Bad news is coming thick and fast for the Renew Europe group, which is seeking to become the third largest political group in the European Parliament after being overtaken on 18 June by the ECR, which has 83 members (see EUROPE 13435/7).
On Friday 21 June, the ANO 2011 party of former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš – which has seven members in the family led by Valérie Hayer of France – announced that it was leaving the group, thereby reducing its number of elected members from 81 to 74 at this stage.
The day before, the Volt party (who has 5 elected members) had said it wanted to remain with the Greens (see EUROPE 13436/27), even though an internal vote is due to take a decision on this between now and 23 June.
The current Czech MEP explained his irreconcilable differences with Renew Europe and the ALDE party. “We always keep our promises to our citizens. We went to the European elections saying that we would fight against illegal migration, that we wanted to repeal the ban on internal combustion engines and fundamentally change the Green Deal. Above all, we want the Czech Republic to remain a sovereign country. The negotiations so far have shown that this will not be possible in the Renew Europe faction, which is why we have decided to leave Renew and the ALDE party. We will now be looking for partners in the European Parliament with whom we can promote our programme. We are not betraying our voters”, said Andrej Babiš on X, whose party is not expected to join the ECR.
Valérie Hayer, who is standing for re-election as Chair of the Group on 25 June, said that the divorce “was long overdue. ANO has chosen a populist path that is incompatible with our values and identity”, she said in a press release.
“Over the last month, their divergence from our values has increased exponentially and we witnessed this with great concern. ANO’s unwillingness to continue their commitment to liberal values have led to today’s outcome. They have turned their back on our firm pro-European convictions and values. The departure of ANO reinforces our pro-European values and our unity”.
“The ALDE party understands that ANO 2011 have requested to leave the ALDE party and the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament, with immediate effect”, the party confirmed.
“While regretting that the ANO party has chosen a path taking them further from liberal values, the ALDE Party and its partners in the European Parliament remain united in our mission to promote our liberal values and we shall continue to do so, reflecting the trust invested in us by voters”.
VVD elected representatives will remain with Renew Europe
In terms of values, however, the ALDE party was due to make a decision at its congress in Vilnius on 21 and 22 June whether to keep within Renew Europe the 4 elected representatives of the Dutch VVD in coalition with Geert Wilders’ extreme right PVV.
The idea of their exclusion was raised by Valérie Hayer when the coalition was formed, but was played down after the vote of 9 June in light of the poor results. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)