The influence scale tips toward the political Right when shaping Europe’s digital policy, with MEPs from the European People’s Party (EPP) group holding most political influence.
Our analysis is based on political and social media data from the one-year period up to August 2021.
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| MEP Name | Political Score | Social Score | Overall Score | Rising Stars | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Andreas SCHWAB  EPP, @Andreas_Schwab Germany | 95 | 96.1 | 95.4 | ^45 |
 | Axel VOSS EPP, @AxelVossMdEP Germany | 92 | 97.3 | 94.8 | ^53 |
 | Tiemo WÖLKEN S&D, @woelken Germany | 88 | 97.1 | 92.7 | ^409 |
 | Ibán GARCÍA DEL BLANCO  S&D, @Ibangarciadb Spain | 87 | 97.8 | 92.4 | |
 | Eva KAILI  S&D, @EvaKaili Greece | 90 | 94.2 | 92.1 | |
 | Eva MAYDELL  EPP, @EvaMaydell Bulgaria | 82 | 98.5 | 90.4 | ^20 |
 | Christel SCHALDEMOSE  S&D, @SchaldemoseMEP Denmark | 91 | 83.1 | 87.1 | ^25 |
 | Maria Da Graça CARVALHO  EPP, @mgracacarvalho Portugal | 72 | 98.1 | 85.2 | ^64 |
 | Juan Fernando LÓPEZ AGUILAR S&D, @JFLopezAguilar Spain | 85 | 78.2 | 81.5 | |
 | Birgit SIPPEL S&D, @BirgitSippelMEP Germany | 100 | 60.7 | 80.4 | |
 | Karen MELCHIOR Renew Europe, @karmel80 Denmark | 61 | 98.6 | 79.6 | ^41 |
 | Miapetra KUMPULA-NATRI  S&D, @miapetrakumpula Finland | 87 | 97.2 | 77.7 | |
 | Sabine VERHEYEN EPP, @sabineverheyen Germany | 93 | 56.4 | 74.7 | |
 | Alexandra GEESE Greens/EFA, @alexandra_geese Germany | 42 | 98.9 | 70.6 | |
 | Paul TANG  S&D, @paultang Netherlands | 41 | 97.4 | 69.0 | ^28 |
 | Patrick BREYER Greens/EFA, @echo_pbreyer Germany | 38 | 100.0 | 68.8 | ^52 |
 | Sven GIEGOLD Greens/EFA, @sven_giegold Germany | 32 | 97.3 | 64.5 | ^3 |
 | Cristian-Silviu BUŞOI  EPP, @CristianSBusoi Romania | 88 | 9.0 | 48.6 |
German MEPs feature prominently in this year’s Digital Index, with Birgit Sippel of the Socialists & Democrats (S&D) group most politically influential, Patrick Breyer of the Greens/EFA most socially influential, and Andreas Schwab of the EPP taking the top spot for combined political and social influence.
INFLUENCE BY COUNTRY
German MEPs perform strongly on digital policy, with an average political influence score higher than any other Member State. MEPs from Romania rank second for political influence, with Spain in third place. Spanish MEPs perform best when shaping the debate on digital policy on social media.
it means you’re actually breaking the glass ceiling”
and services. So I think we try to fulfil our potential by exploring other solutions because
traditional sectors like industry and energy are really in the hands of the bigger economies”
INFLUENCE BY POLITICAL GROUP
When it comes to political influence, MEPs from the EPP group enjoy an influence share significantly higher than the share of their seats. EPP MEPs’ average political influence has grown substantially in the past year, overtaking MEPs from the S&D, Renew Europe, the Greens/EFA and the Left, and suggesting that digital is one of the most dynamic policy areas in terms of shifts in influence.
Greens/EFA and Renew Europe lead on social influence.
INFLUENCE BY AGE AND GENDER
With age and seniority, political influence on digital policy increases, while social influence decreases. This reflects a recurring trend across all policy areas. Among demographic groups, female MEPs over 60 years old lead on political influence while female MEPs under 39 perform best on social media.