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An indicative overview
Influence is measured through a combination of criteria clustered into formal and informal leadership positions, actual legislative work, committee membership, political network and voting behaviour. Each MEP’s overall score (0–100) blends three families of evidence:
70%
Institutional
Leadership roles, committee coordination, rapporteurships, seniority and network.
15%
Stakeholder consultation
Engagement with socio-economic stakeholders affected by the policy the MEPs are shaping.
15%
Voting
Being on the winning side of key votes and central inside their political group.
Disclaimer. This is an assessment based on our team’s 18 years of experience in interpreting relevant EU socio-political data. The aim is not to provide an “absolute truth”, but rather an indicative overview. As in any such research, the weighing of the criteria may contain an intrinsic degree of subjectivity, which we aimed to reduce by consulting with a wide range of analysts and practitioners. “Influence” here is a neutral term — it measures the power an MEP holds to shape outcomes, not whether they are “good” or on your side.
Key findings & trends
Influence is in continuous motion. These standings capture the balance of power at this point in the term. As the Parliament heads towards its mid-term reshuffle of committee chairs and coordinators, several of these positions — and the scores that flow from them — are likely to shift. This is precisely why we have built a mechanism to observe influence as it changes: from autumn, this index will be updated in near real time, as events happen.
This EP term’s index is currently topped by Manfred Weber EPP, who has built his weight over years steering the leading EPP group and party in a delicate electoral and parliamentary context.
The European Parliament President Roberta Metsola EPP leverages her institutional role to maintain her influence to the extent of hoping for a rather unusual 3rd consecutive term (to be decided in January next year).
S&D group Chair Iratxe García Pérez S&D comes 3rd, leveraging the strong activity of the Spanish S&D delegation and the (rather remarkable resilience) of Sanchez’s government in Madrid.
EP Vice-President Victor Negrescu S&D accumulated influence via a combination of institutional leadership and direct steering of some of the most high profile files this term: the EU’s budget.
Close behind, René Repasi S&D rounds out the top five — one of the Parliament’s most active legislators this term, combining an intensive rapporteur and shadow-rapporteur workload on major files with his standing in the German S&D delegation.
Renew group Chair Valérie Hayer Renew naturally holds significant influence as head of the (needed for coalitions) centrist group and through her political network with the government in Paris. However, this level seems difficult to maintain, as Macron’s legacy is getting under significant pressure close to the end of his mandate, while Renew itself continues to drift in the electorate’s preferences.
Christian Ehler EPP stands out above all for stakeholder engagement — by a wide margin the most sought-after MEP for socio-economic stakeholders, with the strongest engagement campaign — alongside hands-on work on some of the term’s heaviest industrial files. Fellow EPP heavyweight Markus Ferber EPP sits just behind, the leading MEP whose weight comes most from direct legislative work, on economic and financial dossiers.
EP Vice-Presidents Ewa Kopacz EPP (former Polish PM), Martin Hojsík Renew and Roberts Zīle ECR complete the leading pack.
Overall Top 100
Ranked by total influence score (0–100). Group colours are consistent throughout the report.
A snapshot of a moving picture. The influence is in continuous motion — especially in the lead up to the mid-term reshuffle in January next year. Next to each MEP you can see the main drivers of influence. Click to see details. We will refresh this index in near real time from autumn onwards.
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MEP
Group
Country
Influence
Who shapes each policy area?
Overall influence is only part of the story. On any given file, the balance of power shifts towards the committee chairs, coordinators and specialist legislators who own that dossier. Pick a policy area below to see its top-10 most influential MEPs. As with the overall index, always pair these names with the direction in which each MEP is pushing the debate — and watch the influential moderates in the middle, whose votes decide close paragraphs.
Who are the most influential MEPs in each country?
Every national delegation has its own internal pecking order. Below are the most influential members of each country’s delegation, ranked by their Overall influence score. For the larger delegations we show the top 10; for mid-sized ones, the top 5; for the smallest, the top 3. Pick a country to see its leading MEPs.
Which national delegations exert the most influence?
When taken as a whole, large delegations such as Germany, France and Italy naturally exert more influence than smaller ones simply because they field more MEPs. Yet the assessment also reveals which delegations punch above their weight — securing more leadership positions or legislative files than their size would normally allow. We show both views below, computed across every sitting MEP’s Overall score.
On total influence, Germany dominates (2,692 points across 96 MEPs), ahead of France (1,831) and Italy (1,701) — the expected weight of the three largest delegations. But the picture flips on average influence per MEP. Here the standout over-performers are small delegations: Malta tops the table (36.8 per MEP), followed by Finland (31.4), Sweden (29.6), Croatia (29.5) and Luxembourg (29.4) — each punching well above its size. Germany still does well proportionally (28.0). The clearest under-performers on the average measure are Hungary (16.6, dragged down by a large non-attached and PfE contingent), Greece (19.6), Cyprus (20.9), Czechia (20.8) and Slovakia (21.2).
Average influence per MEP
Strips out delegation size, revealing who punches above (or below) their weight — larger delegations no longer dominate simply by fielding more members.
CountryAverage influence points per MEP
Which nationalities carry each group?
Influence inside a political group is rarely spread evenly across nationalities. The mini-charts below show, for each group, the countries whose MEPs carry the most total influence within that group (with each country’s MEP count). Germans anchor the EPP, Greens/EFA and the far-right ESN; Spaniards and Italians lead S&D; the French dominate Renew, PfE and The Left; Italians and Poles carry the ECR.
What predicts influence?
Looking across all 718 sitting MEPs, one factor stands out above the rest: experience. Incumbency is the single strongest predictor of an MEP’s influence — members who served the previous term score about 50% higher than first-timers. Age barely matters once past the youngest bracket, and there is no gender gap to speak of.
Seniority is the single strongest driver
MEPs who already served in the previous term average 28.6 influence points, against 20.5 for those elected for the first time in 2024. These figures deliberately strip out the small bonus the index itself awards for seniority, so the gap reflects the real roles experience brings — committee chairs, coordinator posts and rapporteurships — not the bonus itself. Newcomers are not less able; they are simply still building the networks, expertise and access to leadership roles that take a term or two to accumulate.
*Incumbent MEPs receive a bonus of 3 points as part of the assessment. Even without this bonus, they would rank, on average, higher than first-time MEPs.
Age matters only at the youngest end
Influence rises sharply out of the under-40 bracket and then flattens: once past 40, the typical MEP’s influence is essentially the same whether they are in their forties or their seventies. The youngest members are the ones still on the way up.
No gender gap
Women and men average almost exactly the same influence — a difference well within noise.
Averages of Overall influence across all sitting MEPs, bucketed by incumbency, age and gender. MEPs without a recorded birthday are excluded from the age view.
Want to know where these MEPs actually stand?
Knowing who is influential is half the picture. Stakeholders also need to know in which direction each MEP is pushing your files — whether they are allies, opponents or the kingmakers in the middle. We combine each MEP’s influence with their policy orientation across environment, energy, health, digital, trade, agri-food and more.
For dedicated briefings, visualisations and workshops — or to match this index to your specific topics — contact us at [email protected].
