New centre group seeks ‘balance of power’ in Parliament

By Martin Banks

Date: 24/06/04

A NEW political group in the European Parliament will be launched next week, in a move that could change the balance of power in the assembly and influence the appointment of the Union's new generation of leaders.

The centre "pro-European" group will initially be formed from three elements, the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR), French MEPs belonging to the UDF (Union for French Democracy) and Italian deputies from the "Olive Tree" coalition led by Commission President Romano Prodi.

The ELDR leader Graham Watson, who is favourite to chair the new group, believes he can pick up several disaffected members of other political groups, taking its eventual size to nearly 100 MEPs.

"If we're successful, this will be the largest group, other than the two [main] parties, Parliament has ever known," Watson said.

Before realignments, the centre-right European People's Party-European Democrats (EPP-ED) stood at 278, including UDF members, and the Party of European Socialists had 199 deputies. The new group could play the role of kingmaker in the 732-strong Parliament.

The group's ten-point manifesto calls for a federal EU but one that respects national identities. It says decisions at EU level should be taken by qualified majority voting and calls for giving the Union a more powerful voice in world affairs.

"This is not a marriage of convenience but a new movement with shared principles," said UK Liberal deputy Chris Davies.

But deciding a name for the new group is already proving difficult for the new alliance. The ELDR members are anxious to keep the word "Liberal" in the title, something its two partners oppose, since the term carries right-wing overtones, particularly of free-market economics.

Lapo Pistelli, newly elected MEP for the Olive Tree coalition, said: "We're going to need a new name. My preference is "Democrats for Europe".

Marielle De Sarnez, the chairman of Parliament's UDF delegation, said: "The name isn't the most important thing but I'd prefer the word "Democrats" in the title, rather than "Liberal"."

Watson, who has held lengthy discussions with UDF leader François Bayrou, and representatives of the Olive Tree coalition, said last night (Wednesday 23 June) that he will put a formal proposal for the formation of the new group to a meeting next Tuesday of the ELDR bureau, consisting of heads of national delegations.

With 67 MEPs, the ELDR would be the biggest partner in the new alliance, followed by the 11 UDF members who recently defected from the EPP-ED, and seven Olive Tree MEPs.

Andrew Duff, the British Liberal MEP, believes the group will be "a real political force in the assembly".

Watson said that the new group would give the Liberals "a lot more clout" in the assembly. "It puts us, for example, in a position where we would hold the balance of power," he said.

This pivotal position will give the group the power to influence the election of a new president for the Parliament (it could choose to support either a Socialist or a centre-right candidate) and even the appointment of a new Commission president.

The group will also be hoping to pick up Ireland's four Fianna Fáil deputies.

In the last legislature Fianna Fáil was part of the Union for a Europe of Nations group, but its leadership wants to ally with a larger group.

The EPP-ED could find itself deserted by core federalists and left with a strong Eurosceptic element. The unattached Italian Radicals, with two MEPs, are also likely candidates to ally with the new federalist group.

In parallel, Eurosceptic members in Parliament have decided to join forces in a 30-strong group which will campaign against the adoption of the EU constitution (Page 15).

Article discusses negotiations to set up a new 'pro-European' Political Group in the European Parliament following the June 2004 EP election, comprising members from the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR), Union for French Democracy (UDF), and Italian MEPs from the 'Olive Tree' coalition.

http://europarl.europa.eu/groups/default.htm http://europarl.europa.eu/groups/default.htm

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