Anti-establishment 5-Star
Movement (M5S) leader Beppe Grillo is bidding to stay in the
euroskeptic EFDD caucus in the European Parliament after a deal
to join the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)
fell apart Monday.
The EFDD caucus, with United Kingdom Independence Party
(UKIP) leader Nigel Farage to the fore, met Tuesday after Farage
spoke over the phone with Grillo earlier, sources said.
They said Farage told the meeting "marriages end" but "they
can also be re-established" as long as "the one who betrays
pays".
A formal exit of the 17 M5S MEPs from the EFDD would lead to
the loss of about 20 personnel, the exclusion from access to EP
committees and the end of influence on main dossiers.
At the same time their exit would seriously jeopardise the
very existence of the EFDD caucus, currently composed of 44
MEPs.
Without the 17 Italians, only 27 MEPs would remain, only two
above the minimum threshold of 25 (representing seven different
nationalities) allowed by the EP to set up a parliamentary
caucus.
So UKIP, too, would risk finding itself among the non-aligned
members.
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