Politics is still dominated by a large center-left party and a large center-right party, but smaller groups – some claiming the center and others the right and left extremes – challenge them to various degrees. In some countries, the “Greens” have their own identity, close to the left; but, despite remarkable progress in Germany, they remain unable to reach the electoral size of the large center-right and center-left parties.
法国和德国的情况更加复杂。政坛主导者仍是中左翼大党和中右翼大党各一，但小党派——走中间道路者有之，走极右和极左道路者亦有之——能够形成不同程度的挑战。在一些国家，“绿党”有着自己的身份，与左派关系密切；但是，尽管绿党在德国进步明显，他们仍无法撼动中右翼和中左翼大党在选举中的地位。