Life in the EP As a M5S MEP, PT in the Efdd

This paper examines the role of the M5S (Movimento 5 Stelle) at the European Parliament (EP), based on semi-structured interviews with the MEPs, analysis of their work and the European Election Study, addressing the questions, (1) who do the M5S MEPs represent in the EP?; and (ii) what issues are they representing?. The M5S has emerged as a very cohesive group, representing opposition to austerity measures and the Eurozone, and working on those issues that are salient for the M5S at the national level. Europe and the EU emerge only when referring to transparency, accountability, the fight against poverty and the refugee crisis, but a hard Eurosceptic narrative is completely absent from the interviews. ‘Pro-systemic’ opposition represents most of the current manifestations of Euroscepticism (FitzGibbon 2013), also among the M5S MEPs, working, in the EFDD, for an alternative idea of Europe.