group is getting four more seats than before. The ID group, on the other hand, is getting nine seats.
RE: Keskusta mepit and RKP’s Henriksson are in the same group
The parliamentary group Renew Europe (RE) is clearly more liberal than the Finnish Center Party.
The central themes of RE, a grouping of centrist liberal parties, are civil rights and economic growth.
From a domestic perspective, the group is clearly more liberal than the center. RE (Renewable Europe in Finnish) has a more positive attitude towards EU expansion and collective debt than the center and would also be ready to increase the EU’s power.
RKP’s domestic policies, on the other hand, are quite close to the group’s positions.
According to the forecast, Renew Europe is facing an election defeat. RE is getting 79 representatives in the parliament, which is 23 representatives less than last time.
The election result and, on the other hand, the roaring rise of the far-right may affect, for example, that climate policy and EU integration will not make significant progress in the coming period.
EPP: The coalition won the election
Part of the group has toyed with the idea of cooperation with the far right. From Finland, the coalition and the Christian Democrats belong to the group.
The group’s main policy themes are the European economy and competitiveness.
The EPP group of the European People’s Party remains the largest group in the European Parliament. The party is built on Christian democratic parties. The largest of them is the German CDU.
At the EU level, the results are still being updated. The graphic above describes the situation on Monday evening.
The sitting chairman of the commission Ursula von der Leyen is a representative of the EPP and in these elections the group’s top candidate, i.e. a candidate for a new term as president of the Commission.
In the European Parliament, the center-right EPP has mostly cooperated with the S&D group of socialists and democrats in the European Parliament.
Even before the elections, the predicted rise of the far-right caused many to consider whether the EPP, which was considered moderate, would cooperate with the far-right, such as the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), instead of the S&D.
Von der Leyen stated after the election that he would primarily seek cooperation with the socialists and liberals. They also supported von der Leyen last season. Chairman of the EPP party Manfred Weber in turn added greens to the list.
However, the group could decide to cooperate with the individual parties of the ECR group. In the formation of cooperation, a lot still depends on whether the far-right groups in the parliament join forces.
According to the forecast, the EPP is getting ten additional seats.
S&D: Demari group’s chances of influence “minimal” without EPP, says the researcher
The S&D and the center-right EPP were for a long time the two powerful groups in the EU Parliament, which with their joint majority were able to decide on the direction of the Parliament’s policy.
Recently, the groups have shrunk, so they have cooperated especially with Renew Europe and the Greens. Based on the outcome of these elections, S&D’s dominance is even more closely dependent on EPP cooperation, says Kimmo Elo.
– S&D’s real chances of influence in the European Parliament without EPP’s support are minimal, says Elo.
According to the forecast, the group is about to lose five representatives.
SDP’s centre-left group consists of European socialist and social democratic parties.
The group promotes fair climate action and workers’ rights.
Greens/EFA: The Greens group is losing twenty seats
In Finland, the party kept its two seats, but the European Greens collapsed, especially in France, where the party lost eight seats.
The Greens have cooperated with the big parties in the parliament, especially on climate and environmental issues. The group’s poor result may portend that an ambitious climate policy will fall on the EU’s priority list.
The Finnish Greens have belonged to a group called the Greens / European Free Alliance. In addition to the Greens, the group also includes minority and regional parties.
The group’s agenda includes strong climate measures and human rights policy. The green group is not completely united either. The Swedish Greens, for example, are critical of the whole union. What holds the group together most tightly is the commitment to combating climate change.