European Parliament election, 2009
Encyclopedia
Elections to the
European Parliament
were held in the 27 member states of the European Union
(EU) between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament
(MEPs) were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making these the biggest trans-national elections in history. An additional 18 observers ("virtual MEPs") were (supposed to be) pre-elected.
In seven EU member-states, other votes occurred alongside the elections to the European Parliament: a general election in Luxembourg; local government elections in Latvia, part of the United Kingdom
, parts of Germany, Italy, Malta
, and Ireland
(as well as two by-election
s in Dublin South and Dublin Central
); regional elections
in Belgium; and a referendum on reforming the succession law in the Kingdom of Denmark that would give women the same rights through equal primogeniture
.
This was the first European Parliament election that Bulgaria and Romania participated in at the same time as the other member states. When they joined the EU in 2007, they held elections for MEPs outside the normal electoral calendar.
A poll sampling nineteen national polls predicted the following results: EPP 265 MEPs, PES 195 MEPs, ALDE 95 MEPs, GUE–NGL 40 MEPs, Greens-EFA 35 MEPs, UEN 35 MEPs. The remaining 70 MEPs were not predicted, but about 20 were expected to be gained by far-right or Libertas candidates. IND/DEM was predicted to fade away due to Libertas' expected success.
A prediction by political scientists Simon Hix (London School of Economics
), Michael Marsh (Trinity College Dublin) and Nick Vivyan (London School of Economics) foresaw little change in the distribution of seats, predicting 249 seats for the EPP, 209 for the PES, 87 for ALDE, 58 for UEN or the European Conservatives, 48 for GUE–NGL, 39 for Greens–EFA, 17 for IND/DEM (resulting in its dissolution) and 29 NI; Libertas was not expected to win any seats. A later prediction saw 262 seats for the EPP, 194 for the PES, 85 for ALDE, 53 for UEN or the European Conservatives, 40 for GUE–NGL, 50 for Greens–EFA, 23 for IND/DEM (resulting in its dissolution) and 29 NI.
member states were granted a fixed allocation of seats for election as determined under the provisions of the Treaty of Nice
(current allocation is in the 2007 column below). The admission of Bulgaria
and Romania
midway through the previous Parliament's term had increased the overall size of the assembly to 785, and under the terms of the Treaty of Nice it was mandated that the seat allocations be modified for this election, dropping 49 seats to keep the overall size of the Parliament down.
It had been the stated desire of the member-state governments to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon
before the election so that its articles governing the European Parliament could enter force as of this election. However, this was blocked by the Irish rejection of the treaty in a referendum. Under Lisbon, there would be a somewhat different allocation of seats, with fewer seats eliminated, leading to a slightly different distribution totalling 751 MEPs. If the Lisbon Treaty is subsequently ratified, it is planned to give the additional seats to the "increasing" countries already before the next elections, bringing the number of MEPs to 754 for a transitional period until 2014.
To have the additional MEPs ready at hand, 18 "phantom MEPs" were supposed to be elected at the election (which, however, did not happen in France). These were expected to get observer status in the European Parliament and full payment from the day the Lisbon Treaty enters into force (which did not happen either), but only become full members of parliament after an additional protocol is ratified. The latter will require a decision by the European Council
.
Many of the national parties running in the election are affiliated to transnational pan-European political parties known as political parties at European level
. Those pan-European parties are EPP
, PES
, ELDR
, EFA
, European Greens
, AEN
, PEL
, EDP
and EUD
. The question of which was the first to campaign transnationally is the subject of some debate, with the European Greens
stating that they were the first in 2004.
New parties that aspire to pan-European status during the 2009 elections include Newropeans
, Europe United, Europe – Democracy – Esperanto and Libertas Party Limited. The role for pan-European political parties has been expanded by changes enacted by the European Commission in 2007 under the direction of Margot Wallström
.
Four incumbent European Commissioner
s will run as candidates in the election: Viviane Reding
(Luxembourg
, information society & media
, Christian Social People's Party
/EPP
), Louis Michel
(Belgium
, development & humanitarian aid
, Reformist Movement
/ELDR
), Danuta Hübner
(Poland
, regional policy
, Civic Platform
/EPP), Meglena Kuneva
(Bulgaria
, consumer protection, National Movement for Stability and Progress/ELDR). Ján Figeľ
(Slovakia
, education, training & culture
, Christian Democratic Movement
/EPP) was tipped to but ultimately did not run. He is bound to become the new chairman of his party instead.
Kuneva later decided not to take up her seat in the European Parliament.
The European Parliament
, National broadcasters
, the EBU
, with the cooperation of the Communication Commissioner, Margot Wallström
, are jointly working to make the 2009 election more interesting to the public and increase turnout
. Previously, diverse news media in the European Union, and the fact that the election takes place over several days, have made it hard to attract viewers. The media consortium is hoping to focus the 2009 election more towards the EU level and the European Parliament itself, hoping to make the election more interesting and cosmetically appealing for television viewers. Members of the European Parliament
(MEP) also started initiatives in late 2007 to make the election more interesting to voters in a bid to increase turnout.
From 1 April Parliament started putting up election posters, internet banners and billboards encouraging people to vote, with messages such as "How much should we tame financial markets?" to demonstrate the role of Parliament. The same 10 posters, designed by Berlin-based advertising company Scholz & Friends
Group, were translated into all 23 languages and have been deployed across the whole of the EU. However, some posters are put up more in countries where the issues they present are of more significance and the most posters will be put up in those countries which had the lowest turnout in 2004. The end slogan is "Use your vote in the European Parliament Elections" with the date of the election in that country. The entire campaign costs 18 million euros, or 0.05 euros per eligible voter, with Germany, Spain and Italy donating some advertising space free of charge.
would have entered into force by the time of these elections, making them the first to be held under its provisions. However, primarily because of the failure of the referendum in Ireland, the framework established by the Treaty of Nice
will be used again. Amongst other differences, the number of MEPs to be returned depends upon which rules are in effect: while 736 MEPs will be elected under the Nice rules, this number would have increased to 751 if the Lisbon Treaty were in force.
A further change that Lisbon would have brought was an increase to the powers of Parliament, including powers over the appointment of the President of the European Commission
. It had been suggested by some that political parties could run with candidates for the Commission President; with leaders now linking the post to elections and that convention having being enshrined in the Constitution, further encouraging the possibility.
In 2007, it emerged that current Commission President José Manuel Barroso would likely seek a second term, which he confirmed on 19 July 2008, and he received the backing of French
President Nicolas Sarkozy
. In beginning to formalise the emerging party-political nature of the office, in early 2009 the centre-right People's Party backed Barroso as their candidate and the centre-left socialists opposed, however they did not put forward their own formal candidate.
NB: "Adjusted" figures restate group numbers to proportionately reflect the reduction of the Parliament's size by 49, and to reflect the following political group movements announced prior to the election: DIKO (CY) from ALDE to Other; ODS (CZ) from EPP to Other; FF (IE) from UEN to ALDE; AN (IT) from UEN to EPP; PD (IT) from PES and ALDE to Other; PiS (PL) from UEN to Other; and Conservatives/UCUNF (UK) from EPP to Other.
Note:Postal votes missing from Slovenia. Complete results were supposed to be announced on 15 June
The member states entitled to observer seats were supposed to make provisions before the 2009 elections for who would get the additional seats in the European Parliament. However, this was not done by France. This created a limbo for the observers elected from other countries, since all observers are supposed to start their work at the same time. As of January 2011, they have not yet been able to do so.
The following is a list of all observer seats, with the winning party given where known:
Note that this table already includes the grouping changes announced by the parties and reflected in the section below.
New rules regarding the minimum number of members needed for a political group will come into effect following the 2009 election. The PES and EPP–ED had initially proposed to raise the limit for groups in the EP from 20 MEPs and one fifth of member states to 30 MEPs and a quarter of member states, which would effectively close down UEN (only MEPs from six countries) and I/D (only 22 MEPs). All five smaller groups (UEN and I/D plus ALDE
, Greens–EFA
and GUE–NGL
) protested against these proposed changes. The proposal was voted down 15 to 14 in committee, and in an eventual compromise, new rules were approved in plenary on 9 July 2008 which require 25 MEPs from at least a quarter of the member states (i.e. seven member states). Although UEN and I/D still fail to meet the basic requirements of the new rules, the adopted compromise also included a provision allowing the continued existence of a group which had fallen below the threshold, but only if it still had members from at least a fifth of the member states and only if it had been founded at least a year before dropping below the threshold; if there is "sufficient evidence" of the abuse of this provision, it need not be applied.
(UEN) political group, a rump body that traced its ancestry back to its origins as a Gaullist
ideological alignment, was not reconstituted following this election. The associated Alliance for Europe of the Nations
(AEN) party
lost MEPs to other groupings.
The largest single contributor of MEPs to the UEN group, the Italian
National Alliance
, merged with Silvio Berlusconi
's Forza Italia
party into The People of Freedom
(PdL) on 29 March 2009. PdL inherited FI's membership in the EPP; a single list of PdL candidates will be run in 2009 which would then take their seats in the EPP-ED (or a purely EPP) group, substantially reducing the potential MEPs that a UEN group could draw upon. This move will come after a series of attempts by National Alliance to abandon more staunchly national-conservative
and Eurosceptic
parties and move towards the moderate European centre-right, including a previous application for EPP membership.
National Alliance shares the group presidency with Ireland's
Fianna Fáil
, a centre-right party that joined the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
(ELDR) on 16 April 2009 with the intent of moving to the European Parliament's Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
(ALDE) group. As a longtime proponent of European integration, FF had been even more openly uncomfortable about its European affiliation, with former leader Bertie Ahern
often distancing his party from the right-wing positions of his groupmates and describing UEN as purely a "technical arrangement." Fianna Fáil very nearly joined ALDE during the group reshuffle after the 2004 European elections, and had also previously explored seeking membership in ELDR. Current leader Brian Cowen
announced that FF would join ELDR and ALDE after the election on 27 February 2009 and a resolution supporting such a move was passed by the party membership two days later. FF's leader in the European Parliament, Brian Crowley
, criticised this decision and stated that FF might lose its position and influence due to the change, as Crowley currently enjoys a number of privileges as UEN leader which he can use to further FF's policies, but which he would lose if FF were to move to ALDE instead.
A third significant source of UEN's MEPs is Poland
. Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland
and League of Polish Families
enjoy very little popular support and failed to stay in parliament in the Polish 2007 election
,
AEN/UEN is also under threat from a potential new group led by members of the European Democrats
(see below), who are attempting to woo its remaining members away. Law and Justice
of Poland has been reported to be ready to do just this.
The looming disappearance of AEN/UEN also has had repercussions for Independence/Democracy, as it was also a suitor for those parties of UEN left groupless. Lega Nord and the Danish People's Party
opted for this and launched the new Europe of Freedom and Democracy
group with what was left of Ind/Dem after the election. The ChristianUnion
, formerly member of Ind/Dem left for the new European Conservatives and Reformists
group.
and Ulster Unionists
of the United Kingdom
, together with the Czech
Civic Democrats might leave the European Democrats
(effectively dissolving it through lack of members, as only one Italian will be left - and has not been reelected), which is currently allied to the European People's Party
(EPP); instead, these parties will form a new parliamentary grouping based on the Movement for European Reform
(MER).
Although the Conservatives alone have the minimum required number of MEPs at 19, they would still need to join with parties or independents from six other countries to formally create a group. There has been speculation that Polish Law and Justice
would join the proposed grouping, although it expressed its support for the continuance of the UEN, it is reportedly keen to join MER.
Another possible party is the Latvia
n TB/LNNK, also currently aligned with AEN. There are also numerous independents that might join the group. The most optimistic estimates suggest MER could become the third largest group in the Parliament.
The Conservative Party reiterated its intention to leave the EPP in March 2009. The new group may be called "European Conservatives
" or "European Conservatives and Reformists
".
The foundation of the European Conservatives was deemed unlikely to threaten the EPP's position as the largest grouping in the European Parliament, with Hix, Marsh, and Vivyan predicting there being less than 1% probability of the EPP suffering such a reverse.
in Italy is still discussing about the group its members will join in the European Parliament. The party was officially created in 2007 from the merger of the two biggest centre-left Italian parties, Democrats of the Left
and The Daisy (La Margherita), whose members in the EP joined PES and ALDE respectively after the 2004 elections. Although pushing hard for a unification of all European progressive reformists, and therefore for a merger between PES and ALDE, it is likely that the two parliamentary groups will continue living as separate bodies, forcing the Italian Democratic Party to stay alone in the Parliament. In last general elections, it gained 33.7% of votes.
It was reported on 13 May 2009 that the Group of the PES in the European Parliament would likely choose a new name to accommodate the Democratic Party, with the most likely name being "Alliance of Socialists and Democrats for Europe".
The Cypriot
Democratic Party
(DIKO), which had previously sat with ALDE
but was not a member of any European political party, announced prior to the election that it would want to join the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, though this has yet to be approved by the PES.
On 12 June 2009, it was officially confirmed that the group of the PES would be known as "Alliance of Socialists and Democrats for Europe" (ASDE) in the new parliament, though this name was changed to "Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats" (S&D) when the group was officially founded on 23 June 2009.
(EPP
, Poland) was elected Parliament President, winning with 555 votes to 89 votes over his opponent Eva-Britt Svensson
(EUL-NGL
, Sweden).
The two candidates were:
MEPs voted in a secret ballot on Tuesday morning 14 July.
The two largest groups in Parliament, the EPP-ED and PES, agreed to share the post of President of the European Parliament
as they have done for all but two terms of Parliament. The first half of the term will be taken by Jerzy Buzek
MEP of the EPP. He is the first MEP from Eastern Europe to hold the post. He pass it over to Martin Schulz
MEP, the current leader of PES. The deal got support form The ALDE group (their candidate Graham Watson
dropped out from the race).
The other official candidate was Eva-Britt Svensson
, nominated from EUL-NGL
. She campaigned with the slogan "a different voice". She was the first MEP from Sweden to candidate to the position.
Elections in the European Union
Elections to the Parliament of the European Union take place every five years by universal adult suffrage. 736 MEPs are elected to the European Parliament which has been directly elected since 1979. No other body is directly elected although the Council of the European Union and European Council is...
European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
were held in the 27 member states of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
(EU) between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
(MEPs) were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making these the biggest trans-national elections in history. An additional 18 observers ("virtual MEPs") were (supposed to be) pre-elected.
Overview
The majority of MEPs were elected on Sunday 7 June, but because of traditional polling days varying from country to country according to local custom, some countries held their elections in the three preceding days:- Thursday 4 June: United KingdomEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (United Kingdom)The European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2009 European Parliament election, the voting for which was held on Thursday 4 June 2009, coinciding with the 2009 local elections in England. Most of the results of the election were announced on Sunday 7 June, after...
(including GibraltarEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Gibraltar)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Gibraltar was the election of the delegation for the combined region of South West England and Gibraltar to the European Parliament in 2009. It took place on 4 June 2009, with the results announced on 7 June 2009. The Conservatives won with 51% of the...
), NetherlandsEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Netherlands)The European Parliament election of 2009 in the Netherlands was the election of the delegation from the Netherlands to the European Parliament in 2009 and took place on June 4, 2009. Seventeen parties competed in a D'Hondt type election for 25 seats...
(including ArubaArubaAruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...
and the Netherlands AntillesNetherlands AntillesThe Netherlands Antilles , also referred to informally as the Dutch Antilles, was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of two groups of islands in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao , in Leeward Antilles just off the Venezuelan coast; and Sint...
) - Friday 5 June: IrelandEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Ireland)The 2009 European Parliament election in Ireland was the Irish component of the 2009 European Parliament election and was held on Friday, 5 June 2009, coinciding with the 2009 local elections...
, Czech RepublicEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Czech Republic)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Czech Republic was the election of the delegation from Czech Republic to the European Parliament in 2009....
(day 1) - Saturday 6 June: CyprusEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Cyprus)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Cyprus was the election of the delegation from Cyprus to the European Parliament in 2009.-References:*...
, FranceEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (France)European elections to elect 72 French Members of the European Parliament were held on Sunday 7 June 2009.Due to the entry of Romania and Bulgaria in the European Union in 2007, the number of seats allocated to France was revised from 78 seats to 72 seats, a loss of 6 seats...
