# European elections

Election to the European Parliament 2019
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European Parliament logo

The European elections are direct, free and secret elections that have taken place in the European Union every five years since 1979 , in which the members of the European Parliament are determined. After the election to the Indian parliament, it is the second largest democratic election in the world. The last European elections took place from May 23 to 26, 2019, in Germany and Austria on May 26, 2019.

The members of the European Parliament are elected separately for each member state. The European legal basis for the elections is Article 14, Paragraph 3 of the EU Treaty and the direct election act passed in 1976 , which forms the general framework for the elections. However, the exact electoral system is determined by each individual member state through national regulations. Since the introduction of the European elections, efforts have been made to standardize the electoral system across Europe, to which the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union are expressly mandated under Art. 223 TFEU . However, the contract does not provide for a fixed schedule; minor changes to standardize have been implemented over the years. Since the 2004 European elections , all member states have had to apply the principle of proportional representation , even if they (like France and Great Britain ) use majority voting in national elections .

In the 2014 European elections , most European parties put up EU-wide top candidates for the EU Commission Presidency for the first time . Although the European Council formally has the right to make proposals, it must take into account the result of the European elections in accordance with Article 17 (7) of the EU Treaty. Since the European Parliament ultimately elects the EU Commission , it has the last word. In 2014, the top candidate of the strongest party, Jean-Claude Juncker ( EPP ), was elected President of the EU Commission. There are efforts in the EU Parliament to make this Spitzenkandidaten principle binding in EU electoral law. In addition, all EU citizens aged 16 and over should be able to vote, be given the opportunity to vote in all elections abroad, and a national or regional threshold clause of 3 to 5% should be applied. In the end, however, there was no majority in the European Parliament for the introduction of transnational lists, which had been discussed for a long time. However, the resolutions require the approval of the European Council for the amendments to enter into force. So far, however, apart from a mandatory threshold clause of 2 to 5%, these initiatives have been rejected by the European Council.

## Election mode

All citizens of the European Union are entitled to vote , whereby citizens living in other EU countries may alternatively vote either at their place of residence or in their country of origin. For this it is necessary to be registered in the local electoral roll for the European elections. The age for the right to vote is 18 in almost all countries, in Austria alone (since the European elections in Austria in 2009 ) and Malta (from the European elections in 2019) it is 16 years. The age for acquiring the right to stand as a candidate (eligibility) also depends on the national regulations of the country of origin. For example, while most EU citizens can be elected from the age of 18, candidates in Italy must be at least 25 years old.

The number of MEPs to be elected is determined separately for each country by a decision of the European Council . The principle of degressive proportionality applies , according to which larger countries generally have more MPs than smaller countries, while smaller countries have more MPs per inhabitant than larger ones . According to Article 14 (2) of the Treaty on European Union , between 6 and 96 members must be elected in each country.

The candidates are drawn up on lists at national or regional level, mostly through the national parties . In contrast, the political parties at European level only play a limited role in the election, for example by coordinating the election campaigns of their national member parties and adopting joint election programs. However, national parties that are not organized in a European party can also take part in the European elections.

As the different EU Member States have different traditions in setting election dates, the European elections in the different countries do not fall on the same date: in Great Britain and the Netherlands, votes are usually taken during the week, but in Germany , Austria and many other countries Sunday. In some countries, such as Italy , it is also common for polling stations to be open not just on one day, but on two days. Overall, the European elections therefore usually last four days (from Thursday to Sunday). In order to prevent the election from being falsified, official results in all countries should not be announced until Sunday evening. However, this ban has been circumvented several times in the past through the early publication of projections.

In the 2019 European elections in Great Britain, an increasing number of residents from other EU countries complained that they had been refused to participate in the European elections.

Community law bases for the European elections are:

### The electoral system in the individual states

The following list shows some of the basic parameters for the electoral systems of the individual EU member states; the number of MPs mentioned corresponds to the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty . The exact seat allocation procedure differs from country to country, mostly the D'Hondt , Sainte-Laguë or Hare / Niemeyer procedures are used. Only the preferential voting system used in Ireland , Northern Ireland and Malta is explicitly mentioned in the following list .

