| Author (Person) | Nielsen, Nikolaj |
|---|---|
| Series Title | EUObserver |
| Series Details | 29.05.14 |
| Publication Date | 29/05/2014 |
| Content Type | News |
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French leader Marine Le Pen of the National Front was in Brussels on the 28 May 2014 to gather allies, but came up short in her bid to form a far-right European Parliament group. “We have five nationalities already out of the seven that we need so it’s a pretty solid basis for us to form a group,” said Le Pen in Brussels. Le Pen said they should get the additional remaining two by July latest and announced the future faction alongside allies from the Netherlands' Freedom party, Austria’s Freedom party, Italy’s Lega Nord, and Belgium’s Vlaams Belang. While Marine Le Pen sought support for her newest political group, also Nigel Farage tried to attract new parties to his own group, Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD). A parliament group grants MEPs access to more financial support and speaking time in plenary. A new far-right group in the European Parliament would be entitled to receive up to €50 million in EU funding over the next five years, a cash jackpot that party leaders admit could make or break the future success of the grouping led by France's National Front. It was announced on the 4 June 2014 that the Danish People's Party and The Finns party would leave Nigel Farage's Parliament group, Europe of Freedom and Democracy, which they previously belonged to, to join the group of British Prime Minister David Cameron's Tories, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR). While there were reports on the 10 June 2014 that Lithuania's Order and Justice Party had left the EFD group to join Le Pen's effort to create a new political group, the same party denied such rumours. Mr. Farage stated that he would leave the European Parliament should his election to the UK's House of Commons came true in 2015. On the 12 June 2014, Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement voted overwhelmingly in an online referendum to join the UK Independence Party led Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) group in the new European Parliament. The Dutch MEP Bas Belder announced on the 16 June 2014 that he was joining the ECR group in the EU Parliament, thus leaving Mr. Farage's EFD group. |
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| Source Link | http://euobserver.com/news/124417 |
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| Subject Categories | Politics and International Relations |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
