A parliament in motion
Political group membership in the European Parliament is usually treated as fixed — assigned after elections and stable for the term. The data tells a different story. GovLens tracks 8,111 group membership records, and the 10th Parliament is seeing an unusual volume of mid-term movement.
The most politically significant: Italian MEP Elisabetta Gualmini left the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) for the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) in February 2026. This is not a move between adjacent groups — it is a crossing of the fundamental left-right divide in European politics.
The pattern
French MEP Laurent Castillo moved from EPP to Patriots for Europe (PfE) in January 2026 — a shift from the mainstream centre-right to the eurosceptic right. Roberto Vannacci, the controversial Italian general-turned-MEP, moved from PfE to the new Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) group in February.
The Dutch delegation is particularly fluid: Sander Smit moved from EPP to Renew in March 2026, having been in EPP for less than a month. These movements suggest the Dutch political realignment playing out in national politics is disrupting EP group loyalties.
Why it matters
Group switches change the arithmetic of the Parliament. Every MEP who moves from EPP to Renew, or from S&D to ECR, shifts the majority calculus on close votes. On the EU-Mercosur vote (margin: 10), the Nature Restoration Law (margin: 36), or the upcoming AI Omnibus package, a handful of group defections could flip outcomes. GovLens tracks every group change with dates — search any MEP to see their full political trajectory.