Parliament bans small political groups[fr][de] 

The proposal, originally put forward in a report by British Socialist MEP Richard Corbett, was approved by Parliament's Constitutional Affairs Committee in May (EurActiv 28/05/08). 

Commenting afterwards on his reasons for proposing the reform, Corbett said the European Parliament has "one of the lowest thresholds [in the world] for allowing the constitution of a political group [2.5%]". "When you remember that constituting a group gives [MEPs in groups] extra resources above what ordinary members get […] in terms of finance from the taxpayer, in terms of staff and in terms of procedural privileges, it should give us cause to reflect." 

Yesterday's decision means that from next year, parliamentarians must gather in groups of 25 or more – representing a minimum of seven countries - if they are to be recognised as constituting a 'political group'. Corbett's original suggestion of raising the threshold to thirty members from a quarter of EU countries was rejected in May, while at present, 20 members representing at least six countries is sufficient. 

The measure was also originally aimed at preventing the formation of groups which bring together far-right parties, such as the Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty (ITS) group. Indeed, the formation of that parliamentary group became possible following the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU in January 2007. Before the enlargement, MEPs from the Front National of Jean Marie Le Pen, the Belgian Vlaams Belang, Austria's Freedom Party, the Italian Northern League and the League of Polish Families were not numerous enough to gather under a common banner. 

The inclusion of members from the Bulgaria's Ataka party and the Great Romania party brought the number of far-right MEPs to 21 and was thus key to the formation of ITS, which collapsed in November 2007 following comments made by Italian group member Alessandra Mussolini which her Romanian counterparts found insulting (EurActiv 15/11/07).

Indeed, yesterday's changes could also bring the continued existence of other smaller groups into question as they would dissolve the 22-member Independence and Democracy group (INDEM) and seriously threaten the future of the 43-member Union for a Europe of the Nations group (UEN).  

ALDE leader Andrew Duff condemned the changes, insisting that having seven groups is workable. The Parliament "should reflect the more complex and wider spread of opinion from 27 countries" and give "all sorts of minority opinion the chance to organise itself in an articulate way," he said, adding: "If we closed small groups, their members would be forced to join a larger group, thereby adding to [their] incoherence." 

Meanwhile, MEPs introduced an amendment to the Corbett report stipulating that the Parliament and Group Presidents can allow a group which falls below the required threshold to continue to exist until the end of the parliamentary term if it is over a year old and its members still represent at least a fifth of member states. 

The report was adopted with 481 votes in favour. 281 MEPs voted against amid 21 abstentions.