EU Left admits Italy’s M5S on probationary basis

Italy’s Five Star Movement (M5S) has officially joined the European left-wing group, but total acceptance in the group will depend on a six-month probation period of “mutual engagement”.

“We have just signed our membership with The Left group, achieving our first political goal of joining a progressive group that values the points of the programme we presented during the European elections,” the M5S said.

However, the admission comes with a mutual six-month probationary period, during which M5S MEPs will enjoy the same rights as other members.

“Given the tight deadlines due to internal technical constraints of the European Parliament, we have mutually agreed with The Left on six months of reciprocal engagement to fine-tune future challenges of the European political agenda,” the statement reads.

According to sources, the reservation about membership stems from doubts raised in Thursday’s discussion between the two parties about the coalition government that the M5S formed with the far-right Lega in 2018.

The government lasted a year under former prime minister Giuseppe Conte, who later criticised the migration policies adopted during this period.

Despite the probationary period, both parties reported a constructive and friendly meeting.

“We thank The Left MEPs for the constructive dialogue held today during the Bureau meeting and for the decision to welcome us into their political family,” said the head of the M5S delegation in the European Parliament.

After an alliance with Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party between 2014 and 2019, the M5S remained among the non-attached members with its 14 MEPs in the last legislature, as attempts to join the S&D and the Greens failed.

The agreement with The Left follows rumours of the formation of a new group with the German BSW, the personal party of Sahra Wagenknecht, which emerged from a split in the German Die Linke.

“As opposed to being non-attached, with a group in the European Parliament, we will have full political mobility… Over the next five years, we commit ourselves to working with our new colleagues to promote a more socially aware Europe, opposing poverty and austerity policies,” said Pasquale Tridico, leader of the M5S delegation in the European Parliament.

The opposition to Ursula von der Leyen’s re-election was also a decisive factor in the agreement, as the M5S was crucial to her election in 2019.

The EU Left now has 47 seats in the European Parliament, and the M5S delegation will be the second largest after France’s La France Insoumise.

The group already includes two Italian MEPs from the Italian Left, Ilaria Salis and Mimmo Lucano. With the addition of the M5S, the Italian delegation will be the largest.

(Alessia Peretti | Euractiv.it)

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