(for part of Outre-merOutre-MerOutre-Mer: A Pilgrimage Beyond the Sea is a prose collection which was the first major work by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The term "outre-mer" is French for "overseas".-Overview:...
), ItalyEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Italy)European elections to elect 72 members of the European Parliament representing Italy were held on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 June 2009, as decided by the Italian government on December 18, 2008...
(day 1), LatviaEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Latvia)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Latvia involved the election of the delegation from Latvia to the European Parliament in 2009. 17 lists containing a total of 185 candidates were registered for the election....
, MaltaEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Malta)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Malta was the election of the delegation from Malta to the European Parliament in 2009. The elections were held on June 6 on the same day as the Maltese local council elections, 2009....
, SlovakiaEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Slovakia)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Slovakia was the election of the delegation from Slovakia to the European Parliament in 2009.The turnout, although increased compared to the previous election, was 19.63%, the lowest of any nation involved in the election.-Division of Seats:The system of...
, Czech Republic (day 2) - Sunday 7 June: AustriaEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Austria)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Austria was the election of the delegation from Austria to the European Parliament in 2009. Austria will have 17 seats in the European Parliament, instead of 18 that the country had before the re-allocation of seats....
, BelgiumEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Belgium)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Belgium was on Sunday 7 June 2009 and was the election of the delegation from Belgium to the European Parliament...
, BulgariaEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Bulgaria)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Bulgaria was held on Sunday 7 June 2009 and was the election of the delegation from Bulgaria to the European Parliament. As a result of the Treaty of Nice - that became active in November 2004 - the number of Bulgarian delegates in the European Parliament...
, GermanyEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Germany)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Germany was the German part of the European Parliament election, 2009. The voting was held on Sunday, 7 June. A total of 26 parties competed for the 99 seats reserved for Germany in the European Parliament...
, DenmarkEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Denmark)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Denmark was the election of the delegation from Denmark to the European Parliament on June 7, 2009. The number of Danish MEPs elected was 13...
, SpainEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Spain)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Spain was the election of the delegation from Spain to the European Parliament in 2009.- Opinion polls :-Results:-References:...
, EstoniaEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Estonia)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Estonia was the election of the delegation from Estonia to the European Parliament in 2009.The election day was 7 June 2009. Turnout was 43.9% – about 17.1% higher than during the previous election five years before...
, FinlandEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Finland)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Finland was the election of the delegation from Finland to the European Parliament in 2009.Finland uses the open list d'Hondt method, where voters vote for an individual, but the individual's vote is counted primarily for the party and secondarily for the...
, FranceEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (France)European elections to elect 72 French Members of the European Parliament were held on Sunday 7 June 2009.Due to the entry of Romania and Bulgaria in the European Union in 2007, the number of seats allocated to France was revised from 78 seats to 72 seats, a loss of 6 seats...
, GreeceEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Greece)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Greece for the election of the delegation from Greece to the European Parliament in 2009 took place on June 7, 2009. The election system used in Greece is party-list proportional representation with a 3% threshold for any party...
, HungaryEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Hungary)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Hungary was the election of the delegation from Hungary to the European Parliament in 2009. Hungary delegated 22 members to the European Parliament based on the Nice treaty and the election took place on the 7th of June.-Candidates:Among the candidates...
, Italy (day 2), LithuaniaEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Lithuania)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Lithuania was the election of the delegation from Lithuania to the European Parliament in 2009. It was a part of the wider 2009 European election...
, LuxembourgEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Luxembourg)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Luxembourg was the election of the delegation from Luxembourg to the European Parliament in 2009. It was held on the same day as the elections to the national legislature, the Chamber of Deputies.-Parties:...
, PolandEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Poland)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Poland was the election of the delegation from Poland to the European Parliament in 2009 which took place on 7 June 2009. On 13 February the Sejm accepted a proposal for an amendment to the electoral court act to allow voting for the European Parliament...
, PortugalEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Portugal)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Portugal was the election of the delegation from Portugal to the European Parliament in 2009.The lists are headed by*Socialist Party : Vital Moreira...
, RomaniaEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Romania)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Romania is the election of the delegation from Romania to the European Parliament in 2009.-Candidates and elected MEPs:Among those expected to take up seats are :...
, SloveniaEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Slovenia)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Slovenia was be the election of the delegation from Slovenia to the European Parliament in 2009.-Candidates:- Opinion polls :-Results:-References:...
, SwedenEuropean Parliament election, 2009 (Sweden)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Sweden was held on 7 June 2009 and determined the makeup of the Swedish delegation to the European Parliament. The election was held using a modified form of the Sainte-Laguë method of party-list proportional representation using the entire country as a...
In seven EU member-states, other votes occurred alongside the elections to the European Parliament: a general election in Luxembourg; local government elections in Latvia, part of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom local elections, 2009
The 2009 United Kingdom local elections were elections held to all 27 County Councils, three existing Unitary Authorities and five new Unitary Authorities, all in England, on 4 June 2009...
, parts of Germany, Italy, Malta
Maltese local council elections, 2009
Local elections were held in Malta on 6 June 2009, the same day of the european elections. The elections were held in 23 of the 68 Maltese localities...
, and Ireland
Irish local elections, 2009
The 2009 Irish local elections were held in all the counties, cities and towns of Ireland on Friday, 5 June 2009, on the same day as the European Parliament election and two by-elections .-Overview:...
(as well as two by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
s in Dublin South and Dublin Central
Dublin Central by-election, 2009
A by-election was held in the Dublin Central constituency in Ireland on Friday, 5 June 2009, following the death of the Independent Teachta Dála Tony Gregory on 2 January 2009. The by-election was held on the same day as the 2009 European and local elections. A by-election was held in the Dublin...
); regional elections
Belgian regional elections, 2009
Regional elections were held in Belgium on 7 June 2009 to choose representatives in the regional councils of Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels and the German-speaking Community of Belgium...
in Belgium; and a referendum on reforming the succession law in the Kingdom of Denmark that would give women the same rights through equal primogeniture
Primogeniture
Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...
.
This was the first European Parliament election that Bulgaria and Romania participated in at the same time as the other member states. When they joined the EU in 2007, they held elections for MEPs outside the normal electoral calendar.
Polls
A prediction by political scientists Simon Hix (London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
), Michael Marsh (Trinity College Dublin) and Nick Vivyan (London School of Economics) foresaw little change in the distribution of seats, predicting 249 seats for the EPP, 209 for the PES, 87 for ALDE, 58 for UEN or the European Conservatives, 48 for GUE–NGL, 39 for Greens–EFA, 17 for IND/DEM (resulting in its dissolution) and 29 NI; Libertas was not expected to win any seats. A later prediction saw 262 seats for the EPP, 194 for the PES, 85 for ALDE, 53 for UEN or the European Conservatives, 40 for GUE–NGL, 50 for Greens–EFA, 23 for IND/DEM (resulting in its dissolution) and 29 NI.
Re-apportionment of seats
At the previous electionEuropean Parliament election, 2004
Elections to the European Parliament were held from 10 June 2004 to 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom...
member states were granted a fixed allocation of seats for election as determined under the provisions of the Treaty of Nice
Treaty of Nice
The Treaty of Nice was signed by European leaders on 26 February 2001 and came into force on 1 February 2003. It amended the Maastricht Treaty and the Treaty of Rome...
(current allocation is in the 2007 column below). The admission of Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
and Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
midway through the previous Parliament's term had increased the overall size of the assembly to 785, and under the terms of the Treaty of Nice it was mandated that the seat allocations be modified for this election, dropping 49 seats to keep the overall size of the Parliament down.
It had been the stated desire of the member-state governments to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon
Treaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon of 1668 was a peace treaty between Portugal and Spain, concluded at Lisbon on 13 February 1668, through the mediation of England, in which Spain recognized the sovereignty of Portugal's new ruling dynasty, the House of Braganza....
before the election so that its articles governing the European Parliament could enter force as of this election. However, this was blocked by the Irish rejection of the treaty in a referendum. Under Lisbon, there would be a somewhat different allocation of seats, with fewer seats eliminated, leading to a slightly different distribution totalling 751 MEPs. If the Lisbon Treaty is subsequently ratified, it is planned to give the additional seats to the "increasing" countries already before the next elections, bringing the number of MEPs to 754 for a transitional period until 2014.
To have the additional MEPs ready at hand, 18 "phantom MEPs" were supposed to be elected at the election (which, however, did not happen in France). These were expected to get observer status in the European Parliament and full payment from the day the Lisbon Treaty enters into force (which did not happen either), but only become full members of parliament after an additional protocol is ratified. The latter will require a decision by the European Council
European Council
The European Council is an institution of the European Union. It comprises the heads of state or government of the EU member states, along with the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council, currently Herman Van Rompuy...
.
Campaigning
European political party
A European political party, formally a political party at European level, informally a Europarty, is a type of political party organization operating transnationally in Europe and in the institutions of the European Union. They are regulated and funded by the European Union and are usually made up...
. Those pan-European parties are EPP
European People's Party
The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of...
, PES
Party of European Socialists
The Party of European Socialists is a European political party led by Sergei Stanishev, former Prime Minister of Bulgaria. The PES comprises social-democratic national-level political parties primarily from Member state of the European Union, as well as other nations of the European continent. The...
, ELDR
European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party is a European political party mainly active in the European Union, composed of 56 national-level liberal and liberal-democratic parties from across Europe...
, EFA
European Free Alliance
The European Free Alliance is a European political party. It consists of various national-level political parties in Europe which advocate either full political independence , or some form of devolution or self-governance for their country or region...
, European Greens
European Green Party
The European Green Party is the Green political party at European level. As such it is a federation of green parties in Europe.-History:...
, AEN
Alliance for Europe of the Nations
The Alliance for Europe of the Nations was a pan-European political party that gathered conservative and national-conservative parties from across the continent.-History:...
, PEL
Party of the European Left
The Party of the European Left, commonly abbreviated to just the European Left, is a political party at European level and an association of democratic socialist and communist political parties in the European Union and other European countries. It was formed in January 2004 for the purposes of...
, EDP
European Democratic Party
The European Democratic Party is a centrist European political party in favour of European integration. It was initiated on April 16, 2004 and formally founded on December 9 in Brussels...
and EUD
EUDemocrats
The EUDemocrats – Alliance for a Europe of Democracies – is a eurorealist alliance of parties and movements from 15 European countries. It operates as a transnational party at a European level , according to Regulation No 2004/2003...
. The question of which was the first to campaign transnationally is the subject of some debate, with the European Greens
European Green Party
The European Green Party is the Green political party at European level. As such it is a federation of green parties in Europe.-History:...
stating that they were the first in 2004.
New parties that aspire to pan-European status during the 2009 elections include Newropeans
Newropeans
Newropeans is a European political party running for European Parliament elections in all European Union member states simultaneously. It therefore claims to be the first truly pan-European political party...
, Europe United, Europe – Democracy – Esperanto and Libertas Party Limited. The role for pan-European political parties has been expanded by changes enacted by the European Commission in 2007 under the direction of Margot Wallström
Margot Wallström
Margot Elisabeth Wallström is a Swedish social democratic, currently holding the job as . Prior to this post, she served as European Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy...
.
Four incumbent European Commissioner
European Commissioner
A European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each Member within the college holds a specific portfolio and are led by the President of the European Commission...
s will run as candidates in the election: Viviane Reding
Viviane Reding
Viviane Reding is a Luxembourgian politician, currently serving as European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship. Before starting a professional career as a journalist for the leading newspaper in Luxembourg, the Luxemburger Wort, she obtained a doctorate in human sciences...
(Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, information society & media
European Commissioner for Information Society & Media
The Commissioner for Digital Agenda is a member of the European Commission responsible for media and information issues such as telecoms and IT...
, Christian Social People's Party
Christian Social People's Party
The Christian Social People's Party , abbreviated to CSV or PCS, is the largest political party in Luxembourg. The party follows a Christian Democratic and conservative ideology and, like most parties in Luxembourg, it is strongly pro-European...
/EPP
European People's Party
The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of...
), Louis Michel
Louis Michel
Louis H. O. Ch. Michel is a Belgian politician. He served in the government of Belgium as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1999 to 2004 and was European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid from 2004 to 2009. Since 2009, he has been a Member of the European Parliament...
(Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, development & humanitarian aid
European Commissioner for Development & Humanitarian Aid
The Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response is a member of the European Commission. The post is currently held by Kristalina Georgieva....
, Reformist Movement
Reformist Movement
The Reformist Movement is a French-speaking liberal political party in Belgium. The party was in coalition as part of the Leterme II Government, and was also part of the governing coalition in the Walloon Region and Brussels-Capital Region until the 2004 regional elections...
/ELDR
European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party is a European political party mainly active in the European Union, composed of 56 national-level liberal and liberal-democratic parties from across Europe...
), Danuta Hübner
Danuta Hübner
Danuta Hübner is a Polish economist, academic, and policy maker. She served as European Commissioner for Regional Policy from 22 November 2004 until 4 July 2009, when she resigned to become a Member of European Parliament for the Civic Platform....
(Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, regional policy
European Commissioner for Regional Policy
The Commissioner for Regional Policy is a portfolio within the European Commission. The current Commissioner is Johannes Hahn.The portfolio is responsible for managing the regional policy of the European Union, such as the European Regional Development Fund, which takes up a third of the EU's...
, Civic Platform
Civic Platform
Civic Platform , abbreviated to PO, is a centre-right, liberal conservative political party in Poland. It has been the major coalition partner in Poland's government since the 2007 general election, with party leader Donald Tusk as Prime Minister of Poland and Bronisław Komorowski as President...
/EPP), Meglena Kuneva
Meglena Kuneva
Meglena Shtilianova Kuneva is a Bulgarian and EU politician.Born in Sofia, Kuneva graduated in Law from Sofia University in 1981. In 1984 she became a Doctor of Law. She worked as a journalist for the Law Programme of the Bulgarian National Radio while being an Assistant Professor at Sofia...
(Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, consumer protection, National Movement for Stability and Progress/ELDR). Ján Figeľ
Ján Figel
Ján Figeľ is a Slovakian politician, previously European Commissioner for Education, Training & Culture. His area of responsibility also covered sport, youth, and relations with civil society.-Early career:...
(Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
, education, training & culture
European Commissioner for Education, Training & Culture
The Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth is a member of the European Commission. The current commissioner is Androulla Vassiliou....
, Christian Democratic Movement
Christian Democratic Movement
The Christian Democratic Movement is a political party in Slovakia.It is represented in the parliament. It was also member of the government coalition, but it left that coalition on 7 February 2006 due to disputes over an international treaty between Slovakia and the Holy See dealing with the...
/EPP) was tipped to but ultimately did not run. He is bound to become the new chairman of his party instead.
Kuneva later decided not to take up her seat in the European Parliament.
Issue-based campaigns
These divide into EU-wide and nationally based campaigns, often by non-governmental organisations focussed on specific policy areas. They are designed to influence MEP candidates, those with a strong interest in the issue, and voters in general. Examples of nationally based campaigns include those of the Royal College of Nursing and British Overseas NGOs for Development.Media coverage
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
, National broadcasters
Public broadcasting
Public broadcasting includes radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing and commercial financing.Public broadcasting may be...
, the EBU
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union is a confederation of 74 broadcasting organisations from 56 countries, and 49 associate broadcasters from a further 25...
, with the cooperation of the Communication Commissioner, Margot Wallström
Margot Wallström
Margot Elisabeth Wallström is a Swedish social democratic, currently holding the job as . Prior to this post, she served as European Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy...
, are jointly working to make the 2009 election more interesting to the public and increase turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
. Previously, diverse news media in the European Union, and the fact that the election takes place over several days, have made it hard to attract viewers. The media consortium is hoping to focus the 2009 election more towards the EU level and the European Parliament itself, hoping to make the election more interesting and cosmetically appealing for television viewers. Members of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
(MEP) also started initiatives in late 2007 to make the election more interesting to voters in a bid to increase turnout.
From 1 April Parliament started putting up election posters, internet banners and billboards encouraging people to vote, with messages such as "How much should we tame financial markets?" to demonstrate the role of Parliament. The same 10 posters, designed by Berlin-based advertising company Scholz & Friends
Scholz & Friends
Scholz & Friends is one of the biggest advertising agencies in Europe. The company was founded in Hamburg, Germany in 1981 by Jürgen Scholz, Uwe Lang and Michael Menzel....
