Elections in the European Union

Elections to the Parliament of the European Union take place every five years by universal adult suffrage. 736 MEPs^[1] 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 largely composed of nationally elected officials.^[2] Europarties have the exclusive right to campaign EU-wide for the European elections.

Contents 1 Voting system 2 Europarties 3 Voter behaviour 4 Results 5 Proposed reforms 6 Commission President 7 See also 8 References 9 Statistics 10 External links

Voting system

There is no uniform voting system for the election of MEPs; rather, each member state is free to choose its own system, subject to three restrictions:^[3]

• The system must be a form of proportional representation, under either the party list or single transferable vote system.
• The electoral area may be subdivided if this will not generally affect the proportional nature of the voting system.
• Any election threshold on the national level must not exceed five percent.^[3]

The allocation of seats to each member state is based on the principle of degressive proportionality, so that, while the size of the population of each country is taken into account, smaller states elect more MEPs than is justified by their populations. As the number of MEPs granted to each country has arisen from treaty negotiations, there is no precise formula for the apportionment of seats among member states. No change in this configuration can occur without the unanimous consent of all governments.^[3][4]

European Parliament Apportionment changes between the Treaty of Nice and the Treaty of Lisbon (as calculated for purposes of the '09 European Elections)
Member state	2007 Nice	2009 Nice	2014 Lisbon		Member state	2007 Nice	2009 Nice	2014 Lisbon		Member state	2007 Nice	2009 Nice	2014 Lisbon
Germany	99	99	96		Czech Republic	24	22	22		Slovakia	14	13	13
France	78	72	74		Greece	24	22	22		Ireland	13	12	12
United Kingdoma	78	72	73		Hungary	24	22	22		Lithuania	13	12	12
Italy	78	72	73		Portugal	24	22	22		Latvia	9	8	9
Spain	54	50	54		Sweden	19	18	20		Slovenia	7	7	8
Poland	54	50	51		Austria	18	17	19		Cyprus	6	6	6
Romania	35	33	33		Bulgaria	18	17	18		Estonia	6	6	6
Netherlands	27	25	26		Finland	14	13	13		Luxembourg	6	6	6
Belgium	24	22	22		Denmark	14	13	13		Malta	5	5	6
a Includes Gibraltar, but not any other BOT, SBA or Crown dependency b The speaker is not counted officially, thus leaving 750 MEPs. Italicised countries are divided into sub-national constiuencies										Total:	785	736	751b

Europarties

The European Union has a multi-party system comprised by a number of ideologically diverse Europarties. As no one Europarty has ever gained power alone, their affiliated parliamentary groups must work with each other to pass legislation. Since no pan-European government is formed as a result of the European elections, long-term programmatic coalitions have yet to take place.

Europarties have the exclusive right to campaign for the European elections; their parliamentary groups are strictly forbidden to campaign and to spend funds for any campaign-related activity. With the Lisbon Treaty now in-force, Europarties are obliged from now-on to put forward a candidate for President of the European Commission; each Presidential candidate will, in fact, lead the pan-European campaign of the Europarty.

The two major parties are the centre-right European People's Party and Party of European Socialists. They form the two largest groups, (called EPP and S&D respectively) along with other smaller parties. There are numerous other groups including communists, greens, regionalists, conservatives, Liberals and eurosceptics. Together they form the seven recognised groups in the parliament.^[5] MEPs that are not members of groups are known as non-inscrits.

Voter behaviour

Analysis contend that European elections are fought on national issues and used by voters to punish their governments mid-term. Turnout has also been falling steadily since the first elections in 1979 indicating increased apathy about the Parliament despite its increase in power over that period. The turnout is an increasingly big issue. Despite falling below 50% since 1999, turnout is not yet as low as that of the US Midterm elections which usually fall below 40%. The turnout has fallen in every EU election since the first. In 2009, the overall turnout was just 43%, down from 45.5% in 2004. In Britain the turnout was just 34.3%, down from 38% in 2004.

