Zeljana Zovko (EPP/HDZ) is the most influential Croatian MEP, Tonino Picula (S&D/SDP) is the most influential MEP for foreign policy, defence and enlargement and Tomislav Sokol (EPP/HDZ) is the most influential MEP on health, according to the MEP Influence Index 2024 published on Monday.

Zovko ranks 19th among the 100 most influential MEPs. She is Vice-President of the European People’s Party and of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs.

“This is a great recognition for Croatia, because it shows how much we contribute to the European Union as a whole with our participation,” she said, thanking the citizens, the HDZ party and the EPP group for their support.

Picula ranked 28th among the 100 most influential MEPs in the European Parliament. He is the S&D Coordinator for Foreign Affairs and the author of an adopted report on a new enlargement strategy.

Security, foreign and enlargement policy have become the most important EU policy areas with the greatest challenges in the last five years, Picula said in a statement. “From the departure of the Trump administration, which has actively worked to sever relations with the EU as its most important partner, to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exposed the many flaws in the EU’s internal organisation and our solidarity as member states, to Russian aggression against Ukraine and Israel’s brutal response to the Hamas terrorist attack in Gaza.”

Picula said he had focussed his work on these issues in order to help ensure that Croatia actively participates in the processes in which decisions on the future international order are made.

In last year’s list of the 100 most influential MEPs, Zovko was ranked 79th and Picula 69th.

Sokol is the EPP coordinator in the Public Health Committee and is in favour of equal access to healthcare throughout the EU and easier access to treatment abroad.

Since the beginning of his term, he said in a statement, he has been fighting for a fairer and better healthcare system at EU level, where there are no first and second class citizens, and will continue to advocate for patients.

The Influence Index 2024 measures the influence that Members of the European Parliament have exerted on EU policy since the start of the current legislative period (July 2019-February 2024).