Group, were translated into all 23 languages and have been deployed across the whole of the EU. However, some posters are put up more in countries where the issues they present are of more significance and the most posters will be put up in those countries which had the lowest turnout in 2004. The end slogan is "Use your vote in the European Parliament Elections" with the date of the election in that country. The entire campaign costs 18 million euros, or 0.05 euros per eligible voter, with Germany, Spain and Italy donating some advertising space free of charge.
Role of the Treaty of Lisbon
It had initially been foreseen that the Treaty of LisbonTreaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon of 1668 was a peace treaty between Portugal and Spain, concluded at Lisbon on 13 February 1668, through the mediation of England, in which Spain recognized the sovereignty of Portugal's new ruling dynasty, the House of Braganza....
would have entered into force by the time of these elections, making them the first to be held under its provisions. However, primarily because of the failure of the referendum in Ireland, the framework established by the Treaty of Nice
Treaty of Nice
The Treaty of Nice was signed by European leaders on 26 February 2001 and came into force on 1 February 2003. It amended the Maastricht Treaty and the Treaty of Rome...
will be used again. Amongst other differences, the number of MEPs to be returned depends upon which rules are in effect: while 736 MEPs will be elected under the Nice rules, this number would have increased to 751 if the Lisbon Treaty were in force.
A further change that Lisbon would have brought was an increase to the powers of Parliament, including powers over the appointment of the President of the European Commission
President of the European Commission
The President of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission ― the executive branch of the :European Union ― the most powerful officeholder in the EU. The President is responsible for allocating portfolios to members of the Commission and can reshuffle or dismiss them if needed...
. It had been suggested by some that political parties could run with candidates for the Commission President; with leaders now linking the post to elections and that convention having being enshrined in the Constitution, further encouraging the possibility.
In 2007, it emerged that current Commission President José Manuel Barroso would likely seek a second term, which he confirmed on 19 July 2008, and he received the backing of French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
President Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
. In beginning to formalise the emerging party-political nature of the office, in early 2009 the centre-right People's Party backed Barroso as their candidate and the centre-left socialists opposed, however they did not put forward their own formal candidate.
Results
The national results as of 8 June 2009 are as follows. (based on predictions, to be confirmed)Full MEPs (with pre-election group alignment)
736 members with full voting rights (the groups used are the groups they had been associated with directly prior to the elections):| Political group Country |
EPP European People's Party–European Democrats The Group of the European People's Party , abbreviated to EPP Group, is a centre-right political group of the European Parliament... |
PES Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists is a European political party led by Sergei Stanishev, former Prime Minister of Bulgaria. The PES comprises social-democratic national-level political parties primarily from Member state of the European Union, as well as other nations of the European continent. The... |
ALDE Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe is the current liberal/centrist political group of the European Parliament... |
Greens-EFA European Greens–European Free Alliance The Greens European Free Alliance is one of the parliamentary groups in the European Parliament.... |
EUL-NGL European United Left–Nordic Green Left European United Left/Nordic Green Left is a left-wing political group with seats in the European Parliament since 1995.-Position:According to its 1994 constituent declaration, the group is opposed to the present European political structure, but committed to integration... |
UEN Union for Europe of the Nations Union for Europe of the Nations was a political group of the European Parliament between 1999 and 2009.-History:UEN was formed on 20 July 1999, supplanting the earlier Union for Europe. Its member parties Fianna Fáil and National Alliance were the driving forces behind the group, despite their... |
ID | Other (incl. NI Non-Inscrits Non-Inscrits are Members of the European Parliament who do not sit in one of the recognized political groups.... ) |
MEPs | Turnout | Cite |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria European Parliament election, 2009 (Austria) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Austria was the election of the delegation from Austria to the European Parliament in 2009. Austria will have 17 seats in the European Parliament, instead of 18 that the country had before the re-allocation of seats.... |
6 (ÖVP Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Austria. A successor to the Christian Social Party of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it is similar to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany in terms of ideology... ) |
4 (SPÖ Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria is one of the oldest political parties in Austria. The SPÖ is one of the two major parties in Austria, and has ties to trade unions and the Austrian Chamber of Labour. The SPÖ is among the few mainstream European social-democratic parties that have preserved... ) |
2 (Grüne) | 3 (Martin Hans-Peter Martin's List The Hans-Peter Martin's List – For genuine control in Brussels is an Austrian anti-corruption and pro-transparency political party. It currently has 3 seats in the European Parliament.... ) 2 (FPÖ Freedom Party of Austria The Freedom Party of Austria is a political party in Austria. Ideologically, the party is a direct descendant of the German national liberal camp, which dates back to the 1848 revolutions. The FPÖ itself was founded in 1956 as the successor to the short-lived Federation of Independents , which had... ) |
17 | 45.97% | |||||
| Belgium European Parliament election, 2009 (Belgium) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Belgium was on Sunday 7 June 2009 and was the election of the delegation from Belgium to the European Parliament... |
3 (CD&V Christian Democratic and Flemish The Christian Democratic and Flemish is a political party of Belgium, formerly called Christian People's Party... ) 1 (N-VA New-Flemish Alliance ' is a Flemish right-wing political party, founded in the autumn of 2001. It is a conservative and liberal movement that promotes civic nationalism... ) 1 (CDH Humanist Democratic Centre The Humanist Democratic Centre is a Francophone Christian democratic political party in Belgium. The cdH currently participates in the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, the Government of the French Community and the Walloon Government.- History :... ) 1 (CSP-EVP Christian Social Party (Belgium) The Christian Social Party is a party operating in the German-speaking community of Belgium. Its President is Mathieu Grosch.In the 2004 European Parliament election, standing as Christlich-Soziale Partei - Europäische Volkspartei, the party gained the single seat allocated by Belgian law to the... ) |
3 (PS Socialist Party (francophone Belgium) The Socialist Party is a Francophone social-democratic political party in Belgium. As of the 2010 elections, it is the second largest party in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and the largest Francophone party... ) 2 (SP.A) |
3 (OpenVLD Flemish Liberals and Democrats ' , commonly known as Open VLD and also simply as the VLD, is a Flemish liberal political party in Belgium, created in 1992 from the former Party for Freedom and Progress and a few other politicians from other parties. The party led the government for three cabinets under Guy Verhofstadt from 1999... ) 2 (MR Reformist Movement The Reformist Movement is a French-speaking liberal political party in Belgium. The party was in coalition as part of the Leterme II Government, and was also part of the governing coalition in the Walloon Region and Brussels-Capital Region until the 2004 regional elections... ) |
1 (Green! Green! Groen! is a Belgian green political party. Green! is the smallest Flemish party with a representation in the federal, regional or European parliament.-Before 1979:... ) 2 (Ecolo Ecolo Ecolo is a French-speaking Belgian green political party in Wallonia, Brussels and the German-speaking Community of Belgium... ) |
2 (VB Vlaams Belang Vlaams Belang is a Belgian far-right political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels that advocates the independence of Flanders and strict limits on immigration, whereby immigrants would be obliged to adopt Flemish culture and language... ) 1 (LDD) |
22 | 91% | ||||
| Bulgaria European Parliament election, 2009 (Bulgaria) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Bulgaria was held on Sunday 7 June 2009 and was the election of the delegation from Bulgaria to the European Parliament. As a result of the Treaty of Nice - that became active in November 2004 - the number of Bulgarian delegates in the European Parliament... |
5 (GERB Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria , abbreviated GERB , is a Bulgarian centre-right political party established on March 13 2006. It has been Bulgaria's ruling party since 2009.... ) 1 (SDS/DSB Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria is a political party in Bulgaria established by former Bulgarian Prime Minister Ivan Kostov . The motto of the party is "For a Strong Bulgaria in Unified Europe".- History :... ) |
4 (BSP Bulgarian Socialist Party The Bulgarian Socialist Party is social-democratic political party in Bulgaria and successor to the Bulgarian Communist Party. The BSP is a member of the Party of European Socialists and Socialist International, and is currently led by Sergei Stanishev.... ) |
3 (DPS Movement for Rights and Freedoms The Movement for Rights and Freedoms is an ethnic Turkish party in Bulgaria. The MRF is a member of the Liberal International and considers itself a liberal party, rather like the Swedish People's Party - party of the Swedish-speaking minority of Finland... ) 2 (NDSV) |
2 (Attack National Union Attack The National Union Attack is a nationalist political party in Bulgaria. At the last legislative elections, 5 July 2009, it won 9.4% of the popular vote and 21 out of 240 seats... ) |
17 | 37.49% | |||||
| Cyprus European Parliament election, 2009 (Cyprus) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Cyprus was the election of the delegation from Cyprus to the European Parliament in 2009.-References:*... |
2 (DISY Democratic Rally The Democratic Rally , is a centre-right political party in Cyprus, led by Nicos Anastasiades.The party was founded on 4 July 1976 by veteran politician Glafkos Klerides. Clerides served as Cyprus president from 1993 until 2003.... ) |
1 (EDEK Movement for Social Democracy The Movement for Social Democracy EDEK is a Social Democratic party in Cyprus. It was originally founded by Dr Vasos Lyssaridis in 1969 as the United Democratic Union of Centre, EDEK and it was socialist party. It has gradually evolved into a social-democratic political party... ) |
2 (AKEL Progressive Party of Working People The Progressive Party of Working People is a communist party in Cyprus. It supports an independent, demilitarized and non-aligned Cyprus, and a federal solution of the internal aspect of the Cyprus problem. It places particular emphasis on rapprochement with the Turkish Cypriots. It supported... ) |
1 (DIKO Democratic Party (Cyprus) The Democratic Party is a centrist political party in Cyprus, founded in 1976 by Spyros Kyprianou. As it is reported in its founding statement , the Democratic Party proposes to the Cypriot society the political philosophy of "social centrism", which constitutes “a total of attributes and values... ) |
6 | 58.88% | |||||
| Czech Republic European Parliament election, 2009 (Czech Republic) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Czech Republic was the election of the delegation from Czech Republic to the European Parliament in 2009.... |
2 (KDU–ČSL) | 7 (ČSSD Czech Social Democratic Party The Czech Social Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in the Czech Republic.-History:The Social Democratic Czechoslavonic party in Austria was founded on 7 April 1878 in Austria-Hungary representing the Kingdom of Bohemia in the Austrian parliament... ) |
4 (KSČM Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia , abbreviated to KSČM, is a political party in the Czech Republic. It has a membership of 82,994 and is a member party of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left bloc in the European Parliament... ) |
9 (ODS) | 22 | 28.22% | |||||
| Denmark European Parliament election, 2009 (Denmark) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Denmark was the election of the delegation from Denmark to the European Parliament on June 7, 2009. The number of Danish MEPs elected was 13... |
1 (C Conservative People's Party (Denmark) The Conservative People's Party , also known as Conservatives is a Danish political party.-History:The party was founded 1915 based mostly on its predecessor, Højre , but also on the Free Conservatives and a moderate faction of Venstre , the liberals.The party has participated in several coalition... ) |
4 (A Social Democrats (Denmark) The Social Democrats , is a Danish political party committed to the political ideology of social democracy. It is the major coalition partner in Denmark's government since the 2011 parliamentary election, and party leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt is the current Prime Minister of Denmark... ) |
3 (V Venstre (Denmark) VenstreThe party name is officially not translated into any other language, but is in English often referred to as the Liberal Party. Similar rules apply for the name of the party's youth wing Venstres Ungdom. , full name Venstre, Danmarks Liberale Parti , is the largest political party in Denmark... ) |
2 (F Socialist People's Party (Denmark) The Socialist People's Party is a green and socialist political party in Denmark.-1959–69:The SF was founded on 15 February 1959 by Aksel Larsen, a former leader of the Communist Party of Denmark and CIA agent. Larsen was removed from the ranks of the DKP for his criticism over the Soviet... ) |
1 (N People's Movement against the EU The People's Movement against the EU is a political association in Denmark against the European Union. It was founded in 1972 as a cross-party campaign platform for a 'no' vote in Denmark's referendum on EEC membership... ) |
2 (O Danish People's Party The Danish People's Party is a political party in Denmark which is frequently described as right-wing populist by political scientists and commentators. The party is led by Pia Kjærsgaard... ) |
13 | 59.5% | |||
| Estonia European Parliament election, 2009 (Estonia) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Estonia was the election of the delegation from Estonia to the European Parliament in 2009.The election day was 7 June 2009. Turnout was 43.9% – about 17.1% higher than during the previous election five years before... |
1 (IRL Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica is an Estonian Liberal Conservative political party. It was founded on 4 June 2006 when two conservative parties, Pro Patria Union and Res Publica merged. Up to the 2007 parliamentary elections, the party held 32 seats out of 101 in the Riigikogu and one of... ) |
1 (SDE Social Democratic Party (Estonia) The Social Democratic Party is a social-democratic party in Estonia, led by Sven Mikser. It has been a member of the Party of European Socialists since 16 May 2003 and a member of the Socialist International since November 1990.... ) |
1 (RE Estonian Reform Party The Estonian Reform Party is a centre-right, free market liberal party in Estonia. It is led by Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, and has 33 members in the 101-member Riigikogu, making it the largest party in the legislature... ) 2 (KE Estonian Centre Party The Estonian Centre Party is a centrist, social liberal party in Estonia. Keskerakond is a member of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party. It has the largest membership of an Estonian party, with over 12 000 members.... ) |
1 (Tarand Indrek Tarand Indrek Tarand MEP is an Estonian politician, reserve officer, civil servant, journalist and historian.Tarand has served as an advisor to the Prime Minister of Estonia and as the Secretary General of the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.-Biography:Tarand is the eldest son of Andres Tarand... ) |
6 | 43.9% | |||||
| Finland European Parliament election, 2009 (Finland) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Finland was the election of the delegation from Finland to the European Parliament in 2009.Finland uses the open list d'Hondt method, where voters vote for an individual, but the individual's vote is counted primarily for the party and secondarily for the... |
3 (Kok.) 1 (KD Christian Democrats (Finland) The Christian Democrats is a Christian democratic political party in Finland. Formerly known as the Finnish Christian League , the Christian Democrats have six seats in the Finnish Parliament and one in the European Parliament.The party was founded in 1958, chiefly from the Christian faction of... ) |
2 (SDP Social Democratic Party of Finland The Social Democratic Party of Finland is one of the three major political parties in Finland, along with the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party. Jutta Urpilainen is the current SDP leader. The party has been in the Finnish government cabinet for long periods and has set many... ) |
3 (Kesk. Centre Party (Finland) The Centre Party is a centrist and Nordic agrarian political party in Finland. It is one of the four largest political parties in the country, along with the Social Democratic Party , the National Coalition Party and the True Finns , and currently has 35 seats in the Finnish Parliament... ) 1 (SFP) |
2 (Vihr. Green League The Green League is a centrist green liberal political party in Finland. It has ten seats in the Finnish Parliament and two in the European Parliament. The current chairperson is Ville Niinistö.... ) |
1 (PS True Finns True Finns or The Finns is a populist and nationalist political party in Finland, founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The head of the movement is Timo Soini. In the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election, The party won 19.1% of votes, becoming the third largest party... ) |
13 | 40.3% | ||||
| France European Parliament election, 2009 (France) European elections to elect 72 French Members of the European Parliament were held on Sunday 7 June 2009.Due to the entry of Romania and Bulgaria in the European Union in 2007, the number of seats allocated to France was revised from 78 seats to 72 seats, a loss of 6 seats... |
24 (UMP Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement is a centre-right political party in France, and one of the two major contemporary political parties in the country along with the center-left Socialist Party... ) 3 (NC New Centre New Centre , also known as the European Social Liberal Party is a centre-right political party in France, formed by the members of the Union for French Democracy – including a majority of former parliamentarians – who did not agree with François Bayrou's... ) 2 (LGM Modern Left The Modern Left , is a French centrist political party founded in 2007.The party was founded following the nomination of the former Socialist Senator and Mayor of Mulhouse, Jean-Marie Bockel to the François Fillon government in May 2007... ) |
14 (PS Socialist Party (France) The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement... ) |
6 (MoDem Democratic Movement (France) The Democratic Movement , MoDem) is a centrist, social liberal and pro-European French political party that was founded by centrist politician François Bayrou to succeed his Union for French Democracy and to contest the 2007 legislative election, after his strong showing in the 2007 presidential... ) |
