MEPs

MEPs within the Parliament

MEPs organise themselves into cross-national political groups, except for a few non-attached members known as Non-Inscrits who choose not to join a Group (or no Group wants them). The two largest groups are the European People's Party Group (EPP Group) and the Socialists & Democrats (S&D). These two groups have dominated the Parliament for much of its life, continuously holding between 40 and 70 per cent of the seats together. No single group has ever held a majority in Parliament. As a result of being broad alliances of national parties, European groups parties are decentralised and hence have more in common with parties in federal states like Germany or the United States than unitary states like the majority of the EU states. Although, the European groups, between 2004 and 2009, were actually more cohesive than their US counterparts.