Member State Seats election day Voting age (active / passive) Constituencies Threshold clause Others
Belgium 21st So 18/21 3 - Preferred votes , compulsory voting
Bulgaria 17th So 18/21 1 ~ 5.88% Preferential votes
Denmark 13 So 18/18 1 - Preferential votes
Germany 96 So 18/18 16 2 - -
Estonia 6th So 18/21 1 - -
Finland 13 So 18/18 1 - Preferential votes
France 74 So 1 18/18 1 5% -
Greece 21st So 18/25 1 3% Compulsory elective
Ireland 11 Fr. 18/21 4th - Transferable individual voting
Italy 73 So 18/25 5 2 4% Preferential votes
Croatia 11 So 18/18 1 5% Preferential votes
Latvia 8th Sat 18/21 1 5% Preferential votes (also negative)
Lithuania 11 So 18/21 1 5% Preferential votes
Luxembourg 6th So 18/18 1 - Preferential votes , variegation , compulsory voting
Malta 6th Sat 16/18 1 - Transferable individual voting
Netherlands 26th do 18/18 1 ~ 3.85% Preferential votes
Austria 18th So 16/18 1 4% Preferential votes
Poland 51 So 18/21 13 2 5% -
Portugal 21st So 18/18 1 - -
Romania 32 So 18/23 1 5% -
Sweden 20th So 18/18 1 4% Preferential votes
Slovakia 13 So 18/21 1 5% Preferential votes
Slovenia 8th So 18/18 1 4% Preferential votes
Spain 54 So 18/18 1 - -
Czech Republic 21st Fri / Sat 18/21 1 5% Preferential votes
Hungary 21st So 18/18 1 5% -
United Kingdom 73 do 18/21 12 - Northern Ireland only : Single Transferable Voting
Cyprus 6th So 18/21 1 - Preferential votes
1 Saturday in overseas territories
2 national balance

Source:

### The electoral system in Germany

The German legal basis for the European elections - and thus the legal basis for the electoral process in Germany - are the European Election Act (EuWG) and the European Election Regulations (EuWO). The 96 German MEPs are elected in a general, direct, free, equal and secret ballot . The allocation of seats is based on a nationwide calculation based on proportional representation, whereby the 5 percent threshold was applied until the 2009 European elections. According to a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court in 2011, the 5% threshold clause is unconstitutional in Germany. In June 2013 the Bundestag passed a reform of the European electoral law, which in future provided for a 3% threshold clause. This last threshold clause was also overturned by the Federal Constitutional Court on February 26, 2014. In the 2014 European elections there was no longer a threshold clause. In order to move into parliament with a member of parliament, a party must achieve around 0.5 percent of the vote. The election takes place on the basis of list proposals according to the principles of the proportional representation system .

In contrast to the general election , the voter only has one vote with which he can elect a party or other political association . The electoral lists can be submitted as state lists for individual federal states or as a common list for all states.

The distribution of seats has been based on the Sainte-Laguë procedure since the 2009 European elections , previously the Hare-Niemeyer procedure was used. The electoral lists are closed; d. This means that the seats allotted to the nominations will be filled in exactly the order specified on the list; unlike, for example, in local elections in most federal states , the voter can not determine the order himself.

For each candidate there is a substitute candidate who takes over the mandate if the elected MP leaves parliament. The order of the list is only observed if no replacement candidate is named. This regulation should help to guarantee the regional balance of the German MEPs.

The right to vote for German voters is linked to the right to vote in the German Bundestag ; All Germans within the meaning of Article 116, Paragraph 1 of the Basic Law who have the right to vote in the Bundestag on election day are entitled to vote . Citizens of another EU country are also entitled to vote if they are older than 18 years and have lived in Germany for more than three months. Just like Germans who live in other EU countries, however, they have to decide whether to exercise their right to vote in the state of their citizenship or their place of residence.

In addition, the Election Statistics Act (WStatG) and the European Parliament Act (EuAbgG) are German legal bases for European elections.

### The electoral system in Austria

The European elections in Austria take place as proportional representation , with the whole country forming a single constituency. The voters choose a list, but they can also choose a specific candidate from this list, which allows him to improve his position on the list ( preferred vote ). The distribution of seats takes place according to the D'Hondt procedure , with a blocking clause for all lists that have less than 4% of the total number of votes. The right to stand for election is achieved at the age of 18, the active right at 16 years.

### The electoral system in the other Member States

In Belgium , the 21 seats are allocated in three constituencies (Flemish constituency 12 seats, Walloon constituency 8 seats, German-speaking constituency 1 seat). There is no threshold clause. The D'Hondt procedure is used to allocate seats .

In Bulgaria , the 18 seats are allocated in a national constituency. The threshold clause is calculated from the quotient of valid votes divided by the number of seats to be allocated, i.e. H. For the 2009 election results , there was a threshold clause of 2,576,434 / 17 = 151,555 votes. The Hare / Niemeyer procedure is used to allocate seats .

In Denmark the 13 seats are allocated in a national constituency without a threshold clause. The parties can enter into list connections . The D'Hondt procedure is used in the upper allocation (to the list connections) as well as in the sub-allocation (to the individual parties in a list) .

In Estonia , the 6 MPs are allocated in a national constituency without a threshold clause. The D'Hondt procedure is used to allocate seats .

In Finland the 13 seats are allocated in a national constituency. There is no threshold clause. Parties can combine to form list connections . The D'Hondt procedure is used in the upper allotment, while the seats in the sub-allotment go to the candidates with the most preferential votes.

In France , voting takes place via national lists with a 5% threshold. The D'Hondt procedure is used to allocate seats . From 2004 to 2014 the election was made through proportional representation with eight constituencies: Nord-Ouest, Ouest, Est, Sud-Ouest, Sud-Est, Massif-Central / Center, Ile-de-France and Outre-Mer. The threshold clause was 5% of the valid votes for each constituency.

In Greece the 22 seats are allocated in a national constituency. The threshold clause is 3% of the valid votes. The allocation method is based on the share quota calculated taking into account the lists that do not participate in the allocation and a two-tier allocation of the remaining seats .

In the Republic of Ireland the election takes place according to the procedure of the transferable individual voting (preferential voting system) with four constituencies (Dublin 3 seats, East 3 seats, North-West 3 seats, South 3 seats). There is no threshold clause.

In Italy the 73 seats are allocated in a national constituency. The threshold is 4% of the valid votes. The parties register district lists in five districts (North Occidentale, North Orientale, Centrale, Meridionale, Insulare). Seat allocation takes place in two steps. In the allocation of seats to the various parties, the respective district lists are viewed as a federal list and the 73 seats are divided between them using the Hare / Niemeyer method . In the sub-allocation to the individual district lists, the seats that a party has won are divided among the five district lists using the Hare / Niemeyer process. Finally, within the district lists, the mandates go to the candidates with the most preferred votes . A special rule applies to parties of national minorities: These can enter into list connections with parties that compete in all five districts, thus increasing their chances of getting a mandate. If the top candidate of an allied minority party receives at least 50,000 preferential votes, he is entitled to a seat. In the European elections in Italy in 2009 , Herbert Dorfmann from the South Tyrolean People's Party won a seat with 84,361 votes.

In Latvia , the 9 seats are allocated in a national constituency. The threshold clause is 5% of the votes cast, but in fact, due to the small number of seats, a better election result is necessary to achieve a mandate. The Sainte-Laguë procedure is used to allocate seats .

In Lithuania , the 12 seats are allocated in a national constituency. The threshold is 5% of the votes cast. The Hare / Niemeyer procedure with rounded up Hare quota is used to allocate seats . ${\ displaystyle HQ2 = \ left \ lceil {\ frac {\ text {eligible votes}} {\ text {number of seats}}} \ right \ rceil}$

In Luxembourg the 6 seats are allocated in a national constituency. There is no threshold clause. The D'Hondt procedure is used to allocate seats .

In Malta the 6 seats are allocated in a national constituency. There is no threshold clause. The system of transferable individual votes (preference voting system) is used to allocate seats .

In the Netherlands , the 26 seats are allocated in a national constituency. There is no threshold clause. The parties can join together to form lists . The D'Hondt procedure is used in the upper allocation (to the list connections) , while the seats in the sub-allocation (to the individual parties) are allocated according to the Hare / Niemeyer procedure .

In Poland , the 50 seats are allocated in a national constituency. The threshold clause is 5% of the valid votes. The parties register national lists in 13 districts (Katowice, Warszawa 1, Warszawa 2, Wrocław, Kraków, Poznań, Gdańsk, Łódź, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Bydgoszcz, Olsztyn, Lublin, Rzeszów). Seat allocation takes place in two steps. In the upper allocation (to the various parties), the respective district lists are viewed as a federal list and the 50 seats are divided between them using the D'Hondt procedure . In the sub-allocation to the individual district lists, the seats that a party has won are divided among the 13 district lists using the Hare / Niemeyer method .

In Portugal , the 22 seats are allocated in a national constituency. There is no threshold clause. The D'Hondt procedure is used to allocate seats .

In Romania , the 33 seats are allocated in a national constituency. There are two threshold clauses: For political parties it is 5% of the valid votes, for independent candidates it is calculated by dividing the valid votes by the number of seats to be allocated. For the 2009 election results, this resulted in a blocking clause of 4,840,033 / 33 = 146,668 votes (approx. 2.9% of the votes). The D'Hondt procedure is used to allocate seats .

In Sweden the 20 seats are allocated in a national constituency. The threshold is 4% of the valid votes. The modified Sainte-Laguë procedure is used to allocate seats . A list candidate can optionally be ticked. If a candidate receives such a direct vote from at least 5% of the voters of the respective party, he will be considered first. If this applies to several, the higher number of direct votes decides.

In Slovakia , the 13 seats are allocated in a national constituency. The threshold clause is 5% of the valid votes. The quota procedure with droop quota and the allocation of remaining seats according to the largest remaining seats is used to allocate seats.

In Slovenia , the 8 seats are allocated in a national constituency. The threshold clause is 4%. The D'Hondt procedure is used to allocate seats .

In Spain , the 54 seats are allocated in a national constituency without a threshold clause. The D'Hondt procedure is used to allocate seats . Regional and other smaller parties usually present joint lists to increase their chances of getting a mandate. In some cases, agreements are made in advance that a won seat will rotate between the parties on a list during the legislative period .

In the Czech Republic , the 22 seats are allocated in a national constituency. The threshold clause is 5% of the valid votes. The D'Hondt procedure is used to allocate seats .

In Hungary the 22 seats are allocated in a national constituency. The threshold clause is 5% of the valid votes. The D'Hondt procedure is used to allocate seats .

In Cyprus , the 6 seats are allocated in a national constituency. The threshold clause is formally 1.8% of the valid votes; In fact, due to the low number of mandates, a significantly better election result is necessary to win a seat at all. The Hare / Niemeyer procedure with a rounded Hare quota is used for the allocation of seats . ${\ displaystyle HQ3 = \ left \ lfloor {\ frac {\ text {eligible votes}} {\ text {number of seats}}} \ right \ rfloor}$

In the United Kingdom , the election in Great Britain took place since 1999 as a proportional representation in the D'Hondt procedure in eleven constituencies, corresponding to the nine English regions ( East of England , East Midlands , Greater London , North East England , North West England , South East England , South West England (including Gibraltar ), West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber ) and Scotland and Wales . Until 1994 , the election took place as a majority vote in 78 (1994: 84) constituencies. In Northern Ireland , the procedure of transferable individual voting (preferential voting system) was always used.

### Possibility of double voting

Zeit editor-in-chief Giovanni di Lorenzo admitted in the ARD discussion program Günther Jauch on the day of the 2014 European elections that he had voted twice: once in a Hamburg elementary school and once in the Italian consulate. This was possible because, in addition to German citizenship, he also has Italian citizenship, i.e. two EU states (so-called dual citizens). More than a million dual nationals live in Germany. This double voting ispunishablein Germany according to § 107a (1) of the Criminal Code, but a check is in fact not possible due to a lack of data comparison between the member states of the EU. At the end of September 2014, Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière (CDU)therefore metwith the Federal Returning Officer and the State Returning Officers in Wiesbaden to discuss measures that could be implemented by the national state, with the aim of preventing double voting in future elections.

## History and meaning of the European elections

When the European Communities were founded , the European Parliament (then known as the Parliamentary Assembly ) had hardly any competences. According to Article 138, Paragraph 1 of the EEC Treaty, the MEPs were “appointed by the parliaments from among their number according to a procedure determined by each member state”, so they were also national parliamentarians. However, Article 138 (3) of the EEC Treaty already provided for the possibility of a general European election; he said the Assembly should prepare “draft general direct elections according to a uniform procedure in all member states”, which should then be adopted unanimously by the Council of Ministers and ratified by the member states. This project, which was never fully implemented, essentially already corresponded to today's Art. 223 TFEU .

It was not until 1976 - after the first enlargement of the Communities and in the midst of the euro sclerosis -Crisis - succeeded to the European Council gathered heads of state and government of the member states to agree on the Direktwahlakt. This envisaged the introduction of European elections, albeit initially according to national regulations. Although the European Parliament received no additional powers through the act of direct elections, the first European elections in 1979 were seen as an important symbolic sign. Parliament's newly won democratic legitimacy led to an increased self-confidence of the members of parliament, which was reflected, for example, in the parliament's draft for a European constitution , which was adopted in 1984 on the initiative of Altiero Spinelli . Strengthening the powers of parliament was now seen as the best way to reduce the European democratic deficit.

The real powerlessness of Parliament, however, quickly led to the European elections in the various member states being viewed as “second-tier” elections. Instead of European issues, the election campaign mostly focused on national issues, and in the 1984 European elections many voters used the European elections to punish their respective national governments. The pan-European voter turnout fell from election to election until the 2009 European elections and was lower than the elections to the national parliament in almost all countries. In some Member States, populist or extremist groups that won seats in the European Parliament also benefited from this low turnout.

The EU treaty reforms since the 1990s (in particular the Maastricht Treaty in 1992), through which Parliament gained significantly more powers than the other EU institutions, did nothing to change the trend of falling voter turnout and the dominance of national issues in the election campaign. The European political parties tried to counteract this development by formulating joint Europe-wide election programs . The European Green Party led the way in the 2004 European elections ; in the 2009 European elections , almost all other European parties followed suit. However, even these election programs received little public attention.

The top candidates of the European party families in the TV duel for the 2019 European elections in the converted Strasbourg plenary hall

The main structural reasons for this are seen to be the lack of transnational lists and top candidates that would enable the elections to be personalized across Europe . The background to this is the comparatively low influence of the European Parliament on the formation of the European executive : while heads of government at national level are mostly elected by parliament, the President of the European Commission is nominated by the European Council , i.e. the heads of state and government of the member states, and by the European Parliament only confirmed. However, here too the influence of the European Parliament increased: the European Council must meanwhile “take into account” the results of the previous European elections when proposing the presidential candidate under Article 17 (7) of the EU Treaty ; Usually, therefore, the President of the Commission belongs to the European party that has the strongest political group in Parliament . In the run-up to the European elections in 2009 there was therefore a campaign by the European Movement and the Union of European Federalists , among others , who urged that the European parties should put various candidates up for debate during the election campaign.

A fundamental change in the electoral system, through which all or some of the MEPs would no longer be elected from national but from Europe-wide lists, was repeatedly discussed. A corresponding proposal was introduced in 2008 by Andrew Duff , the European Parliament's rapporteur on electoral reform, and passed on April 19, 2011 by the Committee on Constitutional Affairs . It provides for the introduction of transnational European electoral lists for which every European party or parliamentary group in the European Parliament can propose 25 candidates. The European Parliament would now have 751 members elected from the national lists and an additional 25 members elected from the transnational lists. Such a reform would, however, require an amendment to the EU Treaty and would therefore have to be ratified by all EU member states.

With the European elections in 2014 , the changes from the Lisbon Treaty regarding the role and relevance of the European Parliament came into play: the powers of the directly elected body in the European Union were strengthened. As a result, the European elections are also gaining in importance as a political event to legitimize the European Parliament. As a result, a central argument of the by-choice thesis is invalidated. This attributes the low turnout in European elections to the fact that voters attach little importance to the European Parliament and, consequently, to their vote. Despite the new regulation, the participation rate in the 2014 election hardly increased.

### Development of voter turnout

While the pan-European voter turnout fell continuously up to the 2009 European elections , it fluctuated very significantly between the individual member states. It is high in Belgium and Luxembourg , where voting is compulsory , but also in Italy and Malta , for example . A particularly low turnout however, there is usually in the United Kingdom as well as in more of in the EU enlargement in 2004 newly acceded Central and Eastern Europe .

The following table shows the development of voter turnout in European elections in the individual countries, in each case as a percentage of the eligible voters.

Election year total DE AT FR BE IT LU NL DK IE UK GR IT PT SE FI CZ EE CY LV LT HU MT PL SI SK BG RO MR
1979 63.0 65.7 - 60.7 91.4 84.9 88.9 57.8 47.8 63.6 32.2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1984 61.0 56.8 - 56.7 92.2 83.4 88.8 50.6 52.4 47.6 32.6 77.2 68.9
(1987)
72.4
(1987)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1989 58.5 62.3 - 48.7 90.7 81.5 87.4 47.2 46.2 68.3 36.2 79.9 54.6 51.2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1994 56.8 60.0 67.7
(1996)
52.7 90.7 74.8 88.5 35.6 52.9 44.0 36.4 71.2 59.1 35.5 41.6
(1995)
60.3
(1996)
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
1999 49.8 45.2 49.4 46.8 91.0 70.8 87.3 30.0 50.5 50.2 24.0 75.3 63.0 40.0 38.8 31.4 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2004 45.6 43.0 42.4 43.1 90.8 73.1 91.4 39.1 47.9 59.7 38.9 62.8 45.9 38.7 37.2 41.1 27.9 26.9 71.2 41.2 48.2 38.5 82.4 20.4 28.3 16.7 29.2
(2007)
29.5
(2007)
-
2009 43.0 43.3 46.0 40.7 90.4 65.1 90.8 36.8 59.5 57.6 34.7 52.6 46.0 36.8 45.5 40.3 28.2 43.9 59.4 53.7 21.0 36.3 78.8 24.5 28.3 19.6 39.0 27.7 20.8
(2013)
2014 42.6 48.1 45.4 42.4 89.6 57.2 85.6 37.3 56.3 52.4 35.6 60.0 43.8 33.7 51.1 39.1 18.2 36.5 44.0 30.2 47.3 29.0 74.8 23.8 24.6 13.1 35.8 32.4 25.2
2019 51.0 61.5 59.3 51.0 89.0 56.1 84.1 41.8 66.0 49.3 37.0 57.9 64.3 31.0 53.3 40.7 28.7 37.6 45.0 33.6 52.9 43.4 72.6 43.0 28.3 22.7 30.8 49.0 29.7

## Previous European elections

The following graphics list the results of the European Parliament elections since 1979.

1979 1984 1989 1994

A total of 410 seats

A total of 434 seats

A total of 518 seats

A total of 567 seats

1999 2004 2009 2014

A total of 626 seats

A total of 732 seats

A total of 736 seats

A total of 751 seats

2019

A total of 751 seats

The following table lists the distribution of the members of the European Parliament among the political groups (absolute numbers and percentages) since 1979, at the beginning and at the end of the legislative period.

Legislative
period
Communists /
Left
Socialists /
Social Democrats
Green Regional. liberal Christian Democrats /
Conservatives
conservative National
Cons. / Eurosceptic
Right-wing extremists Non-attached Total number
1979 -1984 COM SOZ CDI L. EPP ED EDA NI total
44 (10.7%) 113 (27.6%) 11 (2.7%) 40 (9.8%) 107 (26.1%) 64 (15.6%) 22 (5.4%) 09 (2.2%) 410
48 (11.1%) 124 (28.6%) 12 (2.8%) 38 (8.8%) 117 (27.0%) 63 (14.5%) 22 (5.1%) 10 (2.3%) 434
1984 -1989 COM SOZ RBW L. EPP ED RDE HE NI total
41 (9.4%) 130 (30.0%) 20 (4.6%) 31 (7.1%) 110 (25.3%) 50 (11.5%) 29 (6.7%) 16 (3.7%) 07 (1.6%) 434
48 (9.3%) 166 (32.0%) 20 (3.9%) LDR 45 (8.7%) 113 (21.8%) 66 (12.7%) 30 (5.8%) 16 (3.1%) 14 (2.7%) 518
1989 -1994 GUE CG SOZ V ARC LDR EPP ED RDE DR NI total
28 (5.4%) 14 (2.7%) 180 (34.7%) 30 (5.8%) 13 (2.5%) 49 (9.5%) 121 (23.4%) 34 (6.6%) 20 (3.9%) 17 (3.3%) 12 (2.3%) 518
13 (2.5%) SPE 198 (38.2%) 27 (5.2%) 14 (2.7%) 45 (8.7%) 162 (31.3%) 20 (3.9%) 12 (2.3%) 27 (5.2%) 518
1994 -1999 GUE SPE G ERA ELDR EPP / ED RDE FE EN NI total
28 (4.9%) 198 (34.9%) 23 (4.1%) 19 (3.4%) 44 (7.8%) 156 (27.5%) 26 (4.6%) 27 (4.8%) 19 (3.4%) 27 (4.8%) 567
GUE / NGL 34 (5.4%) 214 (34.2%) 27 (4.3%) 21 (3.4%) 42 (6.7%) 201 (32.1%) UFE 34 (5.4%) I-EN 15 (2.4%) 38 (6.1%) 626
1999 -2004 GUE / NGL SPE Greens / EFA ELDR EPP / ED UEN EDD TDI NI total
42 (6.7%) 180 (28.8%) 48 (7.7%) 50 (8.0%) 233 (37.2%) 30 (4.8%) 16 (2.6%) 18 (2.9%) 09 (1.4%) 626
55 (7.0%) 232 (29.4%) 47 (6.0%) 67 (8.5%) 295 (37.4%) 30 (3.8%) 18 (2.3%) 44 (5.6%) 788
2004 -2009 GUE / NGL SPE Greens / EFA ALDE EPP / ED UEN IND / DEM ITS 1 NI total
41 (5.6%) 200 (27.3%) 42 (5.8%) 088 (12.0%) 268 (36.7%) 27 (3.7%) 37 (5.1%) 29 (4.0%) 732
41 (5.2%) 217 (27.6%) 43 (5.5%) 100 (12.7%) 288 (36.7%) 44 (5.6%) 22 (2.8%) 30 (3.8%) 785
2009 -2014 GUE / NGL S&D Greens / EFA ALDE EPP ECR EVS NI total
35 (4.8%) 184 (25.0%) 55 (7.5%) 84 (11.4%) 265 (36.0%) 55 (7.5%) 32 (4.4%) 27 (3.7%) 736
35 (4.6%) 195 (25.5%) 58 (7.3%) 83 (10.8%) 274 (35.8%) 57 (7.4%) 31 (4.0%) 33 (4.3%) 766
2014 -2019 GUE / NGL S&D Greens / EFA ALDE EPP ECR EFDD 2 ENF NI total
52 (6.9%) 191 (25.4%) 50 (6.7%) 67 (8.9%) 221 (29.4%) 70 ( 09.3%) 48 (6.4%) 52 (6.9%) 751
52 (6.9%) 187 (24.9%) 52 (6.9%) 69 (9.2%) 216 (28.8%) 77 (10.3%) 42 (5.6%) 36 (4.8%) 20 (2.7%) 751
since 2019 GUE / NGL S&D Greens / EFA RE EPP ECR ID NI total
41 (5.5%) 154 (20.5%) 75 (10.0%) 108 (14.4%) 182 (24.2%) 62 (8.3%) 73 0(9.7%) 56 (7.5%) 751
39 (5.6%) 146 (21.0%) 68 0(9.6%) 98 (13.4%) 187 (26.5%) 62 (8.7%) 76 (10.8%) 29 (4.1%) 705
1 The identity, tradition, sovereignty group existed between January 2007 and November 2007 and consisted of 20 to 23 members.
2 The Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy Group was dissolved on October 16, 2014 and re-established on October 20.