14 (E-É Europe Écologie Europe Écologie was a French electoral coalition created for the 2009 European elections composed of The Greens and other ecologists and regionalists.... ) |
5 (FG Left Front (France) The Left Front is a French electoral coalition for the 2009 European elections composed primarily of the French Communist Party, the Left Party and the Unitarian Left... ) |
1 (Libertas Libertas France Libertas France is the name given to the activities of Declan Ganley's Libertas Party in France. Unlike Libertas in other countries, Libertas France was not a political party in its own right... ) |
3 (FN) | 72 | 40.48% | ||
| Germany European Parliament election, 2009 (Germany) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Germany was the German part of the European Parliament election, 2009. The voting was held on Sunday, 7 June. A total of 26 parties competed for the 99 seats reserved for Germany in the European Parliament... |
34 (CDU Christian Democratic Union (Germany) The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum... ) 8 (CSU Christian Social Union of Bavaria The Christian Social Union in Bavaria is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It operates only in the state of Bavaria, while its sister party, the Christian Democratic Union , operates in the other 15 states of Germany... ) |
23 (SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... ) |
12 (FDP Free Democratic Party (Germany) The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government... ) |
14 (Grüne Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir... ) |
8 (Linke The Left (Germany) The Left , also commonly referred to as the Left Party , is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The Left is the most left-wing party of the five represented in the Bundestag.... ) |
99 | 43.3% | ||||
| Greece European Parliament election, 2009 (Greece) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Greece for the election of the delegation from Greece to the European Parliament in 2009 took place on June 7, 2009. The election system used in Greece is party-list proportional representation with a 3% threshold for any party... |
8 (ND New Democracy (Greece) New Democracy is the main centre-right political party and one of the two major parties in Greece. It was founded in 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis and formed the first cabinet of the Third Hellenic Republic... ) |
8 (PASOK Panhellenic Socialist Movement The Panhellenic Socialist Movement , known mostly by its acronym PASOK , is one of the two major political parties in Greece. Founded on 3 September 1974 by Andreas Papandreou, in 1981 PASOK became Greece's first social democratic party to win a majority in parliament.The party is a socialist party... ) |
1 (Greens Ecologist Greens The Ecologist Greens are a Greek Green ecologist political party. It has existed since 2002, yet the ecologist movement in Greece dates many years and was characterised by a reluctance to actively become involved in the political scene... ) |
2 (KKE Communist Party of Greece Founded in 1918, the Communist Party of Greece , better known by its acronym, ΚΚΕ , is the oldest party on the Greek political scene.- Foundation :... ) 1 (SYRIZA Coalition of the Radical Left The Coalition of the Radical Left , commonly known by its Greek abbreviation ΣΥΡΙΖΑ , is a coalition of left political parties in Greece... ) |
2 (LAOS Popular Orthodox Rally The Popular Orthodox Rally or The People's Orthodox Rally , often abbreviated to ΛΑ.Ο.Σ as a pun on the Greek word for people, is a Greek party. According to its political program LA.O.S... ) |
22 | 52.63% | ||||
| Hungary European Parliament election, 2009 (Hungary) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Hungary was the election of the delegation from Hungary to the European Parliament in 2009. Hungary delegated 22 members to the European Parliament based on the Nice treaty and the election took place on the 7th of June.-Candidates:Among the candidates... |
14 (Fidesz-MPP Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union The Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union is a major conservative party in Hungary. At the 2010 election in Hungary, Fidesz-KDNP won a two-thirds majority of seats by gaining 52% of the votes, with Fidesz winning 227 seats and KDNP winning 36... ) 1 (MDF Hungarian Democratic Forum The Hungarian Democratic Forum , abbreviated to MDF, was a centre-right political party in Hungary. It had a liberal conservative and Christian democratic ideology... ) |
4 (MSZP Hungarian Socialist Party The Hungarian Socialist Party describes itself as a social democratic party in Hungary. It is the partial successor of the communist Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party , which ruled Hungary between 1956 and 1989. The decision to declare the party a successor of the MSZMP was controversial, and... ) |
3 (Jobbik Movement for a Better Hungary Jobbik, The Movement for a Better Hungary commonly known as Jobbik, is a Hungarian radical nationalist political party. Jobbik has been denoted by scholars, different press outlets and its political opponents as fascist, neo-fascist, anti-Semitic, anti-Roma and homophobic... ) |
22 | 36.28% | ||||||
| Ireland European Parliament election, 2009 (Ireland) The 2009 European Parliament election in Ireland was the Irish component of the 2009 European Parliament election and was held on Friday, 5 June 2009, coinciding with the 2009 local elections... |
4 (FG Fine Gael Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000... ) |
3 (Lab Labour Party (Ireland) The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish... ) |
3 (FF Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál... ) 1 (Harkin Marian Harkin Marian Harkin is an Irish politician and is currently a Member of the European Parliament for the North-West constituency.... ) |
1 (SP Socialist Party (Ireland) The Socialist Party is a socialist political party active in Ireland. It is a member of the Committee for a Workers' International .Formerly known as Militant Tendency, then Militant Labour, it adopted the name The Socialist Party in 1996. From their foundation in 1972 until the 1980s, members of... ) |
12 | 57.6% | |||||
| Italy European Parliament election, 2009 (Italy) European elections to elect 72 members of the European Parliament representing Italy were held on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 June 2009, as decided by the Italian government on December 18, 2008... |
29 (PdL The People of Freedom The People of Freedom is a centre-right political party in Italy. With the Democratic Party, it is one of the two major parties of the current Italian party system.... ) 5 (UDC) 1 (SVP South Tyrolean People's Party The South Tyrolean People's Party is a regionalist Christian democratic political party active in the Italian province of South Tyrol.Founded in 1945, the SVP represents the German-speaking population of the province, as well as Ladin speakers. Since the first election of the Provincial Council in... ) |
7 (IdV Italy of Values Italy of Values is a centrist, populist and anti-corruption political party in Italy. The party, which is affiliated to the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party , is headed by former Mani pulite prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro, who entered politics in 1996.The party aims to gather and give... ) |
9 (LN) | 21 (PD Democratic Party (Italy) The Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy, that is the second-largest in the country. The party is led by Pier Luigi Bersani, who was elected in the 2009 leadership election.... ) |
72 | 65.05% | |||||
| Latvia European Parliament election, 2009 (Latvia) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Latvia involved the election of the delegation from Latvia to the European Parliament in 2009. 17 lists containing a total of 185 candidates were registered for the election.... |
1 (JL New Era Party The New Era Party , abbreviated to JL, was a centre-right political party in Latvia. Founded in 2002, the party merged with Civic Union and Society for Other Politics to form Unity in 2011.... ) 2 (PS Civic Union (Latvia) The Civic Union was a Latvian political party. It was founded in 2008 and most of its members came from the For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK and New Era Party. It has been described as centre-right or right-wing.... ) |
1 (LPP/LC LPP/LC Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way is a Latvian political party, created from the merger of the Christian democratic Latvia's First Party , the liberal Latvian Way and the regionalist We for our District and Vidzeme Union in 2007. These parties had already formed an electoral coalition in 2006... ) |
1 (PCTVL For Human Rights in United Latvia For Human Rights in United Latvia is a left-wing political party in Latvia, supported mainly by ethnic Russians and other non-Latvian minorities. Co-chairpersons of its Ruling Board are Tatjana Ždanoka, Jakovs Pliners and Miroslav Mitrofanov.... ) |
1 (TB/LNNK) | 2 (SC Harmony Centre Harmony Centre is a political alliance in Latvia. It was formed in 2005 and its member parties are the Social Democratic Party "Harmony" and the Socialist Party of Latvia Harmony Centre (abbreviated SC; ) is a political alliance in Latvia. It was formed in 2005 and its member parties are the... ) |
8 | 52.57% | ||||
| Lithuania European Parliament election, 2009 (Lithuania) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Lithuania was the election of the delegation from Lithuania to the European Parliament in 2009. It was a part of the wider 2009 European election... |
4 (TS-LKD) | 3 (LSDP Social Democratic Party of Lithuania The Social Democratic Party of Lithuania is a centre-left and social democratic political party in Lithuania. It is the oldest party in Lithuania, founded in 1896. The party's president since 2009 is Algirdas Butkevičius. The party led a minority government in the unicameral Seimas, Lithuania's... ) |
1 (DP Labour Party (Lithuania) The Labour Party , or DP, is a centrist political party in Lithuania. It was founded in 2003 by the Russian-born millionaire Viktor Uspaskich.... ) 1 (LRLS) |
2 (TT) | 1 (LLRA) | 12 | 20.54% | ||||
| Luxembourg European Parliament election, 2009 (Luxembourg) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Luxembourg was the election of the delegation from Luxembourg to the European Parliament in 2009. It was held on the same day as the elections to the national legislature, the Chamber of Deputies.-Parties:... |
3 (CSV Christian Social People's Party The Christian Social People's Party , abbreviated to CSV or PCS, is the largest political party in Luxembourg. The party follows a Christian Democratic and conservative ideology and, like most parties in Luxembourg, it is strongly pro-European... ) |
1 (LSAP Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party The Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party , abbreviated to LSAP or POSL, is a social democratic political party in Luxembourg.The LSAP is the second-largest party in the Chamber of Deputies, having won 13 of 60 seats at the 2009 election, and has one seat in the European Parliament... ) |
1 (DP Democratic Party (Luxembourg) The Democratic Party , abbreviated to DP, is the major liberal political party in Luxembourg. One of the three major parties, the DP sits on the centre-right, holding moderate market liberal views combined with a strong emphasis on civil liberties, human rights, and internationalism.Founded in... ) |
1 (déi gréng The Greens (Luxembourg) The Greens is a Luxembourgian green political party.-1983-1993:The Greens were originally founded in 23 June 1983. In the 1984 election, the party got two seats in the Chamber of Deputies. In 1985, however the party split between two parties one called 'GLEI' and the other called 'GAP'... ) |
6 | 91% | |||||
| Malta European Parliament election, 2009 (Malta) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Malta was the election of the delegation from Malta to the European Parliament in 2009. The elections were held on June 6 on the same day as the Maltese local council elections, 2009.... |
2 (PN) | 3 (PL) | 5 | 78.8% | |||||||
| Netherlands European Parliament election, 2009 (Netherlands) The European Parliament election of 2009 in the Netherlands was the election of the delegation from the Netherlands to the European Parliament in 2009 and took place on June 4, 2009. Seventeen parties competed in a D'Hondt type election for 25 seats... |
5 (CDA Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal is a centre-right Dutch Christian democratic political party. It suffered severe losses in the 2010 elections and fell from the first to the fourth place... ) |
3 (PvdA) | 3 (VVD People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is a conservative-liberal political party located in the Netherlands. The VVD supports private enterprise in the Netherlands and is often perceived as an economic liberal party in contrast to the social-liberal Democrats 66 alongside which it sits in... ) 3 (D66 Democrats 66 Democrats 66 is a progressive and social-liberal political party in the Netherlands. D66 was formed in 1966 by a group of politically unaligned, young intellectuals, led by journalist Hans van Mierlo. The party's main objective was to democratise the political system; it proposed to create an... ) |
3 (GL GreenLeft GreenLeft is a green political party operating in the Netherlands.GreenLeft was formed on 1 March 1989 as a merger of four left-wing political parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and the Evangelical People's Party... ) |
2 (SP Socialist Party (Netherlands) The Socialist Party is a democratic socialist political party in the Netherlands. After the 2006 general election, the Socialist Party became one of the major parties of the Netherlands with 25 seats of 150, an increase of 16 seats. The party was in opposition against the fourth Balkenende cabinet... ) |
2 (CU-SGP) | 4 (PVV Party for Freedom The Party for Freedom is a Dutch right-wing political party. Founded in 2005 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man party in the House of Representatives, it won nine seats in the 2006 general election, making it the fifth largest party in parliament, and third largest opposition party. It... ) |
25 | 36.9% | ||
| Poland European Parliament election, 2009 (Poland) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Poland was the election of the delegation from Poland to the European Parliament in 2009 which took place on 7 June 2009. On 13 February the Sejm accepted a proposal for an amendment to the electoral court act to allow voting for the European Parliament... |
25 (PO Civic Platform Civic Platform , abbreviated to PO, is a centre-right, liberal conservative political party in Poland. It has been the major coalition partner in Poland's government since the 2007 general election, with party leader Donald Tusk as Prime Minister of Poland and Bronisław Komorowski as President... ) 3 (PSL) |
7 (SLD-UP Democratic Left Alliance-Labor Union Democratic Left Alliance-Labor Union is an electoral committee and a coalition of two Polish centre-left political parties: Democratic Left Alliance and Labour Union. At the national level, the alliance arose at the time of the 2001 parliamentary elections and continued through the 2004 elections... ) |
15 (PiS Law and Justice Law and Justice , abbreviated to PiS, is a right-wing, conservative political party in Poland. With 147 seats in the Sejm and 38 in the Senate, it is the second-largest party in the Polish parliament.... ) |
50 | 24.53% | ||||||
| Portugal European Parliament election, 2009 (Portugal) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Portugal was the election of the delegation from Portugal to the European Parliament in 2009.The lists are headed by*Socialist Party : Vital Moreira... |
8 (PSD Social Democratic Party (Portugal) The Social Democratic Party , is a centre-right liberal conservative political party in Portugal. It is commonly known by its initials, PSD; on ballot papers, its initials appear as PPD/PSD, with the first three letters coming from the party's original name, Democratic People's Party... ) 2 (CDS–PP) |
7 (PS Socialist Party (Portugal) The Socialist Party , abbreviated to PS, is a social-democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel, by militants from Portuguese Socialist Action .... ) |
2 (CDU) 3 (BE) |
22 | 36.77% | ||||||
| Romania European Parliament election, 2009 (Romania) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Romania is the election of the delegation from Romania to the European Parliament in 2009.-Candidates and elected MEPs:Among those expected to take up seats are :... |
10 (PD-L Democratic Liberal Party (Romania) The Democratic Liberal Party is a populist, centre-right party in Romania. It was formed on 15 December 2007, when the Democratic Party merged with the Liberal Democratic Party. From 2004 to 2007, the Democratic Party was part of the governing Justice and Truth Alliance... ) 2 (UDMR Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania The Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, is the main political organisation representing the ethnic Hungarians of Romania.... ) 1 (Băsescu Elena Băsescu Elena Băsescu, sometimes referred to as EBA, is a Romanian politician, secretary general of the youth wing of Romania's Democratic Liberal Party, and a Member of the European Parliament. She is the youngest daughter of Traian Băsescu, the current President of Romania. She was formerly a model, and... ) |
11 (PSD-PC National Union PSD+PUR In 2004, the National Union PSD+PUR was an electoral cartel formed between the Social Democratic Party and the Humanist Party of Romania. It was set up as a counterpart to the Justice and Truth Alliance PNL-PD, only for the 2004 legislative elections and Romanian presidential election.The two... ) |
5 (PNL National Liberal Party (Romania) The National Liberal Party , abbreviated to PNL, is a centre-right liberal party in Romania. It is the third-largest party in the Romanian Parliament, with 53 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 22 in the Senate: behind the centre-right Democratic Liberal Party and the centre-left Social... ) |
1 (Tőkés László Tokés László Tőkés is a Romanian politician of Hungarian ethnicity, currently serving as a Member of the European Parliament and Vice President of the European Parliament .... ) |
3 (PRM Greater Romania Party The Greater Romania Party is a Romanian radical right-wing, ultra-nationalist political party, led by Corneliu Vadim Tudor. The party is sometimes referred to in English as the Great Romania Party.... ) |
33 | 27.67% | ||||
| Slovakia European Parliament election, 2009 (Slovakia) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Slovakia was the election of the delegation from Slovakia to the European Parliament in 2009.The turnout, although increased compared to the previous election, was 19.63%, the lowest of any nation involved in the election.-Division of Seats:The system of... |
2 (SDKÚ-DS) 2 (KDH Christian Democratic Movement The Christian Democratic Movement is a political party in Slovakia.It is represented in the parliament. It was also member of the government coalition, but it left that coalition on 7 February 2006 due to disputes over an international treaty between Slovakia and the Holy See dealing with the... ) 2 (SMK Party of the Hungarian Coalition The Party of the Hungarian Coalition, officially registered under the compound name Strana maďarskej koalície – Magyar Koalíció Pártja, is a political party in Slovakia, for the ethnic Hungarian minority... ) |
5 (Smer) | 1 (SNS) 1 (LS-HZDS) |
13 | 19.63% | ||||||
| Slovenia European Parliament election, 2009 (Slovenia) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Slovenia was be the election of the delegation from Slovenia to the European Parliament in 2009.-Candidates:- Opinion polls :-Results:-References:... |
2 (SDS Slovenian Democratic Party The Slovenian Democratic Party , known until 2003 as the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia is a Slovenian centre-right liberal conservative and Christian democratic party... ) 1 (NSi New Slovenia The New Slovenia – Christian People's Party or simply New Slovenia, NSi is a Christian democratic political party in Slovenia... ) |