However that situation is not criticised so much due to the fact the US President is elected separately, whereas the EU Commission President is appointed. Some such as former Parliament President Pat Cox has also noted that the 1999 election turnout was higher than the previous US Presidential election.^[6][7] It is hoped though that by more closely linking that post to the elections, turnout should increase.^[8][9][10]

Results

List of previous elections

2009 – EU 27 2007 – Bulgaria and Romania 2004 – EU 25 1999 – EU 15 1995 – Austria, Finland and Sweden 1994 – EU 12 1989 – EC 12 1987 – Portugal and Spain 1984 – EC 10 1981 – Greece 1979 – EC 9

List of European Parliament elections by state

Historical percentage results in union-wide elections of the three major groups by region.^[11]

REGION	1979	1984	1989	1994	1999	2004	2009
	3.6	6.3	6.3	22	35.3	31.2	10.9
Northern[12]	3.6	2.7	4.5	6.8	16.7	18.1	20.3
	23.2	33	45.5	56.8	27.6	23.9	21
	33.6	30.9	26.7	31.9	36.4	34.9	37.3
Western[13]	6.5	10.6	12	8.5	5.2	11.9	12.5
	34.1	32.7	32.7	29.9	27.9	30.2	20.8
	37	34.3	29.6	25.9	39.8	38.2	45.2
Southern[14]	6.2	4.8	9.5	8.5	5	7.9	5
	16	21	29.1	29.9	30.8	33	35
	-	-	-	-	-	46.4	41
Eastern[15]	-	-	-	-	-	14.3	10
	-	-	-	-	-	21.4	23.7
	26	25.3	23.4	27.7	37.2	36.9	36
Total	9.8	7.1	9.5	7.6	8	12.4	11.4
	27.6	30	34.2	34.9	28.8	28.3	25
Turnout	63	61	58.5	56.8	49.4	45.5	43

Legend:   [     ] Socialist (PES/S&D) – [     ] Liberal (ELDR/ALDE) – [     ] People's (EPP/EPP-ED)

Proposed reforms

As of 2011 reforms by liberal MEP Andrew Duff are being considered by Parliament which are seen as the most significant overhaul of the electoral system since elections began. 25 extra MEPs would be added on a transnational European list with its candidates being selected by the European party groups rather than national member parties. The candidate lists would have to represent a third of member states and are seen as a way to personalise and dramatise the elections in order to reengage an apathetic electorate. Duff sees the next Commission President possibly coming from the transnational list. Duff's proposals also include a single electoral roll, regular reapportioning of seats, one set of immunity rules and the holding of elections in May rather than June. However, due to a waning of support and possible opposition from member states, Duff has taken the proposal back to committee in order to get broader support before putting them before the plenary in autumn 2011.^[16]

Commission President

Election	Largest Group	President	Party
1994	PES	Jacques Santer	EPP
1999	EPP-ED	Romano Prodi	PES
2004	EPP	José Manuel Barroso	EPP
2009	EPP	José Manuel Barroso	EPP

The third Delors Commission had a short mandate, in order to bring the terms of the Commission in line with that of the Parliament. Under the European Constitution the European Council would have to take into account the results of the latest European elections and, furthermore, the Parliament would ceremonially "elect", rather than simply approve, the Council's proposed candidate. This was taken as the parliament's cue to have its parties run with candidates for the President of the European Commission with the candidate of the winning party being proposed by the Council.^[17]

This was partly put into practice in 2004 when the European Council selected a candidate from the political party which won that year's election. However at that time only one party had run with a specific candidate: the European Green Party, who had the first true pan-European political party with a common campaign,^[18] put forward Daniel Cohn-Bendit.^[17] However the fractious nature of the other political parties led to no other candidates, the People's Party only mentioned four or five people they'd like to be President.^[19] The Constitution failed ratification but these amendments have been carried over to the Treaty of Lisbon which came into force in 2009.

There are plans to strengthen the European political parties^[10] in order for them to propose candidates for the 2009 election.^[9][20] The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party have already indicated, in their October 2007 congress, their intention for forward a candidate for the post as part of a common campaign.^[21] They failed to do so however the European People's Party did select Barroso as their candidate and, as the largest party, Barroso's turn was renewed. The Socialists, disappointed at the 2009 election, agreed to put forward a candidate for Commission President at all subsequent elections. There is a campaign within that party to have open primaries for said candidate.^[22]

In February 2008, President Barroso admitted there was a problem in legitimacy and that, despite having the same legitimacy as Prime Ministers in theory, in practice it was not the case. The low turnout creates a problem for the President's legitimacy, with the lack of a "European political sphere", but analysis claim that if citizens were voting for a list of candidates for the post of President, turn out would be much higher than that seen in recent years.^[23]

With the Lisbon Treaty now in-force, Europarties are obliged from now-on to put forward a candidate for President of the European Commission; each Presidential candidate will, in fact, lead the pan-European campaign of the Europarty.