### Previous European elections in Germany

CDU CSU SPD FDP Green Left P AfD Other Seats Participation
1979 39.1% 32 + 2 B 10.1% 8th 40.8% 34 + 1 B 6.0% 4th 3.2% - - - 0.8% - 78 + 3 B 65.7%
1984 37.5% 32 + 2 B 8.5% 7th 37.4% 32 + 1 B 4.8% - 8.2% 7th - - 3.7% - 78 + 3 B 56.8%
1989 29.5% 24 + 1 B 8.2% 7th 37.1% 30 + 1 B 5.6% 4th 8.4% 7 + 1 B - - 10.8% 6 R 78 + 3 B 62.3%
1994 32.0% 39 6.8% 8th 32.2% 40 4.1% - 10.1% 12 4.7% - - 10.2% - 99 60.0%
1999 39.3% 43 9.4% 10 30.7% 33 3.0% - 6.4% 7th 5.8% 6th - 5.4% - 99 45.2%
2004 36.5% 40 8.0% 9 21.5% 23 6.1% 7th 11.9% 13 6.1% 7th - 9.8% - 99 43.0%
2009 30.7% 34 7.2% 8th 20.8% 23 11.0% 12 12.1% 14th 7.5% 8th - 10.7% - 99 43.3%
2014 30.0% 29 5.4% 5 27.3% 27 3.4% 3 10.7% 11 7.4% 7th 7.1% 7th 8.7% 7 A 96 48.0%
2019 22.6% 23 6.3% 6th 15.8% 16 5.4% 5 20.5% 21st 5.5% 5 11.0% 11 12.9% 9 D 96 61.4%
P1994 to 2004 PDS
R.1989 Six MPs from the REP party
D.2019 Two seats each for Free Voters and Die PARTTEI , one seat each for Pirates , Animal Welfare Party , Family , ÖDP and Volt
B.Three more members were appointed by the West Berlin House of Representatives
A.Depending on a seat for FDP , pirate , animal welfare party , NPD , family , ODP , The PARTY

### Previous European elections in Austria

ÖVP SPÖ MARTIN FPÖ Green NEOS N Other Seats Participation
1996 B. 29.7% 7th 29.2% 6th - 27.5% 6th 6.8% 1 4.3% 1 2.1% - 21st 67.2%
1999 30.7% 7th 31.7% 7th - 23.4% 5 9.3% 2 2.7% - 1.5% - 21st 49.4%
2004 32.7% 6th 33.3% 7th 14.0% 2 6.3% 1 12.9% 2 - 0.8% - 18th 42.4%
2009 30.0% 6th 23.7% 4 + 1 L 17.7% 3 12.7% 2 9.9% 2 0.7% - 5.3% 0 + 1 z 17 + 2 L 46.0%
2014 27.0% 5 24.1% 5 - 19.7% 4th 14.5% 3 8.1% 1 6.6% - 18th 45.4%
2019 34.6% 7th 23.9% 5 - 17.2% 3 14.1% 2 + 1 X 8.4% 1 1.8% - 18 + 1 X 59.8%
B. By-election to the European Parliament after joining in 1996
L.Two more seats after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty
ZOne seat after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty for the BZÖ
X One seat after the UK left the EU

## literature

• Andreas M. Wüst, Markus Thousand Pounds: 30 Years of European Elections . In: APuZ 23–24 / 2009, pp. 3–9.
• Jürgen Wilke, Christian Schäfer, Melanie Leidecker 2011: With small steps out of the shadows: main and secondary election campaigns in daily newspapers using the example of the Bundestag and European elections 1979–2009. In: Jens Tenscher (ed.): Super election year 2009. Comparative analyzes on the occasion of the elections to the German Bundestag and the European Parliament. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2011, pp. 155–179.