2 (SD Social Democrats (Slovenia) The Social Democrats is a centre-left political party in Slovenia, currently led by Borut Pahor. From 1993 until 2005, the party was known as the United List of Social Democrats .-Origins:... ) |
1 (LDS Liberal Democracy of Slovenia Liberal Democracy of Slovenia is a liberal political party in Slovenia. It is led by Katarina Kresal and is a member of the Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party... ) 1 (Zares Zares Zares – Social Liberals is a social-liberal political party in Slovenia. Its president is Gregor Golobič, former Secretary General of the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia and former close advisor to the late Janez Drnovšek, who had previously abandoned active political involvement due to... ) |
7 | 28.02% | ||||||
| Spain European Parliament election, 2009 (Spain) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Spain was the election of the delegation from Spain to the European Parliament in 2009.- Opinion polls :-Results:-References:... |
23 (PP People's Party (Spain) The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship... ) |
21 (PSOE Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in... ) |
1 (CDC Democratic Convergence of Catalonia The Democratic Convergence of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. Together with Democratic Union of Catalonia, it forms part of the Convergence and Union coalition. It is affiliated with the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party and with the Liberal International... ) 1 (EAJ-PNV Basque Nationalist Party The Basque National Party is the largest and oldest Basque nationalist party. It is currently the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community also with a minor presence in Navarre and a marginal one in the French Basque Country... ) |
1 (ERC) 1 (ICV Initiative for Catalonia Greens Initiative for Catalonia Greens is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It was formed as a merger of Iniciativa per Catalunya and Els Verds. IC had been an alliance led by Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya and was the equivalent of Izquierda Unida in Catalonia... ) |
1 (IU United Left (Spain) The United Left is a political coalition that was organized in 1986 bringing together several political organisations opposed to Spain joining NATO. It was formed by a number of groups of leftists, greens, left-wing socialists and republicans, but was dominated by the Communist Party of Spain... ) |
1 (UPyD Union, Progress and Democracy Union, Progress and Democracy is a Spanish political party founded in September 2007.It is a progressivist party, between social democracy and social liberalism. One of its goals is to build a federal system for Spain and European Union, with clear responsibilities distributed among local... ) |
50 | 46.0% | |||
| Sweden European Parliament election, 2009 (Sweden) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Sweden was held on 7 June 2009 and determined the makeup of the Swedish delegation to the European Parliament. The election was held using a modified form of the Sainte-Laguë method of party-list proportional representation using the entire country as a... |
4 (M Moderate Party The Moderate Party is a centre-right, liberal conservative political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1904 as the General Electoral League by a group of conservatives in the Swedish parliament... ) 1 (KD Christian Democrats (Sweden) The Christian Democrats ) is a political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1964 but did not enter parliament until 1985 in an electoral cooperation with the Centre Party and on the Christian Democrats' own accord in 1991. The leader since April 3, 2004 is Göran Hägglund. He succeeded Alf... ) |
5 (S Swedish Social Democratic Party The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889... ) |
3 (FP Liberal People's Party (Sweden) The Liberal People's Party is a political party in Sweden. The party advocates social liberalism and is part of the governing centre-right coalition The Alliance, which achieved a majority in the general election of 17 September 2006... ) 1 (C Centre Party (Sweden) The Centre Party is a centrist political party in Sweden. The party maintains close ties to rural Sweden and describes itself as "a green social liberal party". The ideology is sometimes called agrarian, but in a European context, the Centre Party can perhaps best be characterized as social... ) |
2 (MP Green Party (Sweden) -External links:**... ) |
1 (V Left Party (Sweden) The Left Party is a socialist and feminist political party in Sweden, from 1967 to 1990 known as the Left Party – The Communists .On welfare issues, the party opposes privatizations... ) |
1 (PP) | 18 | 45.53% | |||
| United Kingdom European Parliament election, 2009 (United Kingdom) The European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2009 European Parliament election, the voting for which was held on Thursday 4 June 2009, coinciding with the 2009 local elections in England. Most of the results of the election were announced on Sunday 7 June, after... |
13 (Lab Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after... ) |
11 (LD Liberal Democrats The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the... ) |
2 (GPEW Green Party of England and Wales The Green Party of England and Wales is a political party in England and Wales which follows the traditions of Green politics and maintains a strong commitment to social progressivism. It is the largest Green party in the United Kingdom, containing within it various regional divisions including... ) 2 (SNP Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom.... ) 1 (PC Plaid Cymru ' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966... ) |
1 (SF Sinn Féin Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970... ) |
13 (UKIP United Kingdom Independence Party The United Kingdom Independence Party is a eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Whilst its primary goal is the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the party has expanded beyond its single-issue image to develop a more comprehensive party platform.UKIP... ) |
26 (Con Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House... /UCUNF Ulster Conservatives and Unionists – New Force The Ulster Conservatives and Unionists, officially registered as the Ulster Conservatives and Unionists – New Force , is a bipartisan electoral alliance in Northern Ireland between the Ulster Unionist Party and the Northern Ireland branch of the Conservative Party, the latter party also being... ) 2 (BNP British National Party The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982... ) 1 (DUP Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the... ) |
72 | 34.48% | |||
| Total | 264 | 161 | 83 | 53 | 34 | 14 | 18 | 110 | 736 | 43.24% | |
| Political group | EPP European People's Party–European Democrats The Group of the European People's Party , abbreviated to EPP Group, is a centre-right political group of the European Parliament... |
PES Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists is a European political party led by Sergei Stanishev, former Prime Minister of Bulgaria. The PES comprises social-democratic national-level political parties primarily from Member state of the European Union, as well as other nations of the European continent. The... |
ALDE Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe is the current liberal/centrist political group of the European Parliament... |
Greens-EFA European Greens–European Free Alliance The Greens European Free Alliance is one of the parliamentary groups in the European Parliament.... |
EUL-NGL European United Left–Nordic Green Left European United Left/Nordic Green Left is a left-wing political group with seats in the European Parliament since 1995.-Position:According to its 1994 constituent declaration, the group is opposed to the present European political structure, but committed to integration... |
UEN Union for Europe of the Nations Union for Europe of the Nations was a political group of the European Parliament between 1999 and 2009.-History:UEN was formed on 20 July 1999, supplanting the earlier Union for Europe. Its member parties Fianna Fáil and National Alliance were the driving forces behind the group, despite their... |
ID | Other (incl. NI Non-Inscrits Non-Inscrits are Members of the European Parliament who do not sit in one of the recognized political groups.... ) |
MEPs | Turnout | Cite |
| Previous total (unadjusted) |
288 (−24) | 217 (−56) | 100 (−17) | 43 (+10) | 41 (−8) | 44 (−30) | 22 (−4) | 30 (+80) | 785 (–49) | ||
| Previous total (adjusted) |
244 (+20) | 196 (−35) | 88 (−5) | 40 (+13) | 38 (−5) | 24 (−10) | 21 (−3) | 85 (+25) | 736 (±0) | ||
NB: "Adjusted" figures restate group numbers to proportionately reflect the reduction of the Parliament's size by 49, and to reflect the following political group movements announced prior to the election: DIKO (CY) from ALDE to Other; ODS (CZ) from EPP to Other; FF (IE) from UEN to ALDE; AN (IT) from UEN to EPP; PD (IT) from PES and ALDE to Other; PiS (PL) from UEN to Other; and Conservatives/UCUNF (UK) from EPP to Other.
Note:Postal votes missing from Slovenia. Complete results were supposed to be announced on 15 June
Observer MEPs
18 additional seats were designated to be filled by "observers" when the Lisbon treaty goes into force, to account for new seat distribution with the Lisbon Treaty. On 23 June an intergovernmental conference (IGC) of EU member states amended a protocol attached to the Lisbon treaty on transitional arrangements. Those transitional arrangements were originally envisaged as taking the total number of MEPs from 785 to 751 for the 2009 elections. The amended text says that the protocol “shall enter into force if possible on 1 December 2010”. Germany is allowed to retain its three additional MEPs until the next elections in 2014. Officials and diplomats hope that national parliaments can ratify the changed protocol by then.The member states entitled to observer seats were supposed to make provisions before the 2009 elections for who would get the additional seats in the European Parliament. However, this was not done by France. This created a limbo for the observers elected from other countries, since all observers are supposed to start their work at the same time. As of January 2011, they have not yet been able to do so.
The following is a list of all observer seats, with the winning party given where known:
| Country | National Party | Political Group | Cite |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | SPÖ Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria is one of the oldest political parties in Austria. The SPÖ is one of the two major parties in Austria, and has ties to trade unions and the Austrian Chamber of Labour. The SPÖ is among the few mainstream European social-democratic parties that have preserved... |
S&D Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats is the social-democratic political group in the European Parliament, formed by MEPs of the Party of European Socialists and allied centre-left parties. The group dates its ancestry via various names back to the beginning of the European... |
|
| Austria | BZÖ Alliance for the Future of Austria The Alliance for the Future of Austria , abbreviated to BZÖ, is a conservative liberal political party in Austria. The party has sixteen seats in the National Council.... |
NI Non-Inscrits Non-Inscrits are Members of the European Parliament who do not sit in one of the recognized political groups.... |
|
| Bulgaria | SK Blue Coalition The Blue Coalition is a political coalition in Bulgaria, founded in early 2009 by center-right parties, most importantly Union of the Democratic Forces and Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria... |
EPP European People's Party The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of... |
|
| France | ? | ? | |
| France | ? | ? | |
| Italy | ? | ? | |
| Latvia | PS Civic Union (Latvia) The Civic Union was a Latvian political party. It was founded in 2008 and most of its members came from the For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK and New Era Party. It has been described as centre-right or right-wing.... |
EPP European People's Party The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of... |
|
| Malta | PL | S&D Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats is the social-democratic political group in the European Parliament, formed by MEPs of the Party of European Socialists and allied centre-left parties. The group dates its ancestry via various names back to the beginning of the European... |
|
| Netherlands | PVV Party for Freedom The Party for Freedom is a Dutch right-wing political party. Founded in 2005 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man party in the House of Representatives, it won nine seats in the 2006 general election, making it the fifth largest party in parliament, and third largest opposition party. It... |
NI Non-Inscrits Non-Inscrits are Members of the European Parliament who do not sit in one of the recognized political groups.... |
|
| Poland | PSL | EPP European People's Party The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of... |
|
| Slovenia | SDS Slovenian Democratic Party The Slovenian Democratic Party , known until 2003 as the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia is a Slovenian centre-right liberal conservative and Christian democratic party... |
EPP European People's Party The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of... |
|
| Spain | PP People's Party (Spain) The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship... |
EPP European People's Party The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of... |
|
| Spain | CiU | EPP European People's Party The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of... |
|
| Spain | PSOE Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in... |
S&D Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats is the social-democratic political group in the European Parliament, formed by MEPs of the Party of European Socialists and allied centre-left parties. The group dates its ancestry via various names back to the beginning of the European... |
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| Spain | PSOE Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in... |
S&D Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats is the social-democratic political group in the European Parliament, formed by MEPs of the Party of European Socialists and allied centre-left parties. The group dates its ancestry via various names back to the beginning of the European... |
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| Sweden | S Swedish Social Democratic Party The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889... |
S&D Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats is the social-democratic political group in the European Parliament, formed by MEPs of the Party of European Socialists and allied centre-left parties. The group dates its ancestry via various names back to the beginning of the European... |
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| Sweden | PP Pirate Party The Pirate Party is a political party in Sweden founded in 2006. Its sudden popularity has given rise to parties with the same name and similar goals in Europe and worldwide, forming the international Pirate Party movement.... |
Greens-EFA | |
| United Kingdom | Conservatives Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House... |
ECR European Conservatives and Reformists The European Conservatives and Reformists, abbreviated to ECR, is a conservative anti-federalist political group in the European Parliament. The group currently comprises 57 MEPs, making it the fourth-largest group in the European Parliament.... |
not definitive yet |
Note that this table already includes the grouping changes announced by the parties and reflected in the section below.
Party changes
Traditionally, realignment between the different political groups and European political parties occurs in the runup to the election and in the time between the election and the first sitting of the European Parliament, when the political groups are constituted; the first sitting of the EP elected in 2009 is set for 14 July 2009.New rules regarding the minimum number of members needed for a political group will come into effect following the 2009 election. The PES and EPP–ED had initially proposed to raise the limit for groups in the EP from 20 MEPs and one fifth of member states to 30 MEPs and a quarter of member states, which would effectively close down UEN (only MEPs from six countries) and I/D (only 22 MEPs). All five smaller groups (UEN and I/D plus ALDE
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe is a transnational alliance between two European political parties: the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party and the European Democratic Party. It has political groups in the European Parliament, the EU Committee of the Regions, the...
, Greens–EFA
European Greens–European Free Alliance
The Greens European Free Alliance is one of the parliamentary groups in the European Parliament....
and GUE–NGL
European United Left–Nordic Green Left
European United Left/Nordic Green Left is a left-wing political group with seats in the European Parliament since 1995.-Position:According to its 1994 constituent declaration, the group is opposed to the present European political structure, but committed to integration...
) protested against these proposed changes. The proposal was voted down 15 to 14 in committee, and in an eventual compromise, new rules were approved in plenary on 9 July 2008 which require 25 MEPs from at least a quarter of the member states (i.e. seven member states). Although UEN and I/D still fail to meet the basic requirements of the new rules, the adopted compromise also included a provision allowing the continued existence of a group which had fallen below the threshold, but only if it still had members from at least a fifth of the member states and only if it had been founded at least a year before dropping below the threshold; if there is "sufficient evidence" of the abuse of this provision, it need not be applied.
Fate of AEN/UEN
The Union for Europe of the NationsUnion for Europe of the Nations
Union for Europe of the Nations was a political group of the European Parliament between 1999 and 2009.-History:UEN was formed on 20 July 1999, supplanting the earlier Union for Europe. Its member parties Fianna Fáil and National Alliance were the driving forces behind the group, despite their...
(UEN) political group, a rump body that traced its ancestry back to its origins as a Gaullist
Gaullism
Gaullism is a French political ideology based on the thought and action of Resistance leader then president Charles de Gaulle.-Foreign policy:...
ideological alignment, was not reconstituted following this election. The associated Alliance for Europe of the Nations
Alliance for Europe of the Nations
The Alliance for Europe of the Nations was a pan-European political party that gathered conservative and national-conservative parties from across the continent.-History:...
(AEN) party
European political party
A European political party, formally a political party at European level, informally a Europarty, is a type of political party organization operating transnationally in Europe and in the institutions of the European Union. They are regulated and funded by the European Union and are usually made up...
lost MEPs to other groupings.
The largest single contributor of MEPs to the UEN group, the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
National Alliance
National Alliance (Italy)
National Alliance was a conservative political party in Italy.Gianfranco Fini was the leader of the party since its foundation in 1995, however he stepped down in 2008 after being elected to the nominally non-partisan post of President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and was succeeded by...
, merged with Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
's Forza Italia
Forza Italia
Forza Italia was a liberal-conservative, Christian democratic, and liberal political party in Italy, with a large social democratic minority, that was led by Silvio Berlusconi, four times Prime Minister of Italy....
party into The People of Freedom
The People of Freedom
The People of Freedom is a centre-right political party in Italy. With the Democratic Party, it is one of the two major parties of the current Italian party system....
