ALDE reject Five Star Movement

ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe ) leader Guy Verhofstadt (pictured) rejects Five Star Movement’s overtures. In a short press statement, the MEP who hopes to be the next president of the European Parliament said: “I have come to the conclusion that there are not enough guarantees to push forward a common agenda to reform Europe."

Verhofstadt goes on to point out what was obvious to everyone else, including other members of the ALDE group: "There is insufficient common ground to proceed with the request of the Five Star Movement (FSM) to join the ALDE Group. There remain fundamental differences on key European issues."

Nevertheless, Verhofstadt hoped that they will continue to work closely on issues of shared interest.

This leaves Grillo in an awkward position; he has already written his goodbye letter to Nigel Farage. When he polled his party membership, he offered them a choice between the current membership of the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy Group, ALDE and becoming ‘non-attached MEPs’.

It is hard to see any option, other than non-attached; however, this comes with significant losses in the amount of funding available to the party and limits their procedural power within the European Parliament.

One option that was not offered was the Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) group, which is led by Marine Le Pen. Le Pen has recently said that she would prefer a renegotiation of France’s relationship to the EU, rather than a rupture, she also wants to leave the single currency and is opposed to TTIP (the trans-Atlantic trade agreement with the EU), two areas where she would find common cause with the 5SM. However, the ENF already welcomes the Northern League as its Italian partner. It would be difficult, though not impossible, to be in the same group as political rivals.

The Greens – European Free Alliance already rejected the idea of Grillo’s party joining their group. 

#Grillos group doesn't fit to Greens or Alde.If @ALDEgroup takes #M5s on board @Verhofstadt will pay next week & @Lambsdorff in september. https://t.co/IFtV5GPfVg

— Rebecca Harms (@RebHarms) January 9, 2017

It is likely that some Five Star MEPs will stay in the EFDD group, while others may choose other affiliations. The MEPs, like their supporters, appear to be of different minds; some would be more comfortable with the more left-wing Confederal Group of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left, which is to the left of the socialist and democratic group and is anti-TTIP, other MEPs ENF. The only thing that is clear, is that it is all very unclear; while the 5SM have polled strongly in Italy, poor management in Rome and confusion in Europe will make it more difficult for the supporters to know what the party stands for.

Share this article: