The 2009 European Parliament election was 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.
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 Kingdom (including Gibraltar), Netherlands (including Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles)Telegraaf.nl 1500 votes on the Antilles Friday 5 June: Ireland, Czech Republic (day 1) Saturday 6 June: Cyprus, France (for part of Outre-mer),In the order of the time zones: Saint Pierre and Miquelon, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, French Polynesia Italy (day 1), Latvia, Malta, Slovakia, Czech Republic (day 2) Sunday 7 June: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy (day 2), Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden
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-elections in Ireland, in Dublin Central and Dublin South); regional elections in Belgium; and a referendum on reforming the monarchical rules of succession in Denmark that would give women the same rights through equal primogeniture.
This was the first European Parliament election in which Bulgaria and Romania participated at the same time as the other member states. When those countries joined the EU in 2007, they held elections for MEPs outside the normal electoral calendar.
Opinion polls A poll sampling nineteen national polls predicted the following results: EPP 265 seats, PES 195, ALDE 95, GUE–NGL 40, Greens-EFA 35, UEN 35. 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.
Apportionment of seats
At the previous election 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. Were the Lisbon Treaty to be subsequently ratified, it was planned to give in advance, prior to the next elections, the additional seats to the countries that were to see an increase in representation under the provisions of Lisbon; this would bring the number of MEPs to 754 for a transitional period until 2014.Europa.eu, EP Press Release 16 December 2008
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 entered into force (which did not happen either), but only to become full members of parliament if an additional protocol were ratified. The latter was to require a decision by the European Council.
Member state20072009ChangeGermany9999±0Czech Republic2422−2Slovakia1413−1France7872−6Greece2422−2Ireland1312−1Italy7872−6Hungary2422−2Lithuania1312−1United Kingdom†7872−6Portugal2422−2Latvia98−1Spain5450−4Sweden1918−1Slovenia77±0Poland5450−4Austria1817−1Cyprus66±0Romania3533−2Bulgaria1817−1Estonia66±0Netherlands2725−2Finland1413−1Luxembourg66±0Belgium2422−2Denmark1413−1Malta55±0Total:785736−49 † – Includes Gibraltar, but not any of the other overseas territories or Crown dependencies.Italicised countries are divided into sub-national constituencies.
Sources: Institutions: EP , Const. changes, Protocol 34.
Campaign
Many of the national parties running in the election are affiliated to European political parties. These pan-European parties included the 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.history of the European Green Party at europeangreens.org New parties that aspired 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 Commissioners were to 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 run but ultimately did not, instead seeking to become the new chairman of his party.
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 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.EU wants to dress up 2009 elections on TV, EUobserver.com Accessed 26 February 2007
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.FAQ's on Parliament's election campaign , Europarl-Website
Role of the Treaty of Lisbon It had initially been foreseen that the Treaty of Lisbon 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 No vote in the referendum in Ireland, the framework established by the Treaty of Nice was again used. The number of MEPs returned under the Nice rules was 736; this number would have increased to 751 if the Lisbon rules were in force.
A further change that Lisbon would have introduced was an increase in the powers of the 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;Size shouldn't matter commentisfree.guardian.co.uk 10 January 2007 with leaders now linking the post to elections and that convention having been enshrined in the Constitution, further encouraging the possibility.Too much champagne, not enough leadership opendemocracy.net 10 July 2003
In 2007, it emerged that the then-Commission President José Manuel Barroso would likely seek a second term,European politics to get more political, EU Observer 27 June 2007 which he confirmed on 19 July 2008, and subsequently received the backing of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. In beginning to formalise the emerging party-political nature of the office, the centre-right People's Party backed Barroso as their candidate in early 2009. The centre-left socialists opposed the endorsement, but did not put forward their own formal candidate.EU Socialists disagree with early choice of commission chief, EU Observer
Results The national results as of 8 June 2009 are as follows. (based on predictions, to be confirmed)
Full members 736 members with full voting rights (the groups used are the groups they had been associated with directly prior to the elections):