STRASBOURG, July 9, 2008 (AFP) - The European Parliament on Wednesday tightened the rules on forming political groups in the assembly in order to limit radical lawmakers' access to funds.

Members voted to raise the minimum number of deputies needed to form a political group from 20 members representing six different countries, to at least 25 representing seven.

The move was approved by 481 lawmakers, with a further 203 voting against and 26 abstaining from the vote.

Currently, there are seven political groups at the parliament and 30 unaffiliated lawmakers.

The smallest is the eurosceptic Independence/Democracy group, which currently has only 22 lawmakers from nine countries, while the Union for Europe of Nations group has 43 deputies from six countries.

On the left, the communist European United Left party, has 41 lawmakers from 14 countries, while the Greens have 43 legislators from 14 countries.

The three biggest parties in the parliament are the conservative European People's Party with 288 deputies from all 27 EU countries; the Socialists with 217 from 25 countries; and the liberals with 100 from 22 states.