Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis’s liberal-conservative populist party ANO left the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament on Friday, costing the liberals seven seats.
ANO withdrew from both the Renew Europe and the ALDE European party this Friday. Renew's President Valérie Hayer, accused ANO of a lack of commitment to liberal values in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
"ANO’s departure is a divorce that should have been announced long ago. They’ve chosen a populist path incompatible with our values and identity," Hayer stated.
Today’s political clarification leads to a renewed solidity of our pro-European majority in Parliament.
My statement on ANO and @RenewEurope: pic.twitter.com/2e4JYiO7E8 — Valérie Hayer (@ValerieHayer) June 21, 2024
In a statement to the press, ALDE regretted ANO's decision to leave while reiterating its commitment to "promote liberal values."
Babis clarified that he hadn’t yet decided which European political group his party would join, but ruled out aligning with the far-right Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group.
ANO's decision to leave reduces the liberal group’s numbers from 81 to 74 seats in the European Parliament, increasing the gap between the liberals and the ECR. The latter now holds 83 seats, according to the latest data. ECR is thus now the third strongest force in the European Parliament, behind the conservative European People's Party (EPP) and the Socialist and Democratic group (S&D), which hold 189 and 136 seats, respectively.
The ECR’s growth is significant as European leaders and various groups compete for top EU positions. EPP, S&D, and Renew, currently negotiating the renewal of their coalition, wish to share these key positions. However, Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, the ECR’s leader, is pushing for the far-right’s advance to be more considered.
ALDE also plans to decide over the weekend whether or not to keep the Dutch VVD in its ranks. There had been discussions about excluding the party following its alliance with Geert Wilders’s PVV in the Netherlands.
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The final political group alignment will be confirmed in July. At the Belgian level, the question remains whether the N-VA will continue as an ECR member, with a decision expected next week.
Meanwhile, Les Engagés left the EPP and officially joined the European Democratic Party, part of Renew, on Thursday.
However, on the same day, Volt's 5 MEPs recommended that the party remains with the Greens/EFA over Renew, in a letter obtained by POLITICO. Among the reasons cited is their belief that the Green group is "more credible when it comes to the fight against right-wing populists." The final decision will be made by members of the party, who have until 23 June to vote.
Based on the European Parliament’s current count, a PPE-S&D-Renew coalition would hold 399 seats, compared to 417 during the last legislature.
