Among the 100 most influential members of the European Parliament, three are from Croatia - Tonino Picula, Zeljana Zovko and Biljana Borzan, showed an analysis published by EU Matrix on Wednesday.

EU Matrix, a Brussels-based independent research platform, publishes its MEP Influence Index every year, measuring the influence individual MEPs have had on EU law since the start of their current term.

MEPs’ influence is measured in terms of their formal and informal leadership positions, work on legislation, political influence network, membership of committees and voting patterns.

Croatian Social Democratic Party (SDP) members Tonino Picula and Biljana Borzan rank 69th and 96th respectively whileZeljana Zovko of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) ranks 79th of the EP’s 705 members.

Among the ten most influential MEPs are the heads of party groups, leading EP officials, and leading members of EP committees, with the top position being held by European People’s Party (EPP) leader Manfred Weber, followed by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, also a member of the EPP.

Socialists and Democrats (S&D) leader Iratxe García Pérez ranks third, followed by European Parliament Vice President Heidi Hautala of Finland, a member of the Greens, Spanish Socialist MEP Juan Fernando López Aguilar, Renew Europe Group member Dita Charanzová of the Czech Republic, Belgian Conservative (ECR) Johan van Overtveldt, Austrian EPP member Othmar Karas, German Socialist Bernd Lange, and Dutch Bas Eickhout of the Greens Group.

The authors of the analysis note that the most influential national delegations in the European Parliament are Germans and Spaniards while Italy and Hungary do not have influence that would be proportionate to the number of their deputies because most of them are not members of party groups or belong to politically more radical groups such as the Identity and Democracy Group, and end up isolated when the most important decisions are made.

Conversely, despite having only 12 deputies in the European Parliament, Malta and Luxembourg punch above their weight.

Croatia stands out in terms of influence in the healthcare sector owing to the work of Borzan and HDZ MEP Tomislav Sokol, the EPP’s coordinator for health policies.

EU Matrix predicts that after the 2024 elections for the European Parliament, only 42% of its current members will be re-elected and that the number of right-wing deputies will increase.

The platform notes that its ranking does not suggest that some MEPs are better than others, but that it singles out those who have found themselves in a position to influence EU policies.