FRONT NATIONAL & ASSOCIATES: NO GROUP YET

The far-right group led by the French Front National could not be created, at least for the first plenary sessions at the new European Parliament.

Immediate Consequences:

1. No funding at least for the time being from the European Parliament budget. On the basis of the current 38 MEPs comprising Front National & Associates, the group will forsake an annual grant of € 2,974,718.39 to set up and run their group; a grant for a linked pan-European political party worth € 895,830.73; € 572,210.71 for a linked political foundation or think tank amounting to € 4,442;759.83 eevry year or about € 22 million over the course of the parliament's five year term.
2. No secretariat staffed with its own people instead it will have to rely on the European Parliament's in-house office for non-affiliated parties.
3. No allocation of points, which it could use to select MEPs to appoint to influential positions within European Parliament committees. MEPs will lose the possibility of being assigned elective internal offices (presidency and vice-presidencies of committees and delegations which are appointed by vote at least for two years and a half.
4. Very short time to talk during sessions (Speaking time is divided equally by political groups (including the NI as a single category) and the remainder is distributed among the political groups in proportion to the total number of their members. Political groups allocate speaking time internally between their MEPs. The remaining; unallocated time can be used for one-minute speeches).
5. Will be able to present amendments only if they find other 40 MEPs to sign it, which shouldn't be a problem.

Of course this situation is not a permanent condition and negotiations for forming a group can go on and the coalition could be created later on.