The President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek proposed in 2010 that Commissioners be directly elected, by member states placing their candidate at the top of their voting lists in European elections. That would give them individually, and the body as a whole, a democratic mandate.^[24]

See also

European Union

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the European Union

Parliament President Jerzy Buzek Largest groups; Joseph Daul: EPP Martin Schulz: S&D 7th session MEPs (736) 2009-14 term Bureau Vice Presidents Quaestor Conference Legislative procedure

Council of Ministers Presidency Poland Configurations General Foreign Economic Euro Legislative procedure Voting Secretariat Secretary-General Uwe Corsepius COREPER

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy Parties List of meetings

Commission Barroso Comm. President José M. Barroso Vice Presidents Catherine Ashton Viviane Reding Joaquín Almunia Siim Kallas Neelie Kroes Antonio Tajani Maroš Šefčovič Commissioners Civil Service Secretary-General Catherine Day

Court of Justice Court of Justice General Court Civil Service Tribunal Members Rulings

Other institutions Central Bank President ESCB Euro EMU Eurozone Court of Auditors Budget OLAF Investment Bank CoR EESC Ombudsman Other bodies Agencies National parliaments

Policies and issues Budget Four Freedoms Economic area Single market Area of FS&J Schengen Policies Agricultural Energy Fisheries Regional Citizenship Identity Pro-Europeanism Euroscepticism Integration Supranationalism Federalism U.S.E. Multi-speed Opt-outs Enhanced co-op Withdrawal

Foreign relations High Representative Catherine Ashton Ext. Action Service Foreign Policy Defence Policy Enlargement

Elections 1979, 1984, 1989 1994, 1999, 2004 2009 (last election) 2014 (next election) Political parties Constituencies Referendums

Law Acquis Primacy Subsidiarity Treaties Fundamental Rights Membership

Democratic deficit in the European Union Electoral calendar Electoral system European Parliament European Parliament election 2009 European Parliament political group History of the European Union Member of the European Parliament

National elections; Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark

Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland

Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland

Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden United Kingdom

References

Statistics

Area	Dates	Seats	Electorate	Turnout	Previous	Next	Election methods	Sources
European Community (EC-9)	7, 10 June 1979	410	191,783,528	63%	Inaugural	1981	All PR, except UK (not NI) which used FPTP	[1][2] [3]

Area	Dates	Seats	Electorate	Turnout	Previous	Next	Election methods	Sources
European Community (EC-10)	14, 17 June 1984	434	200,505,752	61%	1979	1989	All PR, except UK (not NI) which used FPTP	[4] [5] [6]

Area	Dates	Seats	Electorate	Turnout	Previous	Next	Election methods	Sources
European Community (EC-12)	15-18 June 1989	518	244,951,379	58.5%	1984	1994	All PR, except UK (not NI) which used FPTP	[7] [8][9] [10]

Area	Dates	Seats	Electorate	Turnout	Previous	Next	Election methods	Sources
European Union (EU-12)	9, 12 June 1994	567	269,261,000	56.8%	1989	1995	All PR, except UK (not NI) which used FPTP	[11] [12]

Area	European Union (EU-15)	Sources
Dates	• Thursday 10 June: Netherlands, United Kingdom, Denmark  • Friday 11 June: Ireland  • Sunday 13 June: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Sweden	[13][14]
Seats	626	[15][16]
Candidates	over 10,000	[17]
Electorate	288 million	[18]
Turnout	49.8%	[19]
Previous	European Parliament election, 1994	n/a
Next	European Parliament election, 2004	n/a
Election methods	All proportional representation.	[20]
Preference voting allowed?	• Yes, via open list: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Luxembourg (with panachage), Netherlands, Sweden.  • Yes, via STV: Ireland, United Kingdom (NI only)  • No: the rest	[21][22]
Cutoff?	• 5%: France, Germany  • 4%: Austria, Sweden  • 3%: Greece  • none: the rest	[23]
Seat allocation	• Sainte-Laguë method: Sweden  • STV method: Ireland, United Kingdom (NI only)  • Hare-Niemeyer method: Germany  • Pro-rata: Greece  • Largest remainder method: Italy  • D'Hondt method: the rest	[24][25][26]
Constituency boundaries	• Member state subdivided into multiple constituencies: Belgium (3), Ireland (4), Italy (5), United Kingdom (12)  • Mixture: Germany (candidate lists at Länder or national level), Finland (candidate lists at electoral district or national level)  • Member state as single constituency: the rest	[27][28][29]
Minimum voting age	18	[30][31]