(PdL) on 29 March 2009. PdL inherited FI's membership in the EPP; a single list of PdL candidates will be run in 2009 which would then take their seats in the EPP-ED (or a purely EPP) group, substantially reducing the potential MEPs that a UEN group could draw upon. This move will come after a series of attempts by National Alliance to abandon more staunchly national-conservative
National conservatism
National conservatism is a political term used primarily in Europe to describe a variant of conservatism which concentrates more on national interests than standard conservatism as well as upholding cultural and ethnic identity, while not being outspokenly nationalist or supporting a far-right...
and Eurosceptic
Euroscepticism
Euroscepticism is a general term used to describe criticism of the European Union , and opposition to the process of European integration, existing throughout the political spectrum. Traditionally, the main source of euroscepticism has been the notion that integration weakens the nation state...
parties and move towards the moderate European centre-right, including a previous application for EPP membership.
National Alliance shares the group presidency with Ireland's
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
, a centre-right party that joined the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party is a European political party mainly active in the European Union, composed of 56 national-level liberal and liberal-democratic parties from across Europe...
(ELDR) on 16 April 2009 with the intent of moving to the European Parliament's Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe is a transnational alliance between two European political parties: the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party and the European Democratic Party. It has political groups in the European Parliament, the EU Committee of the Regions, the...
(ALDE) group. As a longtime proponent of European integration, FF had been even more openly uncomfortable about its European affiliation, with former leader Bertie Ahern
Bertie Ahern
Patrick Bartholomew "Bertie" Ahern is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 26 June 1997 to 7 May 2008....
often distancing his party from the right-wing positions of his groupmates and describing UEN as purely a "technical arrangement." Fianna Fáil very nearly joined ALDE during the group reshuffle after the 2004 European elections, and had also previously explored seeking membership in ELDR. Current leader Brian Cowen
Brian Cowen
Brian Cowen is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 7 May 2008 to 9 March 2011. He was head of a coalition government led by Fianna Fáil which until 23 January 2011 had the support of the Green Party and independent TDs.Cowen was also leader of Fianna Fáil from 7 May...
announced that FF would join ELDR and ALDE after the election on 27 February 2009 and a resolution supporting such a move was passed by the party membership two days later. FF's leader in the European Parliament, Brian Crowley
Brian Crowley
Brian Crowley is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and a Member of the European Parliament for the South constituency. He was co-president of the Union for Europe of the Nations group in the European Parliament in which Fianna Fáil sat until it joined the ELDR and, by extension, ALDE...
, criticised this decision and stated that FF might lose its position and influence due to the change, as Crowley currently enjoys a number of privileges as UEN leader which he can use to further FF's policies, but which he would lose if FF were to move to ALDE instead.
A third significant source of UEN's MEPs is Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland
Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland
Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland , abbreviated to SRP, is an agrarian political party and trade union in Poland led by Andrzej Lepper. Its platform combines left-wing populist economic policies with religious conservative social policies....
and League of Polish Families
League of Polish Families
The League of Polish Families is a right-wing political party in Poland. It was represented in the Polish parliament, forming part of the cabinet of Jarosław Kaczyński, until the latter dissolved in September 2007....
enjoy very little popular support and failed to stay in parliament in the Polish 2007 election
Polish parliamentary election, 2007
Early parliamentary elections for both houses of parliament were held in Poland on 21 October 2007 after the Sejm voted for its own dissolution on 7 September 2007. The election took place two years before the maximum tenure of four years, with the previous elections having been in September 2005...
,
AEN/UEN is also under threat from a potential new group led by members of the European Democrats
European Democrats
The European Democrats was a loose association of conservative political parties in Europe. It is a political group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe...
(see below), who are attempting to woo its remaining members away. Law and Justice
Law and Justice
Law and Justice , abbreviated to PiS, is a right-wing, conservative political party in Poland. With 147 seats in the Sejm and 38 in the Senate, it is the second-largest party in the Polish parliament....
of Poland has been reported to be ready to do just this.
The looming disappearance of AEN/UEN also has had repercussions for Independence/Democracy, as it was also a suitor for those parties of UEN left groupless. Lega Nord and the Danish People's Party
Danish People's Party
The Danish People's Party is a political party in Denmark which is frequently described as right-wing populist by political scientists and commentators. The party is led by Pia Kjærsgaard...
opted for this and launched the new Europe of Freedom and Democracy
Europe of Freedom and Democracy
Europe of Freedom and Democracy is a Eurosceptic political group in the European Parliament. Formed after the European parliamentary election in 2009, it is mostly made up of elements of the now defunct Independence/Democracy and Union for a Europe of Nations groups from the out-going...
group with what was left of Ind/Dem after the election. The ChristianUnion
ChristianUnion
The ChristianUnion , abbreviated to CU, is a Dutch Christian democratic political party. A centrist party, the CU's policies combine social conservatism and soft euroscepticism with more centre-left positions on economic, immigration, and environmental issues.Founded in 2000 as a merger of the...
, formerly member of Ind/Dem left for the new European Conservatives and Reformists
European Conservatives and Reformists
The European Conservatives and Reformists, abbreviated to ECR, is a conservative anti-federalist political group in the European Parliament. The group currently comprises 57 MEPs, making it the fourth-largest group in the European Parliament....
group.
Movement for European Reform
The ConservativesConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
and Ulster Unionists
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, together with the Czech
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
Civic Democrats might leave the European Democrats
European Democrats
The European Democrats was a loose association of conservative political parties in Europe. It is a political group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe...
(effectively dissolving it through lack of members, as only one Italian will be left - and has not been reelected), which is currently allied to the European People's Party
European People's Party
The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of...
(EPP); instead, these parties will form a new parliamentary grouping based on the Movement for European Reform
Movement for European Reform
The Movement for European Reform, abbreviated to MER, was a pan-European alliance of national centre-right political parties with conservative, pro-free market and Eurosceptic inclinations...
(MER).
Although the Conservatives alone have the minimum required number of MEPs at 19, they would still need to join with parties or independents from six other countries to formally create a group. There has been speculation that Polish Law and Justice
Law and Justice
Law and Justice , abbreviated to PiS, is a right-wing, conservative political party in Poland. With 147 seats in the Sejm and 38 in the Senate, it is the second-largest party in the Polish parliament....
would join the proposed grouping, although it expressed its support for the continuance of the UEN, it is reportedly keen to join MER.
Another possible party is the Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
n TB/LNNK, also currently aligned with AEN. There are also numerous independents that might join the group. The most optimistic estimates suggest MER could become the third largest group in the Parliament.
The Conservative Party reiterated its intention to leave the EPP in March 2009. The new group may be called "European Conservatives
European Conservatives
The European Conservative Group was a Conservative political group with seats in the European Parliament between 1973 and 1979.-History:On 1 January 1973 the Community enlarged for the first time to include Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom...
" or "European Conservatives and Reformists
European Conservatives and Reformists
The European Conservatives and Reformists, abbreviated to ECR, is a conservative anti-federalist political group in the European Parliament. The group currently comprises 57 MEPs, making it the fourth-largest group in the European Parliament....
".
The foundation of the European Conservatives was deemed unlikely to threaten the EPP's position as the largest grouping in the European Parliament, with Hix, Marsh, and Vivyan predicting there being less than 1% probability of the EPP suffering such a reverse.
Socialist Group in the European Parliament
The newly born Democratic PartyDemocratic Party (Italy)
The Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy, that is the second-largest in the country. The party is led by Pier Luigi Bersani, who was elected in the 2009 leadership election....
in Italy is still discussing about the group its members will join in the European Parliament. The party was officially created in 2007 from the merger of the two biggest centre-left Italian parties, Democrats of the Left
Democrats of the Left
The Democrats of the Left was a social-democratic Italian political party and part of the Olive Tree electoral coalition, which merged with a number of centrist and leftist groups to form the Democratic Party on 14 October 2007...
and The Daisy (La Margherita), whose members in the EP joined PES and ALDE respectively after the 2004 elections. Although pushing hard for a unification of all European progressive reformists, and therefore for a merger between PES and ALDE, it is likely that the two parliamentary groups will continue living as separate bodies, forcing the Italian Democratic Party to stay alone in the Parliament. In last general elections, it gained 33.7% of votes.
It was reported on 13 May 2009 that the Group of the PES in the European Parliament would likely choose a new name to accommodate the Democratic Party, with the most likely name being "Alliance of Socialists and Democrats for Europe".
The Cypriot
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
Democratic Party
Democratic Party (Cyprus)
The Democratic Party is a centrist political party in Cyprus, founded in 1976 by Spyros Kyprianou. As it is reported in its founding statement , the Democratic Party proposes to the Cypriot society the political philosophy of "social centrism", which constitutes “a total of attributes and values...
(DIKO), which had previously sat with ALDE
Alde
Alde is a village in Suffolk, England.ALDE is also an auction house specialized in books, manuscripts and coins : ....
but was not a member of any European political party, announced prior to the election that it would want to join the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, though this has yet to be approved by the PES.
On 12 June 2009, it was officially confirmed that the group of the PES would be known as "Alliance of Socialists and Democrats for Europe" (ASDE) in the new parliament, though this name was changed to "Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats" (S&D) when the group was officially founded on 23 June 2009.
Parliamentary groups 2009
The following changes occurred, which makes the make-up of the groups as follows:- ALDE, Greens-EFA and EUL-NGL continue to exist.
- ECR is constituted
- PES becomes part of S&D.
- EPP-ED becomes EPP again
- I/D is replaced by EFD
- UEN is disbanded.
| Political group Country |
EPP | S&D Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats is the social-democratic political group in the European Parliament, formed by MEPs of the Party of European Socialists and allied centre-left parties. The group dates its ancestry via various names back to the beginning of the European... |
ALDE Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe is the current liberal/centrist political group of the European Parliament... |
Greens-EFA European Greens–European Free Alliance The Greens European Free Alliance is one of the parliamentary groups in the European Parliament.... |
ECR European Conservatives and Reformists The European Conservatives and Reformists, abbreviated to ECR, is a conservative anti-federalist political group in the European Parliament. The group currently comprises 57 MEPs, making it the fourth-largest group in the European Parliament.... |
EUL-NGL European United Left–Nordic Green Left European United Left/Nordic Green Left is a left-wing political group with seats in the European Parliament since 1995.-Position:According to its 1994 constituent declaration, the group is opposed to the present European political structure, but committed to integration... |
EFD Europe of Freedom and Democracy Europe of Freedom and Democracy is a Eurosceptic political group in the European Parliament. Formed after the European parliamentary election in 2009, it is mostly made up of elements of the now defunct Independence/Democracy and Union for a Europe of Nations groups from the out-going... |
NI Non-Inscrits Non-Inscrits are Members of the European Parliament who do not sit in one of the recognized political groups.... |
MEPs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria European Parliament election, 2009 (Austria) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Austria was the election of the delegation from Austria to the European Parliament in 2009. Austria will have 17 seats in the European Parliament, instead of 18 that the country had before the re-allocation of seats.... |
6 (ÖVP Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Austria. A successor to the Christian Social Party of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it is similar to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany in terms of ideology... ) |
4 (SPÖ Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria is one of the oldest political parties in Austria. The SPÖ is one of the two major parties in Austria, and has ties to trade unions and the Austrian Chamber of Labour. The SPÖ is among the few mainstream European social-democratic parties that have preserved... ) |
2 (Grüne) | 3 (Martin Hans-Peter Martin's List The Hans-Peter Martin's List – For genuine control in Brussels is an Austrian anti-corruption and pro-transparency political party. It currently has 3 seats in the European Parliament.... ) 2 (FPÖ Freedom Party of Austria The Freedom Party of Austria is a political party in Austria. Ideologically, the party is a direct descendant of the German national liberal camp, which dates back to the 1848 revolutions. The FPÖ itself was founded in 1956 as the successor to the short-lived Federation of Independents , which had... ) |
17 | ||||
| Belgium European Parliament election, 2009 (Belgium) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Belgium was on Sunday 7 June 2009 and was the election of the delegation from Belgium to the European Parliament... |
3 (CD&V Christian Democratic and Flemish The Christian Democratic and Flemish is a political party of Belgium, formerly called Christian People's Party... ) 1 (CDH Humanist Democratic Centre The Humanist Democratic Centre is a Francophone Christian democratic political party in Belgium. The cdH currently participates in the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, the Government of the French Community and the Walloon Government.- History :... ) 1 (CSP-EVP Christian Social Party (Belgium) The Christian Social Party is a party operating in the German-speaking community of Belgium. Its President is Mathieu Grosch.In the 2004 European Parliament election, standing as Christlich-Soziale Partei - Europäische Volkspartei, the party gained the single seat allocated by Belgian law to the... ) |
3 (PS Socialist Party (francophone Belgium) The Socialist Party is a Francophone social-democratic political party in Belgium. As of the 2010 elections, it is the second largest party in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and the largest Francophone party... ) 2 (SP.A) |
3 (OpenVLD Flemish Liberals and Democrats ' , commonly known as Open VLD and also simply as the VLD, is a Flemish liberal political party in Belgium, created in 1992 from the former Party for Freedom and Progress and a few other politicians from other parties. The party led the government for three cabinets under Guy Verhofstadt from 1999... ) 2 (MR Reformist Movement The Reformist Movement is a French-speaking liberal political party in Belgium. The party was in coalition as part of the Leterme II Government, and was also part of the governing coalition in the Walloon Region and Brussels-Capital Region until the 2004 regional elections... ) |
1 (Green! Green! Groen! is a Belgian green political party. Green! is the smallest Flemish party with a representation in the federal, regional or European parliament.-Before 1979:... ) 2 (Ecolo Ecolo Ecolo is a French-speaking Belgian green political party in Wallonia, Brussels and the German-speaking Community of Belgium... ) 1 (N-VA New-Flemish Alliance ' is a Flemish right-wing political party, founded in the autumn of 2001. It is a conservative and liberal movement that promotes civic nationalism... ) |
1 (LDD) | 2 (VB Vlaams Belang Vlaams Belang is a Belgian far-right political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels that advocates the independence of Flanders and strict limits on immigration, whereby immigrants would be obliged to adopt Flemish culture and language... ) |
22 | ||
| Bulgaria European Parliament election, 2009 (Bulgaria) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Bulgaria was held on Sunday 7 June 2009 and was the election of the delegation from Bulgaria to the European Parliament. As a result of the Treaty of Nice - that became active in November 2004 - the number of Bulgarian delegates in the European Parliament... |
5 (GERB Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria , abbreviated GERB , is a Bulgarian centre-right political party established on March 13 2006. It has been Bulgaria's ruling party since 2009.... ) 1 (SDS/DSB Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria is a political party in Bulgaria established by former Bulgarian Prime Minister Ivan Kostov . The motto of the party is "For a Strong Bulgaria in Unified Europe".- History :... ) |
4 (BSP Bulgarian Socialist Party The Bulgarian Socialist Party is social-democratic political party in Bulgaria and successor to the Bulgarian Communist Party. The BSP is a member of the Party of European Socialists and Socialist International, and is currently led by Sergei Stanishev.... ) |
3 (DPS Movement for Rights and Freedoms The Movement for Rights and Freedoms is an ethnic Turkish party in Bulgaria. The MRF is a member of the Liberal International and considers itself a liberal party, rather like the Swedish People's Party - party of the Swedish-speaking minority of Finland... ) 2 (NDSV) |
2 (Attack National Union Attack The National Union Attack is a nationalist political party in Bulgaria. At the last legislative elections, 5 July 2009, it won 9.4% of the popular vote and 21 out of 240 seats... ) |
17 | ||||
| Cyprus European Parliament election, 2009 (Cyprus) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Cyprus was the election of the delegation from Cyprus to the European Parliament in 2009.-References:*... |
2 (DISY Democratic Rally The Democratic Rally , is a centre-right political party in Cyprus, led by Nicos Anastasiades.The party was founded on 4 July 1976 by veteran politician Glafkos Klerides. Clerides served as Cyprus president from 1993 until 2003.... ) |
