Patriots for Europe (PfE or Patriots) is a right-wing to far-right sovereigntist political group, formed as the third-largest group ahead of the tenth European Parliament.
The group includes all MEPs of the former Identity and Democracy group (except one MEP from AfD), as well as members from other groups. The group also seeks to coordinate the work of its members at the European Council and the Council of the European Union.
The 2024 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 6 and 9 June 2024. It was the tenth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first European Parliament election after Brexit. A total of 720 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected to represent more than 450 million people from 27 member states. This election also coincided with a number of other elections in some European Union member states.
The European People's Party led by Ursula von der Leyen won the most seats in the European Parliament. The pro-EU centrist, liberal, social democrat and environmentalist parties suffered losses, while anti-EU right-wing populist parties made gains. The right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists group overtook the centrist Renew Europe group to win the fourth-most seats, while another right-wing group, Patriots for Europe, the successor of Identity and Democracy, won the third-most seats. In addition, a far-right group, Europe of Sovereign Nations, was formed, becoming the smallest group in the Parliament. In total, 187 MEPs (26% of Parliament) belonged to the hard right which is more members than ever before in history.
Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's.
Until 2019, 751 MEPs were elected to the European Parliament, which has been directly elected since 1979. Since the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU in 2020, the number of MEPs, including the president, has been 705. No other EU institution is directly elected, with the Council of the European Union and the European Council being only indirectly legitimated through national elections. While European political parties have the right to campaign EU-wide for the European elections, campaigns still take place through national election campaigns, advertising national delegates from national parties.
Identity and Democracy (ID; French: Identité et démocratie) was a political group of the European Parliament during the Ninth European Parliament term, launched on 13 June 2019. It comprised far-right, right-wing populist, Eurosceptic and nationalist national parties from six European states. It was the successor to the Europe of Nations and Freedom group formed during the eighth term and almost all of its members merged into the Patriots for Europe group formed during the tenth term.