The number of deputies sent by the National Rally to the European Parliament testifies to the political weight enjoyed, at the end of these European elections, by the French far-right party. Not only does the RN elect more than twice as many MEPs as Renaissance and its allies, who come in second position, very far behind the party chaired by Jordan Bardella (himself reappointed as MEP). But Marine Le Pen’s party, in addition, won the title of largest delegation in Parliament, among all the political parties represented there, and all member countries of the European Union combined.
According to the final results communicated by the Ministry of the Interior, by collecting 31.37% of the votes cast, the National Rally is sending 30 deputies to Strasbourg. Against 13 seats for the presidential majority list, and 13 also by the joint PS-Place publique list. Out of a total of 81 French MEPs elected in this election.
You have to look to Germany to find the second largest delegation, that which brings together the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU). Although they are two distinct parties, CDU and CSU form a common political force, since the CDU presents candidates in all Länder (federal states) with the exception of Bavaria, the only state in which the CSU is established and therefore invests candidates. Thanks to the 23 elected under the CDU label, and the 6 MEPs from the CSU, a total of 29 European parliamentarians representing the parties of the German conservative right will sit in Strasbourg. One less than the RN.
The RN wins “individually”
Note that in Germany, we only have the provisional results announced this Monday morning, but only minimal developments are expected. Across the Rhine, unlike France, where you must obtain at least 5% of the votes to elect MEPs, no threshold is set. Thus, in addition to the CDU-CSU, a third party will be represented in the group of the European People’s Party (EPP), the label under which the European right sits. The Families Party of Germany (Familie) has one elected MEP. This brings to 30 the number of German MEPs adhering to the ideas of the EPP group out of the 96 seats reserved for Germany.
The third most represented political party in the European Parliament will be Fratelli d’Italia, the far-right party of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, with 24 of Italy’s 76 MEPs. Followed by the Spanish People’s Party (Partido Popular), the main opposition force to the left-wing government, which sends 22 deputies to the European Parliament, out of the 61 seats allocated to Spain. And to conclude this top 5, then comes, with 21 MEPs, the Polish Civic Coalition (Koalicja Obywatelska), a pro-European electoral coalition led by the Prime Minister and former President of the European Council, Donald Tusk.
If the RN wins “individually”, at the level of political groups, according to the latest results which have yet to be confirmed, it is the EPP group which comes in first with 180 seats. The European right is thus ahead of the social democrats (138 seats), the Renew group of which Renaissance is a part (77 deputies), the group of European Conservatives and Reformists (73 elected representatives including those of Reconquête), and the Identity and Democracy group (58 MEPs, including the 30 from the National Rally).
