Euronews pollsters predict a potential loss of up to 20 MEPs for the EU liberal-democrats group Renew Europe, reflecting a decline in popularity at the national level, especially in France, Germany and the Netherlands.
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00:00 Elections for a new European Union Parliament are set to be an uphill battle for the liberal
00:08 democratic group Renew Europe.
00:12 Euronews projects that the pro-EU and pro-market group will face big losses in the polls that
00:18 could damage their leverage in negotiations to form a new parliamentary coalition.
00:25 Liberal parties traditionally were strong in Western Europe and it's particularly in
00:31 Western Europe that you see a fragmentation of the political landscape.
00:35 So they become smaller at the national level and therefore also at European level without
00:41 being able to compensate this loss in the so-called new member states in Central and
00:47 Eastern Europe.
00:49 The EU liberals had an impressive surge in the 2019 European elections but Renew could
00:55 lose as many as 20 MEPs in the upcoming vote, likely dropping to 82 seats from 102.
01:03 The Superpol data projects a downsizing of liberal parties in the EU parliamentary election.
01:09 This is particularly likely in France and the Netherlands.
01:12 However according to the simulations by the Euronews poll centre, Renew Europe is still
01:17 a relevant player in the coalition's game.
01:21 For a liberal conservative coalition, Renew could be important from a numerical point
01:26 of view.
01:28 And from an ideological point of view, they would represent a counterbalance to a right-wing
01:33 coalition.
01:35 Even with less MEPs, Renew remains essential if it were possible to form a grand coalition
01:41 including the centre-right European People's Party and the Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
01:46 as in the current parliament.
01:49 Renew's struggles reflect many of the challenges it has faced on a national level over the
01:54 past year and a bit.
01:55 Issues of importance to European voters including purchasing power, migration, energy and farmers
02:01 protests.
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