Area	European Union (EU-25)	Sources
Dates	• Thursday 10 June: Netherlands, United Kingdom,  • Friday 11 June: Czech Republic, Ireland  • Saturday 12 June: Czech Republic, Italy, Latvia, Malta  • Sunday 13 June: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden	[32]
Seats	732	[33][34]
Candidates	over 14,600	[35]
Electorate	342 million	[36][37][38]
Turnout	45.6%	[39]
Previous	European Parliament election, 1999	n/a
Next	European Parliament election, 2009	n/a
Election methods	All proportional representation.	[40]
Preference voting allowed?	• Yes, via open list: Austria, Belgium, Lithuania, Luxembourg (with panachage), Netherlands, Slovenia, Slovakia, Sweden.  • Yes, via STV: Ireland, Malta, United Kingdom (NI only)  • No: the rest	[41][42][43]
Cutoff?	• 5%: Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia  • 4%: Austria, Sweden  • 3%: Greece  • none: the rest	[44][45][46]
Seat allocation	• Sainte-Laguë method: Latvia, Sweden  • STV method: Ireland, Malta, United Kingdom (NI only)  • Highest averages method: France  • Largest remainder method: Italy  • Pro-rata: Greece  • Droop method: Slovakia  • Hare-Niemeyer method: Germany  • Hare-Niemeyer method and D'Hondt method: Poland  • D'Hondt method: the rest	[47][48][49][50][51]
Constituency boundaries	• Member state subdivided into multiple constituencies: Belgium (3), France (8), Ireland (4), Italy (5), Poland (13), United Kingdom (12)  • Mixture: Germany (candidate lists at Länder or national level)  • Member state as single constituency: the rest	[52][53][54]
Minimum voting age	18	[55]
Presidential election	• First round: Josep Borrell, 388 votes; Bronisław Geremek, 208 votes; Francis Wurtz, 51 votes  • Josep Borrell, having achieved a majority of valid votes in the first round, was elected President of the European Parliament	[56]

Group		Description	Details	%	MEPs
	SOC	Social Democrats	West Germany 35, Belgium 7, Denmark 4, France 22, Ireland 4, Italy 13, Luxembourg 1, Netherlands 9, UK 18	28%	113
	EPP	Christian Democrats	West Germany 42, Belgium 10, France 8, Ireland 4, Italy 30, Luxembourg 3, Netherlands 10	26%	107
	ED	Conservatives	Denmark 3, UK 61	16%	64
	COM	Communists and the Far Left	Denmark 1, France 19, Italy 24	11%	44
	LD	Liberals and Liberal Democrats	West Germany 4, Belgium 4, Denmark 3, France 17, Ireland 1, Italy 5, Luxembourg 2, Netherlands 4	10%	40
	EPD	National Conservatives	Denmark 1, France 15, Ireland 5, UK 1	5%	22
	CDI	Heterogeneous	Belgium 1, Denmark 4, Ireland 1, Italy 5	3%	11
	NI	Independents	Belgium 2, Italy 4, Netherlands 2, UK 1	2%	9
Sources: [57] [58] [59] [60]				100%	410

Group		Description	Details	%	MEPs
	SOC	Social Democrats	West Germany 33, Belgium 7, Denmark 4, France 20, Italy 12, Luxembourg 2, Netherlands 9, UK 33, Greece 10	30%	130
	EPP	Christian Democrats	West Germany 41, Belgium 6, Denmark 1, France 9, Ireland 6, Italy 27, Luxembourg 3, Netherlands 8, Greece 9	25%	110
	ED	Conservatives	Denmark 4, UK 46	12%	50
	COM	Communists and the Far Left	Denmark 1, France 10, Italy 26, Greece 4	9%	41
	LD	Liberals and Liberal Democrats	Belgium 5, Denmark 2, France 12, Ireland 1, Italy 5, Luxembourg 1, Netherlands 5	7%	31
	EDA	National Conservatives	France 20, Ireland 8, UK 1	7%	29
	RBW	Greens and Regionalists	West Germany 7, Belgium 4, Denmark 4, Italy 3, Netherlands 2	5%	20
	ER	Far-Right Nationalists	France 10, Italy 5, Greece 1	4%	16
	NI	Independents	Belgium 2, Italy 3, Netherlands 1, UK 1	2%	7
Sources: [61] [62]				100%	434

