It's hard to divine the intentions behind the movements of the Europarties, but it doesn't really matter because they don't do any campaigning anyway. I mean, it might matter if racists like Geert Wilders and anti-European gadflies like Le Pen were going to win, but they are not.
Agreed, however there is still value in the macro parties in the sense that even some weak form of party discipline is more effecient policymaking than no parties whatsoever. The actual members of the EPP (as opposed to the ones that just sit in the group) for example are well whipped on technical issues that don't make national media enough to have an electoral impact (which is like 80% of the EP's actual power). Some get picked off by lobbying/national interest but eventually even the fanatical lobbyists would enjoy a system where you can walk into one faction leader's office and not 27.
But you're right We'll only see this more clearly if/when the EPP-SnD-ALDE triumvirate of establishment or "pro-Maastricht" parties lose a majority and some more interesting coalitions will have to take place.
Exactly - I meant to write - It doesn't matter what they decide until after the election is complete!
Which is the exact reason of why all of Europe voting for European superparty lists is foolhardy. That only works if national-level political parties announce ahead of time what group they belong to, not deciding a few months after the election.
