Following the European elections in the 28 EU Member States at the end of May, the political parties have entered an active phase of negotiations meant to reorganize the political groups and to set coalitions in order to weigh in on the strategic priorities and policies for the next five years. As a reminder, as long as Brexit is not in effect, British Members in the European Parliament (MEP) will be sitting in the European Parliament.
The EU political landscape is expected to change. The two traditional groups, European People’s Party (EPP) (right) and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) (left) lost their majority and will need to involve the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) (liberal) and the Greens/ALE groups in decision-making to a greater extent. The ALDE group would undergo deep changes in terms of vision and philosophy thanks to new member parties from France, Spain, and Romania. The big winners of the elections are indeed the ALDE, Greens, and far-right groups. While the far-right expanded (although, less than forecasted), the far-left decreased.
This being said, in the next European Parliament, coalitions between political groups are expected to be created on an ad-hoc basis, depending on the topic. We could notably expect more ambitious green policies considering the breakthrough of Greens/ALE. The defining characteristic of the 2019-2024 legislative period will undoubtedly be less predictability in the decision-making process.
Lilia Brandusa, Deputy Director, ARCTURUS Group, Brussels office ARCTURUS Group is a European independent consultancy specializing in public affairs and market development, based in Brussels, Berlin, Paris, Marseille, and Warsaw.