Group		Description	Details	%	MEPs
	SOC	Social Democrats	West Germany 31, Belgium 8, Denmark 4, France 22, Ireland 1, Italy 14, Luxembourg 2, Netherlands 8, UK 46, Greece 9, Spain 27, Portugal 8	35%	180
	EPP	Christian Democrats	West Germany 32, Belgium 7, Denmark 2, France 6, Ireland 4, Italy 27, Luxembourg 3, Netherlands 10, UK 1, Greece 10, Spain 16, Portugal 3	23%	121
	LDR	Liberals and Liberal Democrats	West Germany 4, Belgium 4, Denmark 3, France 13, Ireland 2, Italy 3, Luxembourg 1, Netherlands 4, Spain 6, Portugal 9	9%	49
	EUL & LU	Communists and the Far Left	Denmark 1, France 7, Ireland 1, Italy 22, Greece 4, Spain 4, Portugal 3	8%	42 (28+14)
	ED	Conservatives	Denmark 2, UK 32	7%	34
	G	Greens	West Germany 8, Belgium 3, France 8, Italy 7, Netherlands 2, Spain 1, Portugal 1	6%	30
	EDA	National Conservatives	France 13, Ireland 6, Greece 1	4%	20
	DR	Far-Right Nationalists	West Germany 6, Belgium 1, France 10	3%	17
	RBW	Regionalists	Belgium 1, Denmark 4, France 1, Ireland 1, Italy 3, UK 1, Spain 2	3%	13
	NI	Independents	France 1, Italy 5, Netherlands 1, UK 1, Spain 4	2%	12
Sources: [63] [64] [65] [66]				100%	518

Group		Description	Details	%	MEPs
	PES	Social Democrats	Germany 40, Belgium 6, Denmark 3, France 15, Ireland 1, Italy 18, Luxembourg 2, Netherlands 8, UK 63, Greece 10, Spain 22, Portugal 10	35%	198
	EPP	Conservatives and Christian Democrats	Germany 47, Belgium 7, Denmark 3, France 13, Ireland 4, Italy 12, Luxembourg 2, Netherlands 10, UK 19, Greece 9, Spain 30, Portugal 1	28%	157
	ELDR	Liberals and Liberal Democrats	Belgium 6, Denmark 5, France 1, Ireland 1, Italy 7, Luxembourg 1, Netherlands 10, UK 2, Spain 2, Portugal 8	8%	43
	EUL	Communists and the Far Left	France 7, Italy 5, Greece 4, Spain 9, Portugal 3	5%	28
	NI	Independents	Belgium 3, France 11, Italy 12, UK 1	5%	27
	FE	Conservatives and Christian Democrats	Italy 27	5%	27
	EDA	National Conservatives	France 14, Ireland 7, Greece 2, Portugal 3	5%	26
	G	Greens	Germany 12, Belgium 2, Denmark 1, Ireland 2, Italy 4, Luxembourg 1, Netherlands 1	4%	23
	ERA	Liberals and Liberal Democrats	Belgium 1, France 13, Italy 2, UK 2, Spain 1	3%	19
	EN	Eurosceptics	Denmark 4, France 13, Netherlands 2	3%	19
Sources: [67] [68] [69] [70] [71]				100%	567

Group		Description	Details	%	MEPs
	EPP-ED	Conservatives and Christian Democrats	Germany 53, Belgium 5, Denmark 1, France 21, Ireland 5, Italy 34, Luxembourg 2, Netherlands 9, UK 37, Greece 9, Spain 29, Portugal 9, Austria 7, Finland 5, Sweden 5	37%	233
	PES	Social Democrats	Germany 33, Belgium 5, Denmark 3, France 22, Ireland 1, Italy 17, Luxembourg 2, Netherlands 6, UK 30, Greece 9, Spain 24, Portugal 12, Austria 7, Finland 3, Sweden 6	29%	180
	ELDR	Liberals and Liberal Democrats	Belgium 5, Denmark 6, Ireland 1, Italy 7, Luxembourg 1, Netherlands 8, UK 10, Spain 3, Finland 5, Sweden 4	8%	50
	G/EFA	Greens and Regionalists	Germany 7, Belgium 7, France 9, Ireland 2, Italy 2, Luxembourg 1, Netherlands 4, UK 6, Spain 4, Austria 2, Finland 2, Sweden 2	8%	48
	EUL/NGL	Communists and the Far Left	Germany 6, Denmark 1, France 11, Italy 6, Netherlands 1, Greece 7, Spain 4, Portugal 2, Finland 1, Sweden 3	7%	42
	UEN	National Conservatives	Denmark 1, France 13, Ireland 6, Italy 9, Portugal 2	5%	31
	NI & TGI	Independents	Belgium 2, France 5, Italy 12, UK 1, Spain 1, Austria 5	4%	26 (18+8)
	EDD	Eurosceptics	Denmark 4, France 6, Netherlands 3, UK 3	3%	16
Sources: [72]				100%	626

