Brussels, 20/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - The French Front National (FN) reportedly has more links with the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) than with the Dutch Partij Voor de Vrijheid (PVV), according to an analysis published on Tuesday 20 May by VoteWatch Europe, and the PVV (as regards its vote in the last legislature) is reportedly closer to Nigel Farage's UK Independence Party (UKIP). The PVV and UKIP voted together in 67% of cases, according to VoteWatch.
Marine Le Pen's FN and Geert Wilders' PVV, which for months have been extolling their move closer together, reportedly voted against each other 49% of times, say the authors of the VoteWatch analysis. Ultimately, the eurosceptics and the far right supporters only voted together in 50% of cases, which leads VoteWatch to state that there is little compatibility between the seven leading extremist/populist parties studied (the UK's UKIP, Italy's Lega Nord, Slovakia's SNS, France's FN, the Netherlands' PVV, Austria's FPÖ, and Belgium's Vlaams Belang).
The FN has many more links with the FPÖ - the two formations having shown their agreement in 86% of cases. As regards home affairs, this convergence of views even reaches 92% but, on average, the seven populist parties studied - which include UKIP although Nigel Farage has already ruled out sitting with Marine Le Pen - only matched 55% on issues of justice and home affairs. These statistics are much weaker than for the other groups in the European Parliament, which display much more homogeneity in their votes and vote together more often, according to VoteWatch. In the EPP Group, the French Union pour un movement populaire (UMP) party corresponded very well with Germany's Christlich Demokratische Union (CDU) party (95%), according to VoteWatch.
In the S&D Group, the British Labour Party had a match of 85% with the French Parti Socialiste (PS) and 89% with Germany's Sozialdemokratische Partei (SPD). In the ALDE Group, the British Liberal Democrats had a 90% match with the German Freie Demokratische Partei (FDP) and an 85% match with the French Mouvement Démocrate (MoDem). In the Greens/EFA Group, the German Alliance 90/Greens had a 96% match with the French Europe Ecologie Les Verts. In the ECR Group, the British Conservatives matched with the Czech Obcanska demokratica strana (ODS) 92% and with the Polish Prawoi Sprawiedliwosc (PiS) 85%. (SP)