Wednesday

6th Dec 2023

Far-right parties form group in EU parliament

  • Marine Le Pen in action in the European Parliament (Photo: europarl.europa.eu)

The National Front and the Dutch PVV party have formed a new far-right group in the European Parliament.

The National Front chief, Marine Le Pen, tweeted on Monday (15 June): “I will announce the formation of our group - Europe of Nations and Freedom [ENF] - tomorrow in Brussels”.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

PVV head Geert Wilders said: “Great news and [a] historical moment”.

He attached a picture of himself and Le Pen drinking champagne.

Details of the group’s composition are to be unveiled at a press conference on Tuesday morning.

It’s likely to include Austria’s FPO party, Belgium’s Vlaams Belang, and Italy’s Lega Nord, with which the National Front and the PVV had already held “co-ordination” meetings.

Under EU rules, a group must contain at least 25 MEPs from seven different countries.

Looking at the unattached MEPs left in the pool, the likeliest parties to join Europe of Nations and Freedom are Hungary’s Jobbik and Poland’s Congress of the New Right.

The other unattached deputies are: Greek and German neo-Nazis; a unionist from Northern Ireland; a disgraced Spanish socialist; a German satirist; and two Greek communists.

Meanwhile, Le Pen is likely to lead the ENF in Brussels.

Last week, the Dutch electoral council said Wilders could take up a seat in the EU house following the death, in May, of PVV euro-deputy Hans Jansen.

But Wilders told the ANP news agency he will, “of course”, decline.

The Le Pen-Wilders breakthrough means €25 million or so in extra EU funding over the next four years, better committee posts, and more speaking time in plenary

The new group will become the second anti-EU and anti-immigrant faction in the assembly.

The existing one, Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy, led by British MEP Nigel Farage, has kept its distance from Le Pen, who has a toxic image in the UK.

But Farage and Le Pen see eye-to-eye on Russia.

The EFDD and and most ENF members-to-be voted together to try to block a Russia-critical resolution in Strasbourg last week.

Farage and Le Pen unite on Russia report

Britain’s Ukip and France’s National Front have teamed up with other anti-EU parties to vote against a Russia-critical resolution at the EU parliament.

Brussels denies having no 'concern' on Spain's amnesty law

The Spanish government remains secretive about its negotiations with pro-independence Catalans, but claims the EU Commission has "zero concerns" about their proposed amnesty law for Catalan separatists. The EU executive denies that.

Opinion

Can Green Deal survive the 2024 European election?

Six months ahead of the EU elections, knocking an 'elitist' climate agenda is looking like a vote-winner to some. Saving the Green Deal and the EU's climate ambitions starts with listening to Europeans who are struggling to make ends meet.

Latest News

  1. EU nears deal to fingerprint six year-old asylum seekers
  2. Orbán's Ukraine-veto threat escalates ahead of EU summit
  3. Can Green Deal survive the 2024 European election?
  4. Protecting workers' rights throughout the AI revolution
  5. Russia, the West, and the geopolitical 'touch-move rule'
  6. Afghanistan is a 'forever emergency,' says UN head
  7. EU public procurement reform 'ineffective', find auditors
  8. COP28 warned over-relying on carbon capture costs €27 trillion

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us