Group		Description	Details	%	MEPs
	EPP-ED	Conservatives and Christian Democrats	Germany 49, Belgium 6, Denmark 1, France 17, Ireland 5, Italy 24, Luxembourg 3, Netherlands 7, UK 28, Greece 11, Spain 24, Portugal 9, Austria 6, Finland 4, Sweden 5, Cyprus 3, Estonia 1, Hungary 13, Latvia 3, Lithuania 2, Malta 2, Poland 19, Czech Republic 14, Slovakia 8, Slovenia 4	37%	268
	PES	Social Democrats	Germany 23, Belgium 7, Denmark 5, France 31, Ireland 1, Italy 16, Luxembourg 1, Netherlands 7, UK 19, Greece 8, Spain 24, Portugal 12, Austria 7, Finland 3, Sweden 5, Estonia 3, Hungary 9, Lithuania 2, Malta 3, Poland 8, Czech Republic 2, Slovakia 3, Slovenia 1	27%	200
	ALDE	Liberals and Liberal Democrats	Germany 7, Belgium 6, Denmark 4, France 11, Ireland 1, Italy 12, Luxembourg 1, Netherlands 5, UK 12, Spain 2, Finland 5, Sweden 3, Cyprus 1, Estonia 2, Hungary 2, Latvia 1, Lithuania 7, Poland 4, Slovenia 2	12%	88
	G/EFA	Greens and Regionalists	Germany 13, Belgium 2, Denmark 1, France 6, Italy 2, Luxembourg 1, Netherlands 4, UK 5, Spain 3, Austria 2, Finland 1, Sweden 1, Latvia 1	6%	42
	EUL/NGL	Communists and the Far Left	Germany 7, Denmark 1, France 3, Ireland 1, Italy 7, Netherlands 2, UK 1, Greece 4, Spain 1, Portugal 3, Finland 1, Sweden 2, Cyprus 2, Czech Republic 6	6%	41
	IND/DEM	Eurosceptics	Denmark 1, France 3, Ireland 1, Italy 4, Netherlands 2, UK 11, Greece 1, Sweden 3, Poland 10, Czech Republic 1	5%	37
	NI	Independents	Belgium 3, France 7, Italy 4, UK 2, Austria 3, Poland 6, Czech Republic 1, Slovakia 3	4%	29
	UEN	National Conservatives	Denmark 1, Ireland 4, Italy 9, Latvia 4, Lithuania 2, Poland 7	4%	27
Sources: [73] [74] [75] [76]				100%	732

External links

• Section devoted to the 2009 election on the European Parliament website
• Adam Carr's Election Archive
• European Election Studies
• The European Parliament and Supranational Party System (Cambridge University Press 2002)
• Archive of European Integration (AEI) > Institutional Administration, Developments & Reform > Parliament > Elections

Elections in the European Union 1979 Belgium · Denmark · France · Ireland · Italy · Luxembourg · Netherlands · United Kingdom · West Germany 1984 Belgium · Denmark · France · Greece · Ireland · Italy · Luxembourg · Netherlands · United Kingdom · West Germany 1989 Belgium · Denmark · France · Greece · Ireland · Italy · Luxembourg · Netherlands · Portugal · Spain · United Kingdom · West Germany 1994 Belgium · Denmark · France · Germany · Greece · Ireland · Italy · Luxembourg · Netherlands · Portugal · Spain · United Kingdom 1999 Austria · Belgium · Denmark · Finland · France · Germany · Greece · Ireland · Italy · Luxembourg · Netherlands · Portugal · Spain · Sweden · United Kingdom 2004 Austria · Belgium · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Ireland · Italy · Latvia · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Malta · Netherlands · Poland · Portugal · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · United Kingdom (including Gibraltar) 2009 Austria · Belgium · Bulgaria · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Ireland · Italy · Latvia · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Malta · Netherlands · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · United Kingdom (including Gibraltar) Off-year Greece (1981) · Portugal (1987) · Spain (1987) · Sweden (1995) · Austria (1996) · Finland (1996) · Bulgaria (2007) · Romania (2007) · UK by-elections (1979–1998)