1 (EDEK Movement for Social Democracy The Movement for Social Democracy EDEK is a Social Democratic party in Cyprus. It was originally founded by Dr Vasos Lyssaridis in 1969 as the United Democratic Union of Centre, EDEK and it was socialist party. It has gradually evolved into a social-democratic political party... ) 1 (DIKO Democratic Party (Cyprus) The Democratic Party is a centrist political party in Cyprus, founded in 1976 by Spyros Kyprianou. As it is reported in its founding statement , the Democratic Party proposes to the Cypriot society the political philosophy of "social centrism", which constitutes “a total of attributes and values... ) |
2 (AKEL Progressive Party of Working People The Progressive Party of Working People is a communist party in Cyprus. It supports an independent, demilitarized and non-aligned Cyprus, and a federal solution of the internal aspect of the Cyprus problem. It places particular emphasis on rapprochement with the Turkish Cypriots. It supported... ) |
6 | |||||
| Czech Republic European Parliament election, 2009 (Czech Republic) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Czech Republic was the election of the delegation from Czech Republic to the European Parliament in 2009.... |
2 (KDU–ČSL) | 7 (ČSSD Czech Social Democratic Party The Czech Social Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in the Czech Republic.-History:The Social Democratic Czechoslavonic party in Austria was founded on 7 April 1878 in Austria-Hungary representing the Kingdom of Bohemia in the Austrian parliament... ) |
9 (ODS) | 4 (KSČM Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia , abbreviated to KSČM, is a political party in the Czech Republic. It has a membership of 82,994 and is a member party of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left bloc in the European Parliament... ) |
22 | ||||
| Denmark European Parliament election, 2009 (Denmark) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Denmark was the election of the delegation from Denmark to the European Parliament on June 7, 2009. The number of Danish MEPs elected was 13... |
1 (C Conservative People's Party (Denmark) The Conservative People's Party , also known as Conservatives is a Danish political party.-History:The party was founded 1915 based mostly on its predecessor, Højre , but also on the Free Conservatives and a moderate faction of Venstre , the liberals.The party has participated in several coalition... ) |
4 (A Social Democrats (Denmark) The Social Democrats , is a Danish political party committed to the political ideology of social democracy. It is the major coalition partner in Denmark's government since the 2011 parliamentary election, and party leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt is the current Prime Minister of Denmark... ) |
3 (V Venstre (Denmark) VenstreThe party name is officially not translated into any other language, but is in English often referred to as the Liberal Party. Similar rules apply for the name of the party's youth wing Venstres Ungdom. , full name Venstre, Danmarks Liberale Parti , is the largest political party in Denmark... ) |
2 (F Socialist People's Party (Denmark) The Socialist People's Party is a green and socialist political party in Denmark.-1959–69:The SF was founded on 15 February 1959 by Aksel Larsen, a former leader of the Communist Party of Denmark and CIA agent. Larsen was removed from the ranks of the DKP for his criticism over the Soviet... ) |
1 (N People's Movement against the EU The People's Movement against the EU is a political association in Denmark against the European Union. It was founded in 1972 as a cross-party campaign platform for a 'no' vote in Denmark's referendum on EEC membership... ) |
2 (O Danish People's Party The Danish People's Party is a political party in Denmark which is frequently described as right-wing populist by political scientists and commentators. The party is led by Pia Kjærsgaard... ) |
13 | ||
| Estonia European Parliament election, 2009 (Estonia) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Estonia was the election of the delegation from Estonia to the European Parliament in 2009.The election day was 7 June 2009. Turnout was 43.9% – about 17.1% higher than during the previous election five years before... |
1 (IRL Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica is an Estonian Liberal Conservative political party. It was founded on 4 June 2006 when two conservative parties, Pro Patria Union and Res Publica merged. Up to the 2007 parliamentary elections, the party held 32 seats out of 101 in the Riigikogu and one of... ) |
1 (SDE Social Democratic Party (Estonia) The Social Democratic Party is a social-democratic party in Estonia, led by Sven Mikser. It has been a member of the Party of European Socialists since 16 May 2003 and a member of the Socialist International since November 1990.... ) |
1 (RE Estonian Reform Party The Estonian Reform Party is a centre-right, free market liberal party in Estonia. It is led by Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, and has 33 members in the 101-member Riigikogu, making it the largest party in the legislature... ) 2 (KE Estonian Centre Party The Estonian Centre Party is a centrist, social liberal party in Estonia. Keskerakond is a member of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party. It has the largest membership of an Estonian party, with over 12 000 members.... ) |
1 (Tarand Indrek Tarand Indrek Tarand MEP is an Estonian politician, reserve officer, civil servant, journalist and historian.Tarand has served as an advisor to the Prime Minister of Estonia and as the Secretary General of the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.-Biography:Tarand is the eldest son of Andres Tarand... ) |
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| Finland European Parliament election, 2009 (Finland) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Finland was the election of the delegation from Finland to the European Parliament in 2009.Finland uses the open list d'Hondt method, where voters vote for an individual, but the individual's vote is counted primarily for the party and secondarily for the... |
3 (Kok.) 1 (KD Christian Democrats (Finland) The Christian Democrats is a Christian democratic political party in Finland. Formerly known as the Finnish Christian League , the Christian Democrats have six seats in the Finnish Parliament and one in the European Parliament.The party was founded in 1958, chiefly from the Christian faction of... ) |
2 (SDP Social Democratic Party of Finland The Social Democratic Party of Finland is one of the three major political parties in Finland, along with the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party. Jutta Urpilainen is the current SDP leader. The party has been in the Finnish government cabinet for long periods and has set many... ) |
3 (Kesk. Centre Party (Finland) The Centre Party is a centrist and Nordic agrarian political party in Finland. It is one of the four largest political parties in the country, along with the Social Democratic Party , the National Coalition Party and the True Finns , and currently has 35 seats in the Finnish Parliament... ) 1 (SFP) |
2 (Vihr. Green League The Green League is a centrist green liberal political party in Finland. It has ten seats in the Finnish Parliament and two in the European Parliament. The current chairperson is Ville Niinistö.... ) |
1 (PS True Finns True Finns or The Finns is a populist and nationalist political party in Finland, founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The head of the movement is Timo Soini. In the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election, The party won 19.1% of votes, becoming the third largest party... ) |
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| France European Parliament election, 2009 (France) European elections to elect 72 French Members of the European Parliament were held on Sunday 7 June 2009.Due to the entry of Romania and Bulgaria in the European Union in 2007, the number of seats allocated to France was revised from 78 seats to 72 seats, a loss of 6 seats... |
29 (UMP Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement is a centre-right political party in France, and one of the two major contemporary political parties in the country along with the center-left Socialist Party... ) |
14 (PS Socialist Party (France) The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement... ) |
6 (MoDem Democratic Movement (France) The Democratic Movement , MoDem) is a centrist, social liberal and pro-European French political party that was founded by centrist politician François Bayrou to succeed his Union for French Democracy and to contest the 2007 legislative election, after his strong showing in the 2007 presidential... ) |
14 (E-É Europe Écologie Europe Écologie was a French electoral coalition created for the 2009 European elections composed of The Greens and other ecologists and regionalists.... ) |
5 (FG Left Front (France) The Left Front is a French electoral coalition for the 2009 European elections composed primarily of the French Communist Party, the Left Party and the Unitarian Left... ) |
1 (Libertas Libertas France Libertas France is the name given to the activities of Declan Ganley's Libertas Party in France. Unlike Libertas in other countries, Libertas France was not a political party in its own right... ) |
3 (FN) | 72 | |
| Germany European Parliament election, 2009 (Germany) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Germany was the German part of the European Parliament election, 2009. The voting was held on Sunday, 7 June. A total of 26 parties competed for the 99 seats reserved for Germany in the European Parliament... |
34 (CDU Christian Democratic Union (Germany) The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum... ) 8 (CSU Christian Social Union of Bavaria The Christian Social Union in Bavaria is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It operates only in the state of Bavaria, while its sister party, the Christian Democratic Union , operates in the other 15 states of Germany... ) |
23 (SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... ) |
12 (FDP Free Democratic Party (Germany) The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government... ) |
14 (Grüne Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir... ) |
8 (Linke The Left (Germany) The Left , also commonly referred to as the Left Party , is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The Left is the most left-wing party of the five represented in the Bundestag.... ) |
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| Greece European Parliament election, 2009 (Greece) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Greece for the election of the delegation from Greece to the European Parliament in 2009 took place on June 7, 2009. The election system used in Greece is party-list proportional representation with a 3% threshold for any party... |
8 (ND New Democracy (Greece) New Democracy is the main centre-right political party and one of the two major parties in Greece. It was founded in 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis and formed the first cabinet of the Third Hellenic Republic... ) |
8 (PASOK Panhellenic Socialist Movement The Panhellenic Socialist Movement , known mostly by its acronym PASOK , is one of the two major political parties in Greece. Founded on 3 September 1974 by Andreas Papandreou, in 1981 PASOK became Greece's first social democratic party to win a majority in parliament.The party is a socialist party... ) |
1 (Greens Ecologist Greens The Ecologist Greens are a Greek Green ecologist political party. It has existed since 2002, yet the ecologist movement in Greece dates many years and was characterised by a reluctance to actively become involved in the political scene... ) |
2 (KKE Communist Party of Greece Founded in 1918, the Communist Party of Greece , better known by its acronym, ΚΚΕ , is the oldest party on the Greek political scene.- Foundation :... ) 1 (SYRIZA Coalition of the Radical Left The Coalition of the Radical Left , commonly known by its Greek abbreviation ΣΥΡΙΖΑ , is a coalition of left political parties in Greece... ) |
2 (LAOS Popular Orthodox Rally The Popular Orthodox Rally or The People's Orthodox Rally , often abbreviated to ΛΑ.Ο.Σ as a pun on the Greek word for people, is a Greek party. According to its political program LA.O.S... ) |
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| Hungary European Parliament election, 2009 (Hungary) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Hungary was the election of the delegation from Hungary to the European Parliament in 2009. Hungary delegated 22 members to the European Parliament based on the Nice treaty and the election took place on the 7th of June.-Candidates:Among the candidates... |
14 (Fidesz-MPP Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union The Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union is a major conservative party in Hungary. At the 2010 election in Hungary, Fidesz-KDNP won a two-thirds majority of seats by gaining 52% of the votes, with Fidesz winning 227 seats and KDNP winning 36... ) |
4 (MSZP Hungarian Socialist Party The Hungarian Socialist Party describes itself as a social democratic party in Hungary. It is the partial successor of the communist Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party , which ruled Hungary between 1956 and 1989. The decision to declare the party a successor of the MSZMP was controversial, and... ) |
1 (MDF Hungarian Democratic Forum The Hungarian Democratic Forum , abbreviated to MDF, was a centre-right political party in Hungary. It had a liberal conservative and Christian democratic ideology... ) |
3 (Jobbik Movement for a Better Hungary Jobbik, The Movement for a Better Hungary commonly known as Jobbik, is a Hungarian radical nationalist political party. Jobbik has been denoted by scholars, different press outlets and its political opponents as fascist, neo-fascist, anti-Semitic, anti-Roma and homophobic... ) |
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| Ireland European Parliament election, 2009 (Ireland) The 2009 European Parliament election in Ireland was the Irish component of the 2009 European Parliament election and was held on Friday, 5 June 2009, coinciding with the 2009 local elections... |
4 (FG Fine Gael Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000... ) |
3 (Lab Labour Party (Ireland) The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish... ) |
3 (FF Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál... ) 1 (Harkin Marian Harkin Marian Harkin is an Irish politician and is currently a Member of the European Parliament for the North-West constituency.... ) |
1 (SP Socialist Party (Ireland) The Socialist Party is a socialist political party active in Ireland. It is a member of the Committee for a Workers' International .Formerly known as Militant Tendency, then Militant Labour, it adopted the name The Socialist Party in 1996. From their foundation in 1972 until the 1980s, members of... ) |
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| Italy European Parliament election, 2009 (Italy) European elections to elect 72 members of the European Parliament representing Italy were held on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 June 2009, as decided by the Italian government on December 18, 2008... |
29 (PdL The People of Freedom The People of Freedom is a centre-right political party in Italy. With the Democratic Party, it is one of the two major parties of the current Italian party system.... ) 5 (UDC) 1 (SVP South Tyrolean People's Party The South Tyrolean People's Party is a regionalist Christian democratic political party active in the Italian province of South Tyrol.Founded in 1945, the SVP represents the German-speaking population of the province, as well as Ladin speakers. Since the first election of the Provincial Council in... ) |
21 (PD Democratic Party (Italy) The Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Italy, that is the second-largest in the country. The party is led by Pier Luigi Bersani, who was elected in the 2009 leadership election.... ) |
7 (IdV Italy of Values Italy of Values is a centrist, populist and anti-corruption political party in Italy. The party, which is affiliated to the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party , is headed by former Mani pulite prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro, who entered politics in 1996.The party aims to gather and give... ) |
9 (LN) | 72 | ||||
| Latvia European Parliament election, 2009 (Latvia) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Latvia involved the election of the delegation from Latvia to the European Parliament in 2009. 17 lists containing a total of 185 candidates were registered for the election.... |
2 (PS Civic Union (Latvia) The Civic Union was a Latvian political party. It was founded in 2008 and most of its members came from the For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK and New Era Party. It has been described as centre-right or right-wing.... ) 1 (JL New Era Party The New Era Party , abbreviated to JL, was a centre-right political party in Latvia. Founded in 2002, the party merged with Civic Union and Society for Other Politics to form Unity in 2011.... ) |
1 (TSP National Harmony Party The National Harmony Party was a political party in Latvia.The party identified itself as a social-democratic party. It supported further liberalisation of the citizenship law by granting citizenship to each non-citizen who had lived in Latvia for at least 10 years... ) |
1 (LPP/LC LPP/LC Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way is a Latvian political party, created from the merger of the Christian democratic Latvia's First Party , the liberal Latvian Way and the regionalist We for our District and Vidzeme Union in 2007. These parties had already formed an electoral coalition in 2006... ) |
1 (PCTVL For Human Rights in United Latvia For Human Rights in United Latvia is a left-wing political party in Latvia, supported mainly by ethnic Russians and other non-Latvian minorities. Co-chairpersons of its Ruling Board are Tatjana Ždanoka, Jakovs Pliners and Miroslav Mitrofanov.... ) |
1 (TB/LNKK) | 1 (LSP Socialist Party of Latvia The Socialist Party of Latvia was formed in 1994 as a successor party to the Communist Party of Latvia, which was banned in 1991. In essence, the party is communist; according to the programme of the party, the LSP was founded as an organization upholding socialist ideas after the 1991 events that... ) |
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| Lithuania European Parliament election, 2009 (Lithuania) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Lithuania was the election of the delegation from Lithuania to the European Parliament in 2009. It was a part of the wider 2009 European election... |
4 (TS-LKD) | 3 (LSDP Social Democratic Party of Lithuania The Social Democratic Party of Lithuania is a centre-left and social democratic political party in Lithuania. It is the oldest party in Lithuania, founded in 1896. The party's president since 2009 is Algirdas Butkevičius. The party led a minority government in the unicameral Seimas, Lithuania's... ) |
1 (DP Labour Party (Lithuania) The Labour Party , or DP, is a centrist political party in Lithuania. It was founded in 2003 by the Russian-born millionaire Viktor Uspaskich.... ) 1 (LRLS) |
1 (LLRA) | 2 (TT) | 12 | |||
| Luxembourg European Parliament election, 2009 (Luxembourg) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Luxembourg was the election of the delegation from Luxembourg to the European Parliament in 2009. It was held on the same day as the elections to the national legislature, the Chamber of Deputies.-Parties:... |
3 (CSV Christian Social People's Party The Christian Social People's Party , abbreviated to CSV or PCS, is the largest political party in Luxembourg. The party follows a Christian Democratic and conservative ideology and, like most parties in Luxembourg, it is strongly pro-European... ) |
1 (LSAP Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party The Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party , abbreviated to LSAP or POSL, is a social democratic political party in Luxembourg.The LSAP is the second-largest party in the Chamber of Deputies, having won 13 of 60 seats at the 2009 election, and has one seat in the European Parliament... ) |
