The European Parliament's ultimate backbencher

Euractiv

4 days ago

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In the capital
It's a sleepy late evening on the third floor of the European Parliament – unless you know where to knock.
Tucked away in the labyrinth of corridors, a full-blown rave is thumping. After the last party got a little too rowdy, the organisers are trying to stick to the rules.
Welcome to MEP Lukas Sieper's office, transformed into the Parliament's most unofficial club night, where a DJ with a visitor pass spins techno as beer flows from a makeshift bar.
At just 28, Sieper was elected last year by 228,000 German voters, despite spending only €2,500 on his campaign for the tiny Party of Progress he founded as a student.
'I'm always looking for openings where I can have influence, even though I'm not part of something bigger here,' he told us.
A year in, Sieper is one of the most unorthodox new MEPs.
They told him he'd need to join a group to matter in the European Parliament; he didn't.
And now, to everyone's surprise, not least his own, he's passing amendments, speaking in plenary, and turning down offers from major factions. His party, he says, rejects all extremism and populism, and doesn't fit into any traditional ideology. Indeed, his main target is the dysfunction of Parliament itself.
His profile, as a 'non-attached MEP' who refuses to join any mainstream grouping, is reminiscent of his fellow first-time lawmaker Fidias, an influencer who has taken a pro–Russian turn. But the two, who sit next to each other in the hemicycle, have clashed over Fidias' stances, particularly a vote on Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia. 'I called him out about it,' Sieper said. 'His political development is a tragedy."
Sieper defines himself as a 'democratic pragmatist.' A member of the centre-right CDU when he was younger, he describes the Greens as too idealistic.
According to Sieper you don't need group ties to hold power in the European Parliament – you just need to know how to play the game. As a trained lawyer, he spends late nights digging through parliamentary rules – finding ways to make noise without a group behind him.
He prides himself on the number of speeches in the plenary he has delivered since being elected a year ago: 193. And he's a master of the so-called blue-card system, which allows him to challenge other MEPs in plenary debates.
This week, he launched a transparency tool – built by his party's 19-year-old engineer and a group of IT people – that lets anyone look up MEP voting records. He decided to hand it over to Parliament for free.
With time, Sieper emerged as a non-Eurosceptic who still slams how the Parliament runs.
'Plenary is supposed to be vibrant, a place of discussion, a place of democracy.' But in Strasbourg, his fellow MEPs "arrive on Tuesday, leave on Thursday – the plenary is empty". "All the important decisions are made between political group leaders", he said.
For all of Sieper's commitment, he's also discovered there's only so much one can achieve from the margins. In a system built for insiders he's in, but not invited – and he knows it.
EU blasts Ukraine's anti-corruption misstep as Zelenskyy backtracks
Ukraine's move to curb the independence of its anti-corruption agencies 'was a mistake', EU Defence commissioner Andrius Kubilius told Euractiv on Thursday, when talking about a highly controversial law that placed Ukraine's independent anti-corruption bodies under effective government control.
In a swift U-turn, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted a new draft bill to the Parliament to restore and reinforce the independence of the agencies, a move spurred by street protests across Ukraine and growing pressure from EU leaders.
'The biggest mistake was not in the content of the actions, but how it was done', Kubilius said.
Nonetheless, he noted that Ukraine has immense potential for defence and space capabilities and could even be a member of a future European Defence Union if the proposal ever becomes reality. Read the full exclusive interview on Euractiv's defence newsletter, Firepower, which will drop early afternoon. Subscribe here.
Scoop: Hungary rejects EU plan for Ukrainian refugee transition
Hungary has abstained from endorsing a Council recommendation on how to wind down temporary protection for Ukrainians, taking aim at the Commission's proposed 'Unity Hubs."
The hubs, EU-funded info centres meant to support integration and voluntary return, are a no-go for Budapest, which slammed them as 'new measures, which are not sufficiently developed."
In a note seen by Euractiv, Hungary warned the project carries 'a number of security risks' and 'could also pose a threat to the security of the Union as a whole'. The plan falls under the watch of the newly appointed EU Special Envoy for Ukrainians, former home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson.
All other member states agreed to a Danish compromise – seen by Euractiv – that lets Frontex help countries with Ukrainians leaving and allows them to use international organisation for voluntary return programs. And it removes the language encouraging member states to 'organise and support' exploratory visits for Ukrainians unable to do so themselves. The recommendation is set to be adopted after the summer break.
EU-US trade talks
The EU approved a €93 billion retaliatory package on US goods yesterday, as the bloc sought to pile pressure on Washington to agree a trade deal that would lower Donald Trump's threatened blanket levy from 30% to 15%.
The list, which comprises two previously separate packages, will hit a wide range of American goods, including aircraft, cars, wine, and medical and electrical equipment.
EU diplomats remain hopeful that the US president will soon greenlight a deal similar to the one Washington struck with Japan earlier this week, which left a 15% tariff in place on cars and most other goods, Thomas Moller-Nielsen reports.
