Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1522102
12 maltatoday | MONDAY • 10 JUNE 2024 MEP ELECTION 2024 EU election claims scalp of French government Macron dissolves parliament after crushing defeat to far-right EUROPE has swung to the right with centre-right and far- right parties leading the way as election results for the Euro- pean Parliament trickled in on Sunday evening. The first projection saw the European People's Party (EPP) obtain 186 seats, followed by the Socialists & Democrats (S&D) with 133 seats. The Nationalist Party in Mal- ta, which elected three MEPs forms part of the EPP, and the Labour Party, which also elect- ed three seats forms part of the S&D. The liberal Renew are expect- ed to have 82 seats with the Conservatives and Reformists are expected to come in fourth with 70 seats. The far-right Identity and Democracy is ex- pected to clinch 60 seats. Centre-right and far-right parties are set to take the larg- est number of seats in the most populous nations: Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Po- land. France led the rightward lurch with such a crushing vic- tory for the far-right Nation- al Rally that liberal President Emmanuel Macron dissolved France's parliament and called an early election. Early projec- tions suggested the National Rally would win 32% or more of the vote, more than twice that of the president's party. In Germany, the centre-right is cruising to a comfortable victory, with the far-right Al- ternative for Germany (AfD) coming second and beating Chancellor Olaf Scholz's So- cialists into third place. Voters across 27 nations have voted over the past week to select 720 members of the Eu- ropean Parliament, who will serve over the next five years. Their first main role will be to approve or reject the main candidate for Europe's top job: president of the European Commission. The two far-right groups can potentially be the third largest in the parliament but are un- likely to act as a unified group because of divisions on topics such as Russia. However, it is expected that they will still be able to influ- ence the overall direction of the EU, on everything from immigration to climate poli- cies. Although the European Com- mission President Ursula von der Leyen's party, the EPP, makes up the single-biggest bloc in parliament, she will have to strike a deal with the traditional centrist parties – the socialists and liberals – to build a majority of 361 or more and hold on to her post. However, negotiations will not be easy since it would de- pend on a rejection rate of 10% maximum. This is normally much higher and thus she may have to secure support from the Greens and possibly Gior- gia Meloni's Brothers of Italy MEPs, who form part of the rightist ECR grouping. European Parliament Presi- dent Roberta Metsola secured re-election to the parliament with a solid performance in her home country Malta. Metsola will be eyeing a sec- ond term as president, how- ever, much will depend on the horse trading that will go on in the coming weeks to apportion key roles between different groupings and nationalities. Party Seats Seats% European People's Party 186 25.8% Socialists & Democrats 133 18.5% Renew 82 11.4% Conservatives & Reformists 70 9.7% Identity & Democracy 60 8.3% Greens 53 7.4% Left 36 5% Nonaligned 100 13.9% Emmanuel Macron dissolved France's parliament and called an early election Roberta Metsola