Why has the far right failed to successfully complete the "grouping" in the European Parliament?

After much attempt, Viktor Orban and Marine Le Pen eventually had to abandon the formation of the only political group representing the far right in the European Parliament, although the new political group would increase their influence and bring some financial support. The failure of the "group" was mainly attributed to the ultra-conservatives in Poland, because they thought that the "group" was risky, so they did not want to take too much risk.

"But at the last moment, there was a reversal!"

The French newspaper Les Echos reported that after many attempts, many eurosceptic parties in Europe had finally abandoned the formation of a unified political group in the European Parliament, which would have brought them political influence and additional funding if successful. The mid-term team change of the European Parliament, which was supposed to take place in early January, was a great opportunity to formally announce the formation of this large sovereign alliance that would contribute to a vision of cooperation on issues of nationalism, nationalism and anti-migration at the European level.

If successfully "organized", the new group will have more than 100 members of the European Parliament, becoming the third largest political force in the European Parliament. The new group could even sideline Renew, a pro-Emmanuel Macron centrist parliamentarian group in the European Parliament, thereby weakening its key position in the European Parliament.

The new European far-right caucus is even likely to win the posts of chairman and vice-president of several committees of the European Parliament, and thus have significant influence. Needless to say, for Le Pen, the leader of the Rassemblement National, who has announced his candidacy for this year's French presidential election, this is a great opportunity to demonstrate his political clout in Brussels and its importance on Europe. "In early December 2021, everything seemed to be ready. We were also told there would be some announcements. The press release has also been compiled," said one Renew group confidant. "But at the last moment, there was a reversal!"

Orban acts as an "intermediary"

So the miracle did not happen. The meeting in Warsaw in early December last year led to a simple political declaration rejecting the "nation européenne" plan and stressing that only countries have full democratic legitimacy. Ten signatories to the declaration plan to meet regularly and vote "United Front" in parliament, nothing more.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban spared no effort to bring the two protagonists of the plan closer together. He acted as a middleman, trying to align identity with the groupe Identitéet Démocratie, the National Alliance, the La Ligue party led by Italy's Matteo Salvini and the Parti Droit et, led by The Pole Jaroslaw Kaczynski justice) led by conservatives and reformist groups (les Conservateurs et Réformistes). Orbán, president of Hungary's most powerful coalition of young democrats (FIDESZ), has been looking for a new form of organization since he broke away from the PFE, the center-right majority party in the European Parliament, last March due to serious political controversy. However, ideological differences among the leaders, divergent political interests, and mutual hostility eventually put the grand alliance program on hold.

Two routes

An observer to the European Parliament explained, "There are two lines in the far right. One strategy advocates prioritizing the formation of a technical caucus, primarily to demonstrate its unity and form a powerful force that will play an indispensable and key role in the negotiations. This is the position of the National Union. The other line is more political, prioritizing the united front on major issues. In the end, the latter prevailed, and the leaders of Poland's PIS party refused to opt for a stopgap measure, as the parties were divided on their vision for the future.

We know the main reason for the discord between these two right-wing groups: relations with Russia. Le Pen, Salvini, and Orban used every opportunity to praise and encourage the maintenance of close relations with Russia, but to the Polish PIS, they were all "scarecrow" puppets. This feeling has deepened since the migration crisis in Belarus. According to them, it was Moscow that instigated behind the scenes.

Moreover, while Orbán now accepts regular dealings with the National Union, which he has snubbed in the past, Poland's ultra-conservatives still insist on the fact that they are the ruling party, believing that they are responsible and ready to compromise on the push for EU bills if necessary, which is simply impossible for identity and Democrats. In addition, the Polish PIS party nominated one of its members, Kosma Złotowski, to succeed him as Speaker of parliament.

What kind of leadership mechanism?

Finally, there is the issue of "bellwethers". Who will lead this new caucus of 60 to 70 MPs in the European Parliament? Since the British Conservative Party left the European Parliament in early 2020, Poland's PIS party is the sole leader of the Conservative and Reform caucus, and the prospect of merging with the National Coalition has made it concerned that it will unite with the Democratic Party, which has been previously excluded.

Orbán had high hopes for the formation of a new caucus to give it more political space, but now he seems to be the biggest loser in the "grouping" failure. A member of the European Parliament representing FIDES can only be considered an unregistered member of the European Parliament group until the new directive is received. "They've lost all their money and influence. They retained the position of Deputy Speaker of Parliament, but this was a legacy of their time as members of the PPE. However, they will lose this position in the second phase of their term," stressed a political adviser to the European Parliament.

(Editor: Li Jingtong)