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Markus Grabitz

Markus Grabitz Published: June 13th, 2024

Positions in the European Parliament: the future of the cordon sanitaire

Nicola Procaccini, co-chair of the ECR group, aims to gain more members in the political marketplace. His goal is to make ECR the third-largest group, surpassing the Renew group, which has 79 members. “We do not want to leave the ECR,” says the representative from the post-fascist Fratelli d’Italia. They have no intention of abandoning […]

Markus Grabitz Published: June 13th, 2024

Transfer market: How many MEPs the ECR has gained

Five new members joined the conservative ECR Group at its first group meeting after the European elections. The group now has 77 members. ECR Co-President Nicola Procaccini announced that further MEPs will join the group before it is constituted on June 26. These are MEPs who have newly entered the European Parliament as lone fighters. […]

Markus Grabitz Published: June 12th, 2024

Top jobs: Why Monday will be exciting

All eyes are now on the informal meeting of the heads of state and government on Monday evening in Brussels. EPP leader Manfred Weber has repeatedly made it clear that he expects the support of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron for a second term of office for Ursula von der Leyen […]

Markus Grabitz Published: June 12th, 2024

Top jobs: Why all eyes are now on the Council

The first meeting of the seven political group leaders after the European elections was over quicker than planned. Two hours were scheduled for the first Conference of Presidents (COP) of the group leaders with EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola. It was over 15 minutes before the end. The only result: Metsola, who speaks to the […]

Markus Grabitz Published: June 11th, 2024

Uproar in the CDU/CSU group: Why Daniel Caspary was only narrowly re-elected

Daniel Caspary was narrowly confirmed as head of the German CDU/CSU group in the European Parliament. The MEP, who has led the group of 29 MEPs since 2017, prevailed against Sven Simon. Caspary won 16 votes against eleven votes in favor and one abstention. Angelika Niebler (CSU) is Caspary’s deputy. Christine Schneider (CDU) and Monika […]

Markus Grabitz Published: June 10th, 2024

After the election: Which parties the EPP now wants to negotiate with

Following the EPP’s clear election victory, the partners of the previous Von der Leyen Commission want to get together quickly and negotiate a new version of the informal cooperation. The Socialists (S&D) and Liberals (Renew) had already congratulated Ursula von der Leyen on her success on the evening of the election and committed to the […]

Markus Grabitz Published: June 10th, 2024

Europe has voted: majority in favor of Von der Leyen coalition

According to the European Parliament’s seat projection, EPP, S&D and Renew, the three factions of the informal Von der Leyen coalition, will secure 407 of the 720 seats in the European elections. They would thus continue to have a majority in the tenth legislative period. However, to ensure Ursula von der Leyen’s reelection, they might […]

Markus Grabitz Published: June 5th, 2024

European elections: How younger people vote

Young people are more pro-European, but vote less often. This is the result of a representative survey by “eupinions“, the European opinion research institute of the Bertelsmann Stiftung. The study will be published today, Wednesday. In the March survey, an EU average of 59% of voters between the ages of 16 and 25 said they […]

Markus Grabitz Published: June 3rd, 2024

Car regulation: What laws the Commission has up its sleeve

The big question in the next election period is whether the EU will back down on the ban on combustion engines. The CDU and CSU are selling their demand as an election campaign hit. Calls for this from some member states are increasing in volume. There are also increasing signals from manufacturers to adapt the […]