Do Birds of a Feather Flock Together? Why European Right-Wing Populists Group Separately at the European Parliament: The Case of the 2024 Elections
摘要
Radical right populist parties have increased their numbers in the EP since the 8th legislature, when they represented around 70 MEPs and were grouped around three main political groups: the ECR, the ENF and the FDD. In the 9th legislature, their numbers increased to 130 MEPs and, after the departure of the British UKIP, they remained divided into two political groups: the ECR and ID. In the 10th legislature, three political groups—the ECR, the PfE and the ESN—make up the largest party family in the EP. Understanding why and how they group will be a crucial issue in the coming years. This is precisely the aim of this chapter. In order to answer the research question, the chapter carries out a double analysis, on the ideological and pragmatic levels. Firstly, their different political manifestos for the 2024 European elections, as well as the founding documents of the new parties (constitutive documents, press statements …) have been taken into account. Secondly, the research considers pragmatic elements such as the political competition between parties or party dynamics in previous legislatures. The main method used was text analysis through coding in the above-mentioned documents. The research also includes a brief analysis of the groupings of previous EP legislatures before focusing on the dynamics of 2024. The results indicate that the ideas of the radical right are compatible in the EP, but their party competition in their MS is not.