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Article 02-03-2020 - 14:46 20190612STO54311

Parliament's seven political groups

Seat distribution by political group. NI stands for Non-Inscrits, French for non-attached. These MEPs are not a member of a political group.

Following Brexit the counts 705 members. Read on to find out in which of the seven political groups your MEP sits.

One of the seats allocated to Spain has yet to be filled, so there are currently 704 sitting MEPs.

MEPs organise themselves into political groups, which bring together representatives from different EU countries based on their political affinities.

According to Parliament rules, a political group must be composed of at least 25 MEPs from at least one-quarter of member states (at the moment that would mean from at least seven countries). MEPs can belong to only one political group, but may choose not to belong to any;

Directorate General for Communication 1 I 3 European Parliament - Spokesperson: Jaume Duch Guillot EN Contact: [email protected] Article

they are then called non-attached. Currently, 29 MEPs have opted not to join a political group.

Political groups can be formed at any time during the term. Currently, seven fulfil the criteria.

Political groups enjoy certain advantages: they play an important role in setting the Parliament’s agenda, are allocated more speaking time during debates and are also allocated more office space, staff and money. They also decide on the set up of parliamentary committees and delegations.

Below are the political groups in order of size as of 28 February 2020:

Political group Chair or co-chairs Number of members Group of the EuropeanManfred Weber ().187 People's Party (EPP) This is his fourth term as an MEP. He has been chairing the group since 2014 Group of the ProgressiveIratxe García (Spain). MEP147 Alliance of Socialists andsince 2004 Democrats in the European Parliament (S&D) group Dacian Cioloș (Romania). This 98 is his first term as MEP. He was agricultural commissioner in 2010-2014 and is a former prime minister Identity and Democracy (ID) (). MEP since 76 2014 Group of /European Ska Keller (Germany) and67 Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) Philippe Lamberts (). Keller has been an MEP since 2009 and became co- president of the group in 2016. Lamberts became an MEP in 2009 and co-president in 2014 and Ryszard Legutko (Poland) and 61 Reformists (ECR) Raffaele Fitto (Italy). Legutko, an MEP since 2009, became co-chair in 2017. Fitto served as an MEP in 1999-2000 and again since 2014 Confederal Group of theManon Aubry (), first-39 European United Left - Nordic time MEP, and Martin Green Left (GUE/NGL) Schirdewan (Germany), MEP since 2017. Aubry was elected in May 2019.

Find out more about the political groups and their size in this and previous parliamentary terms on our elections results website.

Directorate General for Communication 2 I 3 European Parliament - Spokesperson: Jaume Duch Guillot EN Contact: [email protected] Article

Find out more What are political groups and how are they formed?

Directorate General for Communication 3 I 3 European Parliament - Spokesperson: Jaume Duch Guillot EN Contact: [email protected]