Equivalent terms are used in different countries, including: Argentina (bloque and interbloque), Australia (party room); Austria (Klub); Belgium (fractie/fraction/Fraktion); Brazil and Portugal ("grupo parlamentar" or, informally, "bancadas"); Germany (Fraktion); Italy (gruppo), Finland (eduskuntaryhmä/riksdagsgrupp); the Netherlands (fractie); Poland (klub),[2] Switzerland (fraction/Fraktion/frazione); Romania (grup parlamentar); and Russia (фракция/fraktsiya), Spain ('grupo parlamentario'), and Ukraine (фракція/fraktsiya).
In any case, the exigencies of government, the need to cooperate with other members of the legislature and the desire to retain the support of the electorate as a whole often preclude strict adherence to the wider party's wishes.
Nevertheless, in almost all cases, the parliamentary leader is the public face of the party, and wields considerable influence within the organisational wing, whether or not they hold any official position there.
[3] A parliamentary group must pass the 7% electoral threshold in order to gain representation in the National Assembly.
The parliamentary groups of the European Parliament must consist of no less than 25 MEPs from seven different EU member states.
Hungarian mixed-member majoritarian representation rewards the formation of parliamentary groups, like United for Hungary.
Parliamentary friendship groups play an important role in New Zealand's engagement in inter-parliamentary relations, with group members often called upon to participate and host meetings for visiting delegations from the other part, as well as often being invited by the other country's parliament to visit it.
[17] Parliamentary Friendship Groups are active in the national congresses/parliaments of countries such as Armenia,[18] Australia,[5] Brazil,[14][18] Canada,[19] Germany,[8] Israel,[11] Laos,[20] New Zealand,[17] Pakistan,[21] Peru,[6] Romania,[12] Serbia,[16] Slovenia,[22] South Korea,[23] Switzerland,[24] and the United States,[24] among many others.