On Thursday 4 July, The Left group in the European Parliament announced that the Italian party Movimento Cinque Stelle (‘M5S’) had joined its ranks.
The two political groupings have agreed to a six-month period, with “reciprocal observer status” aimed at “confirming political convergence”.
“We are confident that we will cooperate in a constructive and productive way to confirm convergence between The Left and the M5S to work together for the people and the planet”, the two formations said in a joint statement on Thursday.
Eight MEPs from the Italian party have joined the European Parliament’s radical left group, which now has 47 members.
The ‘M5S’ becomes the second largest delegation within The Left group.
“Unlike the non-attached members, with a group in the European Parliament we will have total political agility. We will be able to follow the process of approving European laws at every stage and contribute to their drafting”, the ‘M5S’ said on Thursday.
In June,The Left had already announced the arrival of two Italian MEPs from the Alleanza verdi a Sinistra, the activist Ilaria Salis, imprisoned in Hungary until her election (see EUROPE 13428/5), and Mimmo Lucano. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)