The former member and vice-president of the movement was elected on a joint candidate list with the Motorists themselves and was originally a member of the Patriots for Europe (PfE). She was later expelled from this faction for alleged damage to her name.
“We will increase our numbers,” said Nicola Procaccini, co-chairman of the ECR faction, at a press conference on Tuesday. “We don’t want to increase the number of members just to be bigger than others – we want to strengthen our influence thanks to the right people,” he added.
“The move, which was confirmed by two people familiar with the matter, comes at a time when political factions are preparing for a change of positions in January 2027 in the middle of their term of office. At that time, all the highest positions in the European Parliament will be filled again, including the position of the president. The more MEPs each faction has, the more positions they can get and the stronger the negotiating position they have in negotiations,” noted the website Politico regarding the expected transition of the Czech MEP to ECR faction.
It has 82 mandates after the arrival of Bartůšek. It will continue to be the fourth largest parliamentary group in the EP and increase its lead over the liberal faction Obnova Evropy, which is the fifth largest. It has 78 deputies, after having received several new members in recent months.
The European Conservatives and Reformists were created after the elections in 2009. At that time, they followed on from the Movement for European Reform, a joint project of the ODS and British conservatives. From the beginning, the members have included representatives of the Polish conservative party Law and Justice. The then ODS MEP Jan Zahradil, who now cooperates with Motoristy sebe, participated in the founding of the faction. British conservatives left the EP after Britain left the EU.
