Parliamentary groups: the vanity contest of who is the largest

For weeks now here in Brussels, but not only here, the race has been on to see which of the political groups in Parliament has the largest number of MEPs. Three groups are under the lens: the liberals of Renew, the conservatives of ECR, and, as of a few hours ago, the sovereignists of the Patriots. It has seemed, until now, a kind of bicycle race with affirmations and overtakes, defections and new acquisitions, with the team in the lead changing several times as if a headwind suddenly blocked the pedalling force.

Of course, numbers are important; it is better to be 100 than 70. They indicate vigour and electoral success; the bigger they are, the more good-looking. But what matters is how you use these numbers.

Orban’s Patriots are, at the time of writing, 84. The Liberals 77. Shall we see who will have collected the most points at the end of the race, i.e., at the end of the legislature and any intermediate milestone? The Patriots—around whom a cordon sanitaire has been unrolled that will keep them out of every office and every decision—and the Liberals—who are in the majority and will share seats and proposals? Or even the ECR, which is not inside a cordon sanitaire and will, therefore, have committee chairmanships and decision-making roles despite being smaller than the Patriots’ group?

So, take it easy with the assessments. We will always tell you everything because this is politics, and the size of a group measures many things, including the general political consensus and that of the leading parties in the groups. But let’s not be dazzled by size: what matters in that palace are the legislative effects a parliamentary group can produce.