EU:A disparate group of anti-immigrant, xenophobic and nationalist politicians are clubbing together to form a faction in the European Parliament entitled to EU funds and more say in the Brussels assembly.
With just the threshold number of MEPs required under EU rules - 20 deputies from six member states - the group is to be called "Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty" and be headed by Bruno Gollnisch, deputy chairman of France's National Front.
The group brings together a set of politicians known for their extreme right-wing views. Mr Gollnisch himself is awaiting a court verdict for questioning the Holocaust, while a key thinker behind the group, Andreas Mölzer, was kicked out of a far-right Austrian party for holding views that are too extreme.
The group is also to house Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of the fascist leader, five MEPs from the Greater Romania party, seen as anti-Roma and anti-semitic, and a Bulgarian MEP who recently circulated an e-mail insulting a Roma colleague by saying there were thousands of "gypsy girls" in his country who were far prettier.
Talks on finding a common political platform for these right-wing MEPs have been going on for months, but the breakthrough came with Romania and Bulgaria's accession, bringing a total of six new extremist deputies, allowing the caucus to be formed.
They have hammered out a loose political charter - broadly nationalistic and anti-immigrant - and formally submitted it to the parliament authorities.
But a week is a long time in politics, particularly when it concerns such a fractious bunch.
Already there were signs yesterday that the French National Front, forming the backbone of the group, may see its ambitions for a European platform fail due to internal bickering.
"We are mainly getting together out of necessity. Survival is only possible in a political group," Allesandra Mussolini recently.
While the group is expected to be formally constituted only next Monday when parliament's year officially begins, it has already caused strong reactions.
Martin Schulz, leader of the socialist group, called the new formation "grotesque", while Green leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit called it "a sad reflection of the reality of today's Europe".
But while it is set to be marginalised within the Brussels political corridors, the group will nevertheless be entitled to formal speaking time, to seek to amend legislation and to get allowances for staff.