Macron’s Liberals vow to race Meloni’s hard-right ECR for influential third place in EU Parliament

A post-election push for new members sees the rival groups neck and neck in the race to become the third biggest force in the hemicycle.

Transcript

00:00Radical right and liberals are in close competition for being the third largest group in the European

00:05Parliament after populists and socialists.

00:08The renewed group lost 20 seats in the European elections due to the bad results of French

00:12President Emmanuel Macron's political party, among others.

00:16The European conservative and reformist, led by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni,

00:21gained four.

00:25The ECR added new members coming from previously non-attached or newcomer parties aligned with

00:29its view and has now overtaken renewed group, which went from 83 MEPs to 81.

00:36The last major gain are six members from the Romanian AUR, a controversial party resting

00:42on four pillars, family, homeland, faith and freedom.

00:46Maybe there are others who want to join the ECR.

00:53We are talking with some other delegations, for example, I know I can tell you, I'm sorry,

01:01I can tell you that we are optimistic because, you know, the vote was clear.

01:13More power to the center-right and less to the center-left.

01:23The Polish far-right party, Konfederacja, could be the next on the list, while the door

01:27seems closed for Hungarian Fidesz as any new party joining ECR has to sign a declaration

01:32of support to the Ukrainian people against the Russian invasion.

01:41But the sizes of the group have nothing to do with the top jobs at EU level.

01:49As explained Sandro Gozzi, one of the lead candidates of Renew.

01:59I think that the distribution of jobs is based on a political alliance.

02:03The political alliance is being shaped, I hope to be confirmed, between the European

02:07People's Party, the Socialist Party and Renew, and the top job will be based on this political

02:13alliance and not on other groups which do not belong to this alliance.

02:18The race for the third place, however, could affect the distribution of the presidencies

02:23and the EP committees.

02:24ECR had just one last legislator and wants more now.