A second picture of the seats of the next European Parliament, unveiled on Friday 1 March by the European institution, shows that the EPP (-3 Members), ECR (-5 Members) and EFDD (-4) groups would lose feathers compared to the first projection in mid-February (see EUROPE 12196).
Parliament projection shows that the EPP group (181 MEPs, 25.7% of the total for the hemicycle on 1 March, compared to 26% two weeks earlier) would lose 3.3 percentage points compared to its influence in the current hemicycle, with larger decreases in France (-9 MEPs), the Czech Republic (-6), Poland (-5) and Italy, Spain, Slovakia and Latvia (-4 for these four countries).
For the S&D group (19.1% of Parliament in March, or 135 MEPs, compared to 19% on 25 February), the decline remains the largest (-5.7%) in the Parliament, especially in Italy (17 seats fewer) and Germany (-9).
The ECR group (46 deputies) is reported to be still losing steam (6.5% of the total according to the March survey, compared to 7% 15 days earlier), with a decrease of 3.5 points (-6 deputies in Germany).
The ALDE group, with a total of 10.6% (75 seats in all), would gain 1.6 points, with good voting intentions in the Czech Republic (+4 seats) and Spain, Slovenia and Germany (+3 seats for these three countries).
The GUE/NGL group would have 6.7% of the seats, compared to 7% in the mid-February projections (+2 seats in France, -3 in Italy and -2 in Spain).
With a total of 49 seats, the Greens/EFA group would represent 7% of the total (as in the current Parliament), 5 more MEPs (+2 in Germany) than in the mid-February projections, with increases in Germany (+7) and decreases in Sweden (-4) and Spain (-3) compared to the outgoing Parliament.
The EFDD group would represent 5.5% of the total (4 fewer deputies than in mid-February projections) with increases in Germany (+9 seats) and Italy (+7 seats).
The ENF group would gain 3.4 points (8.4% of Parliament) in the new Parliament, with +22 seats in Italy and +4 in France.
The group of non-attached members of a political group would include 66 deputies, 22 of whom (4 more than at the mid-February screening) would be elected to the list La République en marche in France. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)