Members of the European Parliament 1952–1958 Belgium · France · Italy · Luxembourg · Netherlands · West Germany 1958–1979 Belgium · Denmark (1973) · France · Ireland (1973), (1973–77), (1977–79) · Italy · Luxembourg · Netherlands · United Kingdom (1973)  · West Germany 1979–1984 Belgium · Denmark · France · Greece (1981) · Ireland · Italy · Luxembourg · Netherlands · United Kingdom  · West Germany 1984–1989 Belgium · Denmark · France · Greece · Ireland · Italy · Luxembourg · Netherlands · Portugal (1987) · Spain (1987) · United Kingdom  · West Germany 1989–1994 Belgium · Denmark · France · Greece · Ireland · Italy · Luxembourg · Netherlands · Portugal · Spain · United Kingdom  · West Germany 1994–1999 Austria (1996) · Belgium · Denmark · Finland (1996) · France · Germany · Greece · Ireland · Italy · Luxembourg · Netherlands · Portugal · Spain · Sweden (1995) · United Kingdom 1999–2004 Austria · Belgium · Denmark · Finland · France · Germany · Greece · Ireland · Italy · Luxembourg · Netherlands · Portugal · Spain · Sweden · United Kingdom 2004–2009 Austria · Belgium · Bulgaria (2007) · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Ireland · Italy · Latvia · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Malta · Netherlands · Poland · Portugal · Romania (2007) · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · United Kingdom (including Gibraltar) 2009–2014 Austria · Belgium · Bulgaria · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Ireland · Italy · Latvia · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Malta · Netherlands · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · United Kingdom (including Gibraltar) Delegations Sweden (1995) · Poland (2004) · Bulgaria (2007) · Romania (2007)

European Union topics History Timeline Pre-1945 1945–1957 1958–1972 1973–1993 1993–2004 since 2004 Predecessors European Coal and Steel Community (1951–2002) European Economic Community (1958–1993/2009) Euratom (1958–present) European Communities (1967–1993/2009) Justice and Home Affairs (1993–2009) Details Governance Institutions Parliament European Council Council of Ministers Commission European Court of Justice Central Bank Court of Auditors Agencies European Banking Authority Eurojust Europol Frontex Environment Reconstruction Disease Prevention and Control External Action Service Maritime Safety Politics Elections European Parliament constituencies European Parliament groups Political parties Enlargement ('95 '04 '07) Integration Pro-Europeanism Euroscepticism Foreign relations Euromyth Law Acquis Competition law Copyright law Directive Journal Government procurement Four freedoms (Labour mobility) Procedure Regulation Schengen Agreement Charter of Fundamental Rights Treaties (Opt-outs) Enhanced co-operation Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification Geography Borders Extreme points Largest municipalities Largest urban areas Largest metropolitan areas Larger Urban Zones Member States Special territories Regions Economy Currencies Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Common Fisheries Policy Budget Euro Central Bank Investment Bank Investment Fund Eurozone Energy Regional development Single Market FTAs Solidarity Fund Transport (Galileo system) Culture Citizenship (Passports) Demographics Driving licence Education Institute of Innovation and Technology Laissez-Passer Languages Religion Sport Holidays Telephone numbers Symbols Statistics Douzelage Greater Europe Lists Agencies Councils Directives Political parties Presidency NUTS regions Tallest buildings Vehicle registration plates Acronyms, jargon and working practices Theory Supranationalism Intergovernmentalism Supranational union Multi-speed Europe Eurosphere Optimum currency area Portal

Elections in Europe Sovereign states Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kazakhstan Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Vatican City States with limited recognition Abkhazia Kosovo Nagorno-Karabakh Northern Cyprus South Ossetia Transnistria Dependencies and other territories Åland Faroe Islands Gibraltar Guernsey Jersey Isle of Man Svalbard Other entities European Union