What are political groups and how are they formed?
Following elections, MEPs will most often join a political group or create new ones. These groups bring together MEPs from different Member States because of their political affinities. Groups can also be formed at a later point in the parliamentary mandate. Currently there are seven political groups in the European Ϸվ.
A formally recognised political group must consist of at least 23 MEPs coming from at least one-quarter of the Member States (i.e. seven, at least). MEPs may only belong to one political group. Some do not belong to any political groups at all and are known as “non-attached” Members.
To set up a group, the President of the Ϸվ must be notified in a statement that specifies the group’s name, its Members and its leadership.
In forming a group, MEPs accept political affinity by default and the Ϸվ does not usually assess political cohesion between group members. Only when it is refuted by MEPs concerned themselves, the Ϸվ will step in to evaluate whether a group has in fact been constituted in accordance with the rules.
Political groups
Political groups can employ staff and receive office space funded through the Ϸվ's budget. The Ϸվ’s Bureau sets rules on how these funds and facilities are managed and audited. The funds made available to groups cover group staff administrative and operational costs, as well as expenses incurred due to EU-related political and information campaigns.
The budget cannot finance any form of European, national, regional or local electoral campaigns nor any political parties at the national and European level or their dependent bodies.
Non-attached MEPs can hire advisers comparable to the ones in political groups and have rights under the rules set out by the Bureau.