1 (DP Democratic Party (Luxembourg) The Democratic Party , abbreviated to DP, is the major liberal political party in Luxembourg. One of the three major parties, the DP sits on the centre-right, holding moderate market liberal views combined with a strong emphasis on civil liberties, human rights, and internationalism.Founded in... ) |
1 (Déi Gréng The Greens (Luxembourg) The Greens is a Luxembourgian green political party.-1983-1993:The Greens were originally founded in 23 June 1983. In the 1984 election, the party got two seats in the Chamber of Deputies. In 1985, however the party split between two parties one called 'GLEI' and the other called 'GAP'... ) |
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| Malta European Parliament election, 2009 (Malta) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Malta was the election of the delegation from Malta to the European Parliament in 2009. The elections were held on June 6 on the same day as the Maltese local council elections, 2009.... |
2 (PN Nationalist Party (Malta) The Nationalist Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in Malta, along with the Labour Party. It was founded by Fortunato Mizzi in 1880 as the Anti-Reform Party, opposing taxation decreed by the British colonial authorities and measures to Anglicise the educational and the... ) |
3 (PL) | 5 | ||||||
| Netherlands European Parliament election, 2009 (Netherlands) The European Parliament election of 2009 in the Netherlands was the election of the delegation from the Netherlands to the European Parliament in 2009 and took place on June 4, 2009. Seventeen parties competed in a D'Hondt type election for 25 seats... |
5 (CDA Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal is a centre-right Dutch Christian democratic political party. It suffered severe losses in the 2010 elections and fell from the first to the fourth place... ) |
3 (PvdA) | 3 (VVD People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is a conservative-liberal political party located in the Netherlands. The VVD supports private enterprise in the Netherlands and is often perceived as an economic liberal party in contrast to the social-liberal Democrats 66 alongside which it sits in... ) 3 (D66 Democrats 66 Democrats 66 is a progressive and social-liberal political party in the Netherlands. D66 was formed in 1966 by a group of politically unaligned, young intellectuals, led by journalist Hans van Mierlo. The party's main objective was to democratise the political system; it proposed to create an... ) |
3 (GL GreenLeft GreenLeft is a green political party operating in the Netherlands.GreenLeft was formed on 1 March 1989 as a merger of four left-wing political parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and the Evangelical People's Party... ) |
1 (CU ChristianUnion The ChristianUnion , abbreviated to CU, is a Dutch Christian democratic political party. A centrist party, the CU's policies combine social conservatism and soft euroscepticism with more centre-left positions on economic, immigration, and environmental issues.Founded in 2000 as a merger of the... ) |
2 (SP Socialist Party (Netherlands) The Socialist Party is a democratic socialist political party in the Netherlands. After the 2006 general election, the Socialist Party became one of the major parties of the Netherlands with 25 seats of 150, an increase of 16 seats. The party was in opposition against the fourth Balkenende cabinet... ) |
1 (SGP Reformed Political Party The Reformed Political Party is an orthodox Protestant Dutch political party. The term Reformed is not a reference to political reform, but is a synonym for Calvinist. The SGP is the oldest political party in the Netherlands in its current form, and for its entire existence has been in opposition... ) |
4 (PVV Party for Freedom The Party for Freedom is a Dutch right-wing political party. Founded in 2005 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man party in the House of Representatives, it won nine seats in the 2006 general election, making it the fifth largest party in parliament, and third largest opposition party. It... ) |
25 |
| Poland European Parliament election, 2009 (Poland) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Poland was the election of the delegation from Poland to the European Parliament in 2009 which took place on 7 June 2009. On 13 February the Sejm accepted a proposal for an amendment to the electoral court act to allow voting for the European Parliament... |
25 (PO Civic Platform Civic Platform , abbreviated to PO, is a centre-right, liberal conservative political party in Poland. It has been the major coalition partner in Poland's government since the 2007 general election, with party leader Donald Tusk as Prime Minister of Poland and Bronisław Komorowski as President... ) 3 (PSL) |
6 (SLD Democratic Left Alliance Democratic Left Alliance is a social-democratic political party in Poland. Formed in 1991 as a coalition of centre-left parties, it was formally established as a single party on 15 April 1999. It is currently the third largest opposition party in Poland.... ) 1 (UP Labour Union (Poland) The Labour Union is a social-democratic political party in Poland. It is a member of the Party of European Socialists and Socialist International.... ) |
15 (PiS Law and Justice Law and Justice , abbreviated to PiS, is a right-wing, conservative political party in Poland. With 147 seats in the Sejm and 38 in the Senate, it is the second-largest party in the Polish parliament.... ) |
50 | |||||
| Portugal European Parliament election, 2009 (Portugal) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Portugal was the election of the delegation from Portugal to the European Parliament in 2009.The lists are headed by*Socialist Party : Vital Moreira... |
8 (PSD Social Democratic Party (Portugal) The Social Democratic Party , is a centre-right liberal conservative political party in Portugal. It is commonly known by its initials, PSD; on ballot papers, its initials appear as PPD/PSD, with the first three letters coming from the party's original name, Democratic People's Party... ) 2 (CDS) |
7 (PS Socialist Party (Portugal) The Socialist Party , abbreviated to PS, is a social-democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel, by militants from Portuguese Socialist Action .... ) |
2 (CDU) 3 (BE) |
22 | |||||
| Romania European Parliament election, 2009 (Romania) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Romania is the election of the delegation from Romania to the European Parliament in 2009.-Candidates and elected MEPs:Among those expected to take up seats are :... |
10 (PD-L Democratic Liberal Party (Romania) The Democratic Liberal Party is a populist, centre-right party in Romania. It was formed on 15 December 2007, when the Democratic Party merged with the Liberal Democratic Party. From 2004 to 2007, the Democratic Party was part of the governing Justice and Truth Alliance... ) 3 (UDMR Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania The Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, is the main political organisation representing the ethnic Hungarians of Romania.... ) 1 (Băsescu Elena Băsescu Elena Băsescu, sometimes referred to as EBA, is a Romanian politician, secretary general of the youth wing of Romania's Democratic Liberal Party, and a Member of the European Parliament. She is the youngest daughter of Traian Băsescu, the current President of Romania. She was formerly a model, and... ) |
11 (PSD-PC National Union PSD+PUR In 2004, the National Union PSD+PUR was an electoral cartel formed between the Social Democratic Party and the Humanist Party of Romania. It was set up as a counterpart to the Justice and Truth Alliance PNL-PD, only for the 2004 legislative elections and Romanian presidential election.The two... ) |
5 (PNL National Liberal Party (Romania) The National Liberal Party , abbreviated to PNL, is a centre-right liberal party in Romania. It is the third-largest party in the Romanian Parliament, with 53 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 22 in the Senate: behind the centre-right Democratic Liberal Party and the centre-left Social... ) |
3 (PRM Greater Romania Party The Greater Romania Party is a Romanian radical right-wing, ultra-nationalist political party, led by Corneliu Vadim Tudor. The party is sometimes referred to in English as the Great Romania Party.... ) |
33 | ||||
| Slovakia European Parliament election, 2009 (Slovakia) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Slovakia was the election of the delegation from Slovakia to the European Parliament in 2009.The turnout, although increased compared to the previous election, was 19.63%, the lowest of any nation involved in the election.-Division of Seats:The system of... |
2 (SDKÚ-DS) 2 (KDH Christian Democratic Movement The Christian Democratic Movement is a political party in Slovakia.It is represented in the parliament. It was also member of the government coalition, but it left that coalition on 7 February 2006 due to disputes over an international treaty between Slovakia and the Holy See dealing with the... ) 2 (SMK Party of the Hungarian Coalition The Party of the Hungarian Coalition, officially registered under the compound name Strana maďarskej koalície – Magyar Koalíció Pártja, is a political party in Slovakia, for the ethnic Hungarian minority... ) |
5 (Smer) | 1 (LS-HZDS) | 1 (SNS) | 13 | ||||
| Slovenia European Parliament election, 2009 (Slovenia) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Slovenia was be the election of the delegation from Slovenia to the European Parliament in 2009.-Candidates:- Opinion polls :-Results:-References:... |
2 (SDS Slovenian Democratic Party The Slovenian Democratic Party , known until 2003 as the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia is a Slovenian centre-right liberal conservative and Christian democratic party... ) 1 (NSi New Slovenia The New Slovenia – Christian People's Party or simply New Slovenia, NSi is a Christian democratic political party in Slovenia... ) |
2 (SD Social Democrats (Slovenia) The Social Democrats is a centre-left political party in Slovenia, currently led by Borut Pahor. From 1993 until 2005, the party was known as the United List of Social Democrats .-Origins:... ) |
1 (LDS Liberal Democracy of Slovenia Liberal Democracy of Slovenia is a liberal political party in Slovenia. It is led by Katarina Kresal and is a member of the Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party... ) 1 (Zares Zares Zares – Social Liberals is a social-liberal political party in Slovenia. Its president is Gregor Golobič, former Secretary General of the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia and former close advisor to the late Janez Drnovšek, who had previously abandoned active political involvement due to... ) |
7 | |||||
| Spain European Parliament election, 2009 (Spain) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Spain was the election of the delegation from Spain to the European Parliament in 2009.- Opinion polls :-Results:-References:... |
23 (PP People's Party (Spain) The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship... ) |
21 (PSOE Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in... ) |
1 (CDC Democratic Convergence of Catalonia The Democratic Convergence of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. Together with Democratic Union of Catalonia, it forms part of the Convergence and Union coalition. It is affiliated with the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party and with the Liberal International... ) 1 (EAJ-PNV Basque Nationalist Party The Basque National Party is the largest and oldest Basque nationalist party. It is currently the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community also with a minor presence in Navarre and a marginal one in the French Basque Country... ) |
1 (ERC) 1 (ICV Initiative for Catalonia Greens Initiative for Catalonia Greens is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It was formed as a merger of Iniciativa per Catalunya and Els Verds. IC had been an alliance led by Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya and was the equivalent of Izquierda Unida in Catalonia... ) |
1 (IU United Left (Spain) The United Left is a political coalition that was organized in 1986 bringing together several political organisations opposed to Spain joining NATO. It was formed by a number of groups of leftists, greens, left-wing socialists and republicans, but was dominated by the Communist Party of Spain... ) |
1 (UPyD Union, Progress and Democracy Union, Progress and Democracy is a Spanish political party founded in September 2007.It is a progressivist party, between social democracy and social liberalism. One of its goals is to build a federal system for Spain and European Union, with clear responsibilities distributed among local... ) |
50 | ||
| Sweden European Parliament election, 2009 (Sweden) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Sweden was held on 7 June 2009 and determined the makeup of the Swedish delegation to the European Parliament. The election was held using a modified form of the Sainte-Laguë method of party-list proportional representation using the entire country as a... |
4 (M Moderate Party The Moderate Party is a centre-right, liberal conservative political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1904 as the General Electoral League by a group of conservatives in the Swedish parliament... ) 1 (KD Christian Democrats (Sweden) The Christian Democrats ) is a political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1964 but did not enter parliament until 1985 in an electoral cooperation with the Centre Party and on the Christian Democrats' own accord in 1991. The leader since April 3, 2004 is Göran Hägglund. He succeeded Alf... ) |
5 (S Swedish Social Democratic Party The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889... ) |
3 (FP Liberal People's Party (Sweden) The Liberal People's Party is a political party in Sweden. The party advocates social liberalism and is part of the governing centre-right coalition The Alliance, which achieved a majority in the general election of 17 September 2006... ) 1 (C Centre Party (Sweden) The Centre Party is a centrist political party in Sweden. The party maintains close ties to rural Sweden and describes itself as "a green social liberal party". The ideology is sometimes called agrarian, but in a European context, the Centre Party can perhaps best be characterized as social... ) |
2 (MP Green Party (Sweden) -External links:**... ) 1 (PP) |
1 (V Left Party (Sweden) The Left Party is a socialist and feminist political party in Sweden, from 1967 to 1990 known as the Left Party – The Communists .On welfare issues, the party opposes privatizations... ) |
18 | |||
| United Kingdom European Parliament election, 2009 (United Kingdom) The European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2009 European Parliament election, the voting for which was held on Thursday 4 June 2009, coinciding with the 2009 local elections in England. Most of the results of the election were announced on Sunday 7 June, after... |
13 (Lab Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after... ) |
11 (LD Liberal Democrats The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the... ) |
2 (GPEW Green Party of England and Wales The Green Party of England and Wales is a political party in England and Wales which follows the traditions of Green politics and maintains a strong commitment to social progressivism. It is the largest Green party in the United Kingdom, containing within it various regional divisions including... ) 2 (SNP Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom.... ) 1 (PC Plaid Cymru ' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966... ) |
24 (Con Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House... ) 1 (UCUNF Ulster Conservatives and Unionists – New Force The Ulster Conservatives and Unionists, officially registered as the Ulster Conservatives and Unionists – New Force , is a bipartisan electoral alliance in Northern Ireland between the Ulster Unionist Party and the Northern Ireland branch of the Conservative Party, the latter party also being... ) |
1 (SF Sinn Féin Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970... ) |
13 (UKIP United Kingdom Independence Party The United Kingdom Independence Party is a eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Whilst its primary goal is the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the party has expanded beyond its single-issue image to develop a more comprehensive party platform.UKIP... ) |
2 (BNP British National Party The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982... ) 1 (DUP Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the... ) 1 (Con Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House... ) |
72 | |
| Total | 265 | 184 | 84 | 55 | 54 | 35 | 32 | 27 | 736 |
Parliament president
In the first vote of the new Parliament Jerzy BuzekJerzy Buzek
Jerzy Karol Buzek is a Polish engineer, academic lecturer and politician who was the ninth post-Cold War Prime Minister of Poland from 1997 to 2001...
(EPP
European People's Party–European Democrats
The Group of the European People's Party , abbreviated to EPP Group, is a centre-right political group of the European Parliament...
, Poland) was elected Parliament President, winning with 555 votes to 89 votes over his opponent Eva-Britt Svensson
Eva-Britt Svensson
Eva-Britt Svensson is a Swedish politician and former Member of the European Parliament. She is a member of the Left Party....
(EUL-NGL
European United Left–Nordic Green Left
European United Left/Nordic Green Left is a left-wing political group with seats in the European Parliament since 1995.-Position:According to its 1994 constituent declaration, the group is opposed to the present European political structure, but committed to integration...
, Sweden).
The two candidates were:
- For the right of centre European People's Party, former Polish PM Jerzy Buzek was nominated by his group EPP-ED and supported by the PES and ALDE groups.
- On the left, Swedish MEP Eva Britt Svensson was nominated by her group EUL-NGL.
MEPs voted in a secret ballot on Tuesday morning 14 July.
The two largest groups in Parliament, the EPP-ED and PES, agreed to share the post of President of the European Parliament
President of the European Parliament
The President of the European Parliament presides over the debates and activities of the European Parliament. He or she also represents the Parliament within the EU and internationally. The President's signature is required for enacting most EU laws and the EU budget.Presidents serve...
as they have done for all but two terms of Parliament. The first half of the term will be taken by Jerzy Buzek
Jerzy Buzek
Jerzy Karol Buzek is a Polish engineer, academic lecturer and politician who was the ninth post-Cold War Prime Minister of Poland from 1997 to 2001...
MEP of the EPP. He is the first MEP from Eastern Europe to hold the post. He pass it over to Martin Schulz
Martin Schulz
Martin Schulz is a German politician and Member of the European Parliament for the Social Democratic Party of Germany, since 2004 leader of the Socialists in the European Parliament .-Career:* 1975-1977: Apprentice...
MEP, the current leader of PES. The deal got support form The ALDE group (their candidate Graham Watson
Graham Watson
Sir Graham Robert Watson is a European politician from the United Kingdom. He has served as a Member of the European Parliament for South West England since 1994 and was leader of the liberal group in Parliament for seven years between 2002 and 2009.-Early life:Graham Watson was born in Rothesay...
dropped out from the race).
The other official candidate was Eva-Britt Svensson
Eva-Britt Svensson
Eva-Britt Svensson is a Swedish politician and former Member of the European Parliament. She is a member of the Left Party....
, nominated from EUL-NGL
European United Left–Nordic Green Left
European United Left/Nordic Green Left is a left-wing political group with seats in the European Parliament since 1995.-Position:According to its 1994 constituent declaration, the group is opposed to the present European political structure, but committed to integration...
. She campaigned with the slogan "a different voice". She was the first MEP from Sweden to candidate to the position.
External links
- Section devoted to the election on the European Parliament website
- EurActiv - EU Elections 2009
- NSD: European Election Database - European Parliament Elections
- EU Observer - EU Elections 2009
- Euronews - EU Elections 2009
- Guide to European Elections provided by European Alternatives
- About the European Elections 2009 in Ireland
- EU Election 2009 Coverage on BBC
- Pre-election survey, EU27 and by member state