As of 30 April, the European People's Party is just 5 seats ahead of the S& D group with a total of 213 seats (28% of total votes) against 208 seats for the S& D (Socialists).

Here below is where the EPP stands regarding key policy areas:

Institutional Affairs: Enforcing the subsidiarity principle and providing a more democratic Europe.

MEPs interests are threefold: re-election, policy, and office. These three goals are everything but independent of each other , and the relative importance of the three goals is everything but equal. Re-election is the most important goal: Without re-election, there is neither office (within the legislature) nor policy (influence). And it is much harder to influence policy out of office than it is in office (e.g. by using the strategic advantages of holding an important committee chair).

1. To reinvent the European economy through a 'Green New Deal' by ending austerity, restructuring public and private debt and investing massively in sustainable sectors and technologies.

2. To create a more social Europe with stronger workers' rights, better portability of social rights through a 'European Social Card' and the inclusion of employment promotion among the European Central Bank's policy objectives.

1. To boost the economy by completing the single market, working for an EU-US Free Trade Agreement and better support for the SMEs;
2. To support education reform by promoting apprenticeships and the recognition of diplomas across Europe;
3. To protect the environment and ensure energy security by fixing the emission trading system and investing in a pan-European electricity grid;
4. To promote a more competitive Europe by investing in future oriented sectors such as renewable energy;