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The provisional results of the European Parliament’s elections

The provisional results of the European Parliament’s elections, held on 23-26 May 2019 across the 28 EU Member States have been published, with the following seat projection released by the European Parliament...

The graphic illustrates the provisional results of the European Parliaments’s elections in two thousand and nineteen, shown as the number of seats in Parliament. From a total of seven hundred and fifty-one seats, one hundred and seventy-nine seats went to the European People’s Party (EPP), one hundred and fifty-three to the Socialist & Democrats (S&D), one hundred and six to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), seventy-five to the Greens/European Free Alliance, sixty-four to the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, fifty-eight to the ENF, fifty-four to the EFDD, thirty-eight to the European United Left - Nordic Green Left, fifteen to others and nine to non-attached members.
Source: 2019 European election results (https://www.election-results.eu)


This first political distribution and figures lead to the following observations:

  • With an average voter turnout exceeding 50% across Europe, the 2019 European elections see the highest participation since the first election in 1979. The graph below provides an overview of the turnout by country.
The graphic provides an overview of the voter turnout by country. Across the European Union, the turnout was fifty point nine fixe percent. Numbers for countries in alphabetical order as follows. Austria: fifty-nine point eight percent; Belgium: eighty-eight point four seven percent; Bulgaria: thirty-two point six four percent; Croatia: twenty-nine point eight six percent; Cyprus: forty-four point nine nine percent; Czechia: twenty-eight point seven two percent; Denmark: sixty-six percent; Estonia: thirty-seven point six percent; Finland: forty point seven percent; France: fifty point one two percent; Germany: sixty-one point four one percent; Greece: fifty-eight point seven six percent; Hungary: forty-three point three six percent; Ireland: forty-nine point seven percent; Italy: fifty-four point five percent; Latvia: thirty-three point five three percent; Lithuania: fifty-three point four eight percent; Luxembourg: eighty-four point one percent; Malta: seventy-two point seven percent; Netherlands: forty-one point nine three percent; Poland: forty-five point six eight percent; Portugal: thirty point seven three percent; Romania: fifty-one point zero seven percent; Slovakia: twenty-two point seven four percent; Slovenia: twenty-eight point eight nine percent; Spain: sixty-four point three percent; Sweden: fifty-two point two seven percent; United Kingdom: thirty-six point nine percent.
Source: 2019 European election results (https://www.election-results.eu)
  • Overall, despite significant results particularly in France and Italy, populist and extreme-right parties stay behind their expectations;
  • A pro-EU political majority in the European Parliament remains with 3 major political groups, namely the European People’s Party (EPP), the Socialist & Democrats (S&D) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE);
  • A Green breakthrough can be observed in many European countries, and particularly in Germany where the Green Party is the second political force with 20.5%. It remains to be seen, however, whether the Greens will be able to build a stable majority with the major political groups.

 

The next steps expected to shape the 9th term of the European Parliament

The newly elected MEPs will have until 24 June to negotiate the composition of their political groups. To form a political group in the European Parliament, parties need at least 25 MEPs coming from at least 7 different Member States. The inaugural plenary session of the newly-elected Parliament will take place on the 2 July.

In parallel, EU leaders met on 28 May 2019 to assess the results of the elections and exchange on the nomination of the European Commission’s College of Commissioners. It is still unclear whether the European Council will follow the Spitzenkandidaten process and, therefore, take into consideration the nominees brought up by the political groups to appoint the next President of the European Commission.

 

Overview of the upcoming key dates for the EU institutional changes

  • 7 June – End of mandate of Theresa May as UK Prime Minister.
  • 20 – 21 June – EU heads of states will adopt EU Strategic Agenda 2019-2024 and decide on top EU jobs, notably the President of the European Commission.
  • 24 June – Deadline for European political groups to notify their composition.
  • 2 July – Inaugural plenary session of the newly elected European Parliament and election of the President of the European Parliament.
  • Week of 15 July –First opportunity for the Parliament to elect the European Commission’s President.
  • September/October – European Parliament’s hearings of the designated Commissioners.
  • 31 October – End of mandate of the current European Commission and end of Brexit negotiating period (extension of Article 50).
  • October – November – The new European Commission is expected to take office.
  • 1 December – The new President of the European Council takes office.

 

Should you wish to have any further information on the European elections’ political implications, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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