European elections 1999
| European elections 1999 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Distribution of seats by parliamentary group on July 23, 1999 |
||||
| EPP-ED | Christian Democrats, Conservatives | 233 | +32 | |
| SPE | Social Democrats, Socialists | 180 | -34 | |
| ELDR | liberal | 50 | - 8 | |
| Greens / EFA | Greens, regional lists | 48 | ± 0 | |
| VEL / NGL | Leftists, socialists, communists | 42 | - 8 | |
| UEN | National Conservatives | 30th | New | |
| TDI | Various | 18th | New | |
| EDU | EU skeptics | 16 | New | |
| Non-attached | 9 | -29 | ||
| total | 626 | ± 0 | ||
The 1999 European elections were the fifth direct election to the European Parliament and the first after Austria , Finland and Sweden joined the European Community ( expansion to 15 EU states ). The European elections took place from June 10th to 13th. Voter turnout was generally low, except in Belgium and Luxembourg , where national elections were held simultaneously and voting was compulsory .
For the first time since direct parliamentary elections were introduced, the Christian Democratic and Conservative European People's Party and European Democrats became the strongest group ahead of the Social Democrats .
Distribution of seats
The following table shows the distribution of seats on July 23, 1999, three days after the constitution:
| country |
 AT
|
 BE
|
 DE
|
 DK
|
 IT
|
 FI
|
 FR
|
 GR
|
 IE
|
 IT
|
 LU
|
 NL
|
 PT
|
 SE
|
 UK
|
 total
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| fraction | |||||||||||||||||
| EPP-ED | European People's Party and European Democrats | 7th | 6th | 53 | 1 | 28 | 5 | 21st | 9 | 5 | 34 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 7th | 37 | 233 |
| SPE | European Social Democratic Party | 7th | 5 | 33 | 3 | 24 | 3 | 22nd | 9 | 1 | 17th | 2 | 6th | 12 | 6th | 30th | 180 |
| ELDR | European Liberal, Democratic and Reform Party | 5 | 6th | 3 | 5 | 1 | 7th | 1 | 8th | 4th | 10 | 50 | |||||
| Greens / EFA | The Greens / European Free Alliance | 2 | 7th | 7th | 4th | 2 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4th | 2 | 6th | 48 | |||
| VEL / NGL | European United Left / Nordic Green Left | 6th | 1 | 4th | 1 | 11 | 7th | 6th | 1 | 2 | 3 | 42 | |||||
| UEN | Union for a Europe of Nations | 1 | 12 | 6th | 9 | 2 | 30th | ||||||||||
| TDI | Technical Group of Independent MEPs | 2 | 5 | 11 | 18th | ||||||||||||
| EDU | Europe of democracies and differences | 4th | 6th | 3 | 3 | 16 | |||||||||||
| NI | Non-attached MPs | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | ||||||||||
| Total | 21st | 25th | 99 | 16 | 64 | 16 | 87 | 25th | 15th | 87 | 6th | 31 | 25th | 22nd | 87 | 626 | |
When Parliament was constituted on July 20, 1999, the Technical Group of Independent Members (TDI) still had 29 members and the Union for a Europe of Nations (UEN) still had 21 members. One day later, the nine members of the Alleanza Nazionale switched from TDI to UEN. The next day, the member of the Euskal Herritarrok and a member of the Lega Nord left the TDI and remained non-attached.
New factions
After Forza Italia had switched from the Union for Europe (UfE) group to the EPP group before the election and the French Rassemblement pour la République also moved from the UfE to the EPP after the election, the political groups on the right of the EPP were reorganized . The Union for Europe of Nations (UEN) comprised the French Rassemblement pour la France (previously Group of Independents for Europe of Nations , I / EN) and the remaining members of the UfE. The Europe of Democracies and Differences (EDU) Group comprised the rest of the I / EN MPs and newly elected parties such as the French Hunters Party CPNT and the UK Independence Party .
In addition, the Technical Group of Independent MPs was formed , in which both right-wing extremist parties such as the French Front National (previously non-attached) and radical liberals such as the Emma Bonino List (previously Group of the European Radical Alliance ) came together. The parliamentary group was dissolved during the legislative period due to "lack of political affiliation".
The Group of the Greens accepted the member parties of the regionalist European Free Alliance (EFA, previously the Group of the Radical European Alliance) and renamed itself The Greens / European Free Alliance .
Individual national elections
Denmark
In Denmark, the Conservative People's Party (EPP-ED) lost two seats. The Danish People's Party (UEN) entered the European Parliament for the first time. As in 1994, the strongest party was the liberal Venstre (ELDR).
Germany
In Germany, the opposition union parties CDU and CSU (EPP-ED) were able to gain almost 10 percent and thus achieved almost an absolute majority of the votes. For the first time, the Party of Democratic Socialism (VEL / NGL) jumped over the threshold of 5%.
France
The French Socialists (PES) lost seven percent, but remained the strongest party. The entry into parliament of the Greens (Greens / EFA), two communist lists (both VEL / NGL) and the right-wing conservative Chasse, pêche, nature et traditions (CPNT, "Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Traditions", EDU parliamentary group) was remarkable .
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, proportional representation was used in regional constituencies for the first time in a national election . In Northern Ireland, an electoral system as previously with transferable vote used.
The ruling Labor Party (PES) lost more than half of its seats. The Conservatives (EPP-ED), on the other hand, were able to double their number of seats. The Liberal Democrats (ELDR), who won ten instead of two seats before, as well as the UK Independence Party (EDU) and the Greens (Greens / EFA), who both entered the European Parliament for the first time with three and two members respectively, benefit from proportional representation .
See also
Web links
- Official final result of the European elections in 1999
- Official final result of the 1999 European elections in Germany
