The composition of committees in the European Parliament has implications when it comes to policy predictability and expertise, with some featuring more familiar faces while others are dominated by newcomers.

In the new European Parliament, the AFCO committee has the highest number of returning MEPs. Committees dealing with external affairs (INTA, DEVE, and AFET) have also attracted more senior MEPs compared to the overall average.

On the other hand, only a small number of MEPs from the TRAN committee are incumbent, as this key committee is packed with newcomers. Although more balanced, the ITRE committee also has a significant majority of newcomers (58%), which will be a challenge for many stakeholders as the committee is likely to play a strong role compared to the past term, due to the increased prominence of industrial policy in the political guidelines of the new Commission.  

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Additionally, the composition of EP committees is not balanced in terms of nationality, which means that some national groups are more represented (and influential) in specific committees.  

For example, Germans tend to focus on committees related to the economic sphere. Their interests are in close connection with budgetary (BUDG, CONT), macro-economic (ECON, FISC), and internal market (IMCO) matters, where the Germans have a considerable share of the total members (and especially German EPP and Greens have a sizable representation in IMCO and ECON, which will be dealing with initiatives on single market and financial sector). Perhaps surprisingly, Germans have a stronger representation in the SEDE committee compared to the French, which is also a sign of increasing German interest in defence, which is traditionally seen as a French-driven policy area. 

Germans are not the most predominant group in every committee though.  For example, French MEPs are the most numerous in two committees that are very important for France. The strong French representation in the international trade committee is likely to affect the balance of power in the committee, considering the slightly more protectionist attitude by French parties compared to the rest of the EU. The French are also the biggest nationality in the committee on civil liberties, justice and home affairs, which deals with security topics such as crime and migration (although this is rather due to the strong German under-representation in this committee).

Italians also tend to be more concentrated in a few committees. For example, in ITRE there is a strong predominance of Italians, with the party of Giorgia Meloni featuring 5 MEPs! The Italian governing party has been trying to exert more influence on the EU debate on industrial policy and competitiveness. Unsurprisingly perhaps, Italians are also strongly represented in the agricultural committee, with the Italian Partito Democratico being the single largest delegation in the committee. The Italian S&D will likely try to act as a bridge between farmers’ interests and the stronger environmental orientation of their group.  

The Spanish are the biggest nationality in the Fisheries committee. MEPs from Partido Popular in particular are keen on this committee, as fisheries is an important economic activity in the rural communities from which the party draws support. MEPs from Partido Popular are also prominent in the JURI committee, which deals with issues that are relevant to Catalonia-related controversies, such as the legal battles over parliamentary immunities and extraditions.  

As for the Polish MEPs, they have a stronger presence in the budgetary committee, which is key for Poland as the biggest net beneficiary (in absolute terms) of the EU budget. The strong Polish interest for the budget in the European Parliament is complemented by the efforts by the Polish government to get a budget-related portfolio for their Commissioner nominee Piotr Serafin.

Romanians are also well-represented in the budgetary committee and even more so in the regional development committee, where Romanians are the biggest national group alongside French and Germans. As for the Dutch, their strongest representation is found in the Fisheries committee, where we see a concentration of right-wing Dutch MEPs. 

For detailed information about the new MEPs, Commissioners, views, influence and policy agenda in the new political cycle, contact us [email protected].