Olof Gill, EU Commission spokesperson for trade, told reporters yesterday that a deal with Washington is now "within reach". Gill added that the duties will enter into force on 7 August if no deal is agreed but that they can be suspended at any time.
Export control alliance
Germany and France are united in their belief that Brussels has absolutely no role to play on weapons exports decisions, as the defence ministers from both countries made clear on Thursday. That's a brushback to Commission ambitions of loosening export controls within the EU for the sake of fast-tracking arms production.
Germany's Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said weapons export decisions are 'exclusively' the preserve of national governments, and the EU and the European Commission 'have no role to play in this regard'.
The German support will bolster France's opposition: Despite previous protests from Paris, the EU executive again pitched loosening export rules last month in the defence omnibus and is planning to propose revision of the existing intra-EU transfer directive in the coming months.
Budapest mayor named suspect over Budapest Pride event
Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony has been summoned for questioning as a suspect over the Budapest Pride event held last month despite strong government pushback.
Hungarian police are investigating participants of what they claim was a 'prohibited assembly,' national media reported. The probe is being led by the National Investigation Bureau against an 'unknown perpetrator".
'I became a suspect, and if this is the price of standing up for ourselves and others' freedom in this country, I am even more proud of it', Karácsony said on his social media.
No members of the Budapest Pride organising team have been contacted by police so far, a spokesperson for the event told The Capitals. 'This was an official municipal event, the police have no business investigating it as a protest."
The European Commission did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
The Capitals
PARIS | France will recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday.
PARIS & BRUSSELS | Belgium and France have agreed to step up cooperation on nuclear energy, including reactor extensions, small modular reactors, and supply chains, following Belgium's reversal of its nuclear phase-out. The move adds momentum to a growing pro-nuclear alliance in Europe, as the EU becomes more open to nuclear energy as part of its decarbonisation strategy. Read more.
MADRID | Spain's labour market reached a new high with over 22 million people in work and unemployment falling to 10.3% – the lowest level since the 2008 financial crisis, national data showed on Thursday.
The number of employed rose by 503,300 in the second quarter of 2025 compared to a year earlier, mostly in services, industry and construction. Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo hailed the figures as proof of the economy's 'strong dynamism."
ATHENS | Greek judges are protesting after the government ignored their input on top court appointments, defying a 2024 reform meant to boost transparency. Despite warning about political influence in Greek courts, the European Commission has stayed silent. Read more.
WARSAW | Construction of a key container terminal in Świnoujście has been temporarily halted after a court suspended the project's environmental permit, Polish broadcaster Radio ZET reported. The decision follows a complaint from German environmental group Lebensraum Vorpommern, which argues the terminal would seriously damage the surrounding natural environment.
PRAGUE | Czech police have proposed hate speech charges against Tomio Okamura, the Tokyo-born leader of the far-right party SPD, over anti-immigration posters from last year's EU election. Okamura denies any wrongdoing, claiming that the case is a political ploy ahead of October's vote. Read more.
Also on Euractiv
Keffiyeh clash: Palestine symbol may or may not be allowed in EU Parliament
The Parliament declined to clarify whether items like the keffiyeh or religious garments fall under neutrality rules
More than a week after the eyebrow-raising eviction of a staffer in the Israel-Palestine committee for wearing a keffiyeh, Parliament's powers that be still have no answer about what actually happened and why.
"There is no specific formal dress code in the Parliament," a spokesperson told Euractiv. So why was the staffer ejected? Euractiv's Magnus Lund Nielsen pressed Parliament for answers. Read more.
Von der Leyen calls for 'pragmatic' EU-China relations
Europe is aiming for a 'pragmatic' relationship with China, Commission President von der Leyen said Thursday after the EU-China summit in Beijing yesterday.
'From the summit, I gather that there is a lot we can do together despite our differences, and we have differences, we can find pragmatic solutions,' she said. Von der Leyen flagged the urgency of tackling Chinese 'overcapacities,' especially amid fears that Trump-era tariffs could push cheap Chinese goods into Europe.
'Despite our differences, we can find pragmatic solutions,' von der Leyen said. Read more.
Far-right Patriots for Europe move to kill EU's 2040 climate bill
Czech MEP Ondřej Knotek, the European Parliament's lead negotiator on the proposed law to cut EU greenhouse gas emissions by 90% from 1990 levels, is set to call for the proposal to be scrapped entirely.
On Thursday, Knotek announced his plan to push for the outright rejection of the bill two weeks after the right-wing nationalist Patriots for Europe group seized control of the file in a controversial backroom deal, and just days after centrist groups moved to accelerate its passage. Read more.
Agenda
Commissioner Serafin visits Poland to discuss the EU's upcoming long-term budget proposal
Commissioner Kos visits Türkiye; meets with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan
Contributors: Thomas Møller-Nielsen, Aurélie Pugnet, Kjeld Neubert, Shane LaGesse, Bárbara Machado, Laurent Geslin, Stefano Porciello, Inés Fernández-Pontes, Magnus Lund Nielsen, Sarantis Michalopoulos, Aleksandra Krzysztoszek, Aneta Zachová.
Editors: Matthew Karnitschnig, Sofia Mandilara.