Centre for Civic Education (CCE) highlights the findings of the EU Matrix – MEP Influence Index 2026, which measures the political influence of all 720 Members of the current European Parliament (EP) from the 27 EU Member States. The Index is based on the analysis of tens of thousands of data points relating to the work of MEPs, with each individual score calculated by combining a range of criteria – from formal and informal leadership positions, legislative work and roles in parliamentary committees to political networks and voting patterns.
On this basis, rankings were published of the 150 most influential MEPs overall, along with separate lists by Member State and European Union policy area. As expected, the greatest political influence is held by MEPs occupying key leadership positions within the institutions, parliamentary committees and political groups.
German MEPs are the most strongly represented among the 150 most influential, with 34 members accounting for almost one quarter of the entire list. Three Croatian MEPs are also included, with Karlo Ressler ranking highest, in 23rd place, with a score of 50.1. Three Slovenian MEPs also feature on the list, all ranked outside the top 120.
For Montenegro, it is particularly important to assess the political influence of MEPs who, through their positions, shape EU enlargement policy and directly affect the accession process. Therefore, in addition to the overall influence score, the foreign policy category is especially relevant, as it also covers enlargement issues, relations with candidate countries and decisions affecting their European integration path.
The overall influence score of Marjan Šarec, the European Parliament’s rapporteur for Montenegro, is 28.8, placing him among the five most influential Slovenian MEPs – fourth out of the nine MEPs representing Slovenia. However, Šarec is not among the 150 most influential Members of the European Parliament, nor among the most influential MEPs in the area of foreign policy.
Among the rapporteurs for candidate countries, the rapporteur for Türkiye, Nacho Sánchez Amor, has the greatest influence, with an overall score of 34.7, while ranking as the second most influential MEP in the area of foreign policy, with 75.3 points. The rapporteur for Serbia and former rapporteur for Montenegro, Tonino Picula, despite a more modest overall influence score of 25.4, ranks fourth among the most influential MEPs in foreign policy, with 65.6 points. The rapporteurs for Ukraine and Moldova, Michael Gahler (41.8) and Sven Mikser (31.4), are also highly ranked. Mikser ranks fifth in the foreign policy category, with 63.8 points, while Gahler ranks seventh, with 61.4 points.
When it comes to the European Parliament Delegation for relations with Montenegro, its Chair, Thomas Waitz, with an influence score of 30.4, is among the most influential Austrian MEPs, although he is not among the 150 most influential Members of the European Parliament. By contrast, Delegation members Matjaž Nemec and Marion Walsmann are included on the list, ranking 126th and 103rd, respectively, while the remaining 11 members of the Delegation are not among the 150 most influential MEPs.
The political groups’ shadow rapporteurs for Montenegro also do not stand out in terms of political influence. The highest-ranked among them is Costas Mavrides of the Socialists and Democrats Group (S&D), with an influence score of 27.1, making him the third most influential MEP from Cyprus, which has a total of six representatives in the European Parliament.
However, the role of rapporteurs represents only one segment of the process of shaping the European Parliament’s positions on enlargement. It is equally important to consider the political influence of the leadership of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and of the largest political groups, within which key decisions concerning candidate countries are coordinated. In this context, AFET Chair David McAllister ranks 49th on the list of the most influential Members of the European Parliament and is also the most influential MEP in the area of foreign policy, with a score of 93.9. Michael Gahler, one of the AFET coordinators, with 61.4 points, and Tonino Picula, with 65.6 points, are also among the leading MEPs in the area of foreign policy.
It is particularly significant that the presidents of the three largest political groups are among the ten most influential Members of the European Parliament: Manfred Weber, President of the European People’s Party Group (EPP), ranks first; Iratxe García Pérez, President of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D),ranks third; and Valérie Hayer, President of the Renew Europe Group, ranks seventh. Since these three political groups bring together more than half of all Members of the European Parliament and play a decisive role in forming majorities and coordinating political positions, their positions at the top of this Index clearly demonstrate where real political influence in the European Parliament lies.
Ivan Kašćelan, Project Assistant