Political Groups of The European Parliament - Requirements and Privileges

Requirements and Privileges

Working together in Groups benefits European political parties: for example, the European Free Alliance (5 MEPs in 6th Parliament) and the European Greens (37 MEPs in 6th Parliament) have more power by working together in the European Greens–European Free Alliance Group (42 MEPs) than they would have as stand-alone parties, bringing their causes much-needed additional support. Further incentives for co-operating in Groups include financial subsidies from the Parliament and guaranteed seats on committees which are not afforded to Independent MEPs.

For a Group to be formally recognised in the Parliament, it must fulfil the conditions laid down in the relevant European Parliament Rule of Procedure. That Rule lays down the minimum criteria a Group must meet to qualify as a Group. Provided those criteria are met, MEPs can theoretically create any Group they like. This was put to the test when MEPs attempted to create a far-right Group called "Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty" (ITS). This generated controversy and there were concerns about public funds going towards a far-right Group. Attempts to block the formation of ITS were unsuccessful, but ITS were blocked from leading positions on committees, a privilege usually afforded to all Groups.

These events spurred MEPs, mainly from the largest two groups, to approve a rise in the threshold for groups for the 2009-2014 term to a minimum of 25 MEPs from at least seven states. This was opposed by many MEPs, including the Liberal group, for being detrimental to democracy and the two other smallest groups in Parliament, whilst supporters argued that the change made it harder for the far right to claim EU funds whilst still enabling 2.5% of MEPs to form a group.