Commons : European elections  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: European elections  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wikinews: European elections  - in the news

## Individual evidence

1. https://www.bundeswahlleiter.de/europawahlen/2019.html
2. http://www.kleinezeitung.at/k/politik/aussenpolitik/4864912/Europawahlen_Europaparlament-will-EUweites-Wahlrecht-bereits-2019
3. http://www.euractiv.de/sections/eu-innenpolitik/eu-parlament-uneins-ueber-reform-des-eu-wahlrechts-319461
4. EurActiv.de: EU electoral reform postponed: "Embarrassment for Parliament" ( Memento from January 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
5. ^ EU suffrage: Council adopts new rules
6. a b Parliament resolution: Malta reduces voting age to 16 years . ( Online [accessed October 19, 2018]).
7. Der Standard , June 5, 2009: The Netherlands published EU election results too early.
8. European elections in Great Britain: EU citizens prevented from voting. Retrieved May 25, 2019 .
9. Lisa O'Carroll Brexit correspondent: EU citizens denied vote in European elections to sue UK government . In: The Guardian . May 25, 2019, ISSN  0261-3077 ( online [accessed May 25, 2019]).
10. Direct election act - resolution and act to introduce general direct elections for members of the European Parliament of September 20, 1976 ( Federal Law Gazette 1977 II p. 733 ), last amended by the Council's resolution of June 25, 2002 and September 23, 2002 ( Federal Law Gazette. 2003 II p. 810 ; BGBl. 2004 II p. 520 ). In: bundeswahlleiter.de . The Federal Returning Officer, accessed and received on May 8, 2017 (PDF document; 82.80 KiB).
11. a b electoral systems abroad. European electoral law. Electoral systems in the EU member states. Overview of the national suffrage for the European elections 2019. In: Wahlrecht.de. Wilko Zicht, January 27, 2019, accessed on February 3, 2019 .
12. http://www.vie-publique.fr/actualite/faq-citoyens/faq-europeennes-2014/#art11036
13. See Article 1 in Law number 2018-509 of June 25, 2018 relative à l'élection des représentants au Parlement européen ( https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/eli/loi/2018/6/25/INTX1733825L/ jo / texte ); Article 4 in law number 77-729 of 7 July 1977 relative à l'élection des représentants au Parlement européen ( https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=LEGITEXT000006068600 ) changes to:
La République forms une circonscription unique.
14. European Election Regulations (EuWO) , accessed and received on May 21, 2017.
15. Press release of the Federal Constitutional Court
16. Report to tagesschau.de
17. Helmut Stoltenberg: Three percent hurdle in European elections. In: The Parliament . Federal Agency for Civic Education , 2013, accessed on June 11, 2019 .
18. BVerfG, 2 BvE 2/13 of February 26, 2014
19. Tagesschau.de Karlsruhe overturns the three percent hurdle
20. Law on the Legal Relationships of Members of the European Parliament from the Federal Republic of Germany (European Parliament Act - EuAbgG) , accessed and received on May 21, 2017.
21. Article 3 (1). In: Decision 2018/937 of the European Council of 28 June 2018 on the composition of the European Parliament , accessed on 28 February 2019
22. a b Koninklijk besluit tot vaststelling van het aantal zetels dat toegekend wordt aan het Nederlandse kiescollege en het Franse kiescollege voor deverkiezing van het Europees Parlement [Royal decree determining the number of seats that the Dutch electoral college and the French electoral college of the European Parliament], Article 1 - Decree with the NUMAC no. 2013000472 of July 6, 2013 (in Dutch). Accessed February 14, 2019.
23. Article 10, § 5 of the law on the election of the European Parliament with the NUMAC no. 1989000145 of March 23, 1989 (in German). Accessed February 15, 2019.
24. EU suffrage: “Only one vote for dual nationals” sueddeutsche.de, September 30, 2014
25. MEP: “Comprehensive” electoral reform until 2014 “urgently needed” (DE). In: Euractiv . EURACTIV Germany, October 13, 2008, accessed June 21, 2019 .
26. ^ Draft report. (PDF; 300 kB) on a proposal to amend the Act of September 20, 1976 introducing direct universal elections for members of the European Parliament (2009/2134 (INI)). In: Committee on Constitutional Affairs. May 11, 2010, accessed June 21, 2019 .
27. EUobserver , April 19, 2011: Call for Europeans to elect 25 MEPs from EU-wide list (English).
28. Reform of the electoral law: Parliament should become more European ( Memento of the original from April 26, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
29. Federal Agency for Civic Education: Interest and attitudes of the population. 2014 European elections dossier
30. Previous elections. In: The Parliament. Retrieved July 9, 2019 .
31. Previous elections. In: The Parliament. Retrieved July 9, 2019 .