Party Groupings in the EU parliament

Swedish media talk very little about the various party groupings in the European parliament. If you are in Sweden voting for the "Alliansen", this does not separate your election for the two party groups EPP-ED (European People's Party--European Democrats) and ALDE (Alliance for Liberals and Democrats). EPP-ED is the largest grouping and ALDE the third largest after PES, the Socialists.

ALDE is the destination for Folkpartiet Liberalerna, Centerpartiet and Feministiskt Initiativ. Kristdemokraterna and Nya Moderaterna is more like EPP-ED.

I suggested earlier that it might be a good idea to fuse the four right wing parties in Sweden to a Valallians. However, looking into the future it might be better fusing FP+C and M+KD to streamline with Europe.

The reason for not talking very much about this in Sweden is of course because of the relatively small contribution of the Swedes in the EU. Loss of power is never popular but it would make a lot more sense to work according to the same principles as in Brussels.

The European Parliament is apparently unique because it organizes itself according to ideology rather than nationality. ALDE is supposedly the grouping most dedicated to European Integration. According to Graham Watson, the leader of ALDE, they are also for EU expansion, something I'm not so fond of. EPP-ED has an europhilic centre-right branch and a right wing eurosceptic branch.

EPP-ED is in a Grand Coalition with the Socialists in the Parliament for majority voting. According to Watson of ALDE it is not so important any longer how you position yourself left-right, everyone needs a functioning economy, but rather how you position yourself towards globalization.

I'm not sure I agree on the indifference between the left and the right. I see fundamental differences to important questions. Therefore I consider a vote in Sweden on KD or M which would hopefully translate into a majority situation in the EU parliament for EPP-ED. Hopefully the election in Germany will also remove the "grand coalition" and become a coalition between the centre-right and the liberals.