The 1999 European Parliament election was a European election for all 626 members of the European Parliament held across the 15 European Union member states on 10, 11 and 13 June 1999. The voter turn-out was generally low, except in Belgium and Luxembourg, where voting is compulsory and where national elections were held that same day. This was the first election where Austria, Finland and Sweden voted alongside the other member states, having joined in 1995 and voted separately. The next election was held in 2004.
Final results European Parliament election, 1999 - Final results at 20 July 1999GroupDescriptionChaired byMEPs EPP-EDConservatives and Christian DemocratsHans-Gert Pöttering233 PESSocial DemocratsEnrique Barón Crespo180 ELDRLiberals and Liberal DemocratsPat Cox50 G–EFAGreens and RegionalistsHeidi HautalaPaul Lannoye48 EUL–NGLCommunists and the Far leftFrancis Wurtz42 UENNational ConservativesCharles Pasqua31 EDD EuroscepticsJens-Peter Bonde16 TGIMixedFrancesco Speroni18 NIIndependents and Far rightnone8Total: 626Sources:
Results by country The national results as at 13 June 1999 are as follows:
GroupNationEPP-EDPESELDRGreens-ALEGUE-NGLUENEDDNITotalAustria7 ÖVP 30,7%7 SPÖ 31,7%2 GRÜNEN 9,3%5 FPÖ 23,4%21Belgium3 CVP 13,5% 1 PSC 5,2% 1 CSP 0,1%3 PS 9,7% 2 SP 8,8%3 VLD 13,6% 2 PRL 10,2%1 FDF3 ECOLO 8,6% 2 AGALEV 7,5% 2 VU 7,6%2 VB 9,4%25Denmark 1 KF 8,5% 3 S 16,5% 5 V 23,4% 1 B 9,1% 1 SF 7,1% 1 DF 5,8% 3 JB 16,1% 1 N 7,3% 16Finland4 KOK 25,3% 1 SKL 2,4%3 SDP 17,9%4 KESK 21,3% 1 SF 6,8%2 Vihr. 13,4%1 Vasem. 9,1%15France12 RPR 12,8% 9 UDF 9,3%22 PS 22,0%9 Verts 9,7%6 PCF 6,8% 5 LO-LCR 5,2%13 RPF 13,1%6 CPNT 6,8%5 FN 5,7%87Germany43 CDU 39,3%10 CSU 9,4%33 SPD 30,7%7 Greens 6,4%6 PDS 5,8%99Greece9 ND 36,0%9 PASOK 32,9%3 KKE 8,7% 2 DIKKI 6,9% 2 Synaspismos 5,2%25Ireland4 FG 24,6% 1 Ind.1 Lab 8,7%1 Ind.2 GP 6,7%6 FF 38,6%15Italy22 FI 25,2% 4 PPI 4,53% 2 CCD 2,6% 2 CDU 2,2% 1 UDEUR 1,6% 1 PP 0,8% 1 RI 1,1% 1 SVP 0,5%15 DS 17,4% 2 SDI 2,2%6 DEM 7,7% 1 PRI 0,5%2 FdV 1,8%4 PRC 4,3% 2 PdCI 2,0%9 AN–PS 10,3%7 LB 8,5% 4 LN 4,5% 1 FT 1,6%87Luxembourg2 CSV 31,7%2 LSAP 23,6%1 DP 20,5%1 Gréng 10,7%6Netherlands9 CDA 26,9%6 PvdA 20,1%6 VVD19,7% 2 D66 5,8%4 GL 11,9%1 SP 5,0%3 SGP-GPV-RPF 8,7%31Portugal9 PSD 32,14%12 PS 44,55%2 CDU (PCP) 10,7%2 PP 8,4%25Spain27 PP 40,4% 1 CiU (UDC)24 PSOE 35,9%2 CiU (CDC) 1 CE: CC1 CN (EA) 1 CN (PNV) 1 CE (PA) 1 BNG 1,7%4 IU 5,9%1 EH 1,5%63Sweden 5 M 20,8% 2 KD 7,6% 6 S 26,0% 3 FP 13,8% 1 C 6,0% 2 MP 9,5% 3 V 15,8% 22United Kingdom 36 CON 33,5% 1 UUP 1,1% 29 LAB 26,3% 1 SDLP 1,8% 10 LD 11,9% 2 GPEW 5,9%2 SNP 2,5% 2 PC 1,7% 3 UKIP 6,5%1 DUP 1,8%87Total233180504842311626626GroupPPEPSEELDRGreens-ALEGUE-NGLUENEDDNI
Results by group
Communists/Far Left The EUL/NGL group picked up one seat in the election and seven in the subsequent regrouping, raising its total from 34 to 42.
Social Democrats The PES group did badly, losing 34 of its seats in the election and slipping to the second-biggest group.
Liberals/Liberal Democrats The ELDR group did moderately well, picking up one seat in the election and seven in the regrouping, giving a total of 50 seats and retaining its place as the third biggest group. The European Radical Alliance (ERA) were not so fortunate and slipped badly, losing eight of its 21 members in the election.
Conservatives/Christian Democrats The EPP group did well, picking up 23 seats in the election and nine in the regrouping, giving a total of 233 seats and overtaking the left to become the biggest group. To placate the increasingly eurosceptic British Conservatives, the group was renamed "EPP-ED" for the new Parliament, partly resurrecting the name of the former European Democrat group which was mergedhttp://66.249.91.104/translate_c?hl=en&u=http://www.europe-politique.eu/democrates-europeens.htm with the EPP in 1992.
National Conservatives The Union for Europe (UFE) group slipped during the election and lost 17 seats. The group splithttp://66.249.91.104/translate_c?hl=en&u=http://www.europe-politique.eu/rassemblement-des-democrates-europeens.htm during the regrouping, with Ireland's Fianna Fáil and Portugal's CDS/PP forming a new group called "Union for Europe of the Nations". UEN started the Fifth Parliament with 31 MEPs.
Far-Right Nationalists No explicitly far-right group per se was in existence immediately before or after the election. All far-right MEPs that were elected sat as Independents (see below).
Greens/Regionalists The Green Group solidified its position, picking up 11 seats in the election to give it 38 MEPs. The European Free Alliance members of the ERA joined with the Green Group to createhttp://66.249.91.104/translate_c?hl=en&u=http://www.europe-politique.eu/groupe-arc-en-ciel.htm the Greens/EFA group, which started the Fifth Parliament with 48 MEPs.
Eurosceptics The I-EN group trod water, gaining six members in the election but losing five in the regrouping, leaving it with 16 members. The group was renamedhttp://66.249.91.104/translate_c?hl=en&u=http://www.europe-politique.eu/groupe-independance-democratie.htm "Europe of Democracies and Diversities" (EDD) for the new Parliament.
Independents The Non-Inscrits did badly, losing 20 MEPs to the election. Disparate members (two from Belgium, five from France and eleven from Italy) tried to gain Group privilege by creating a group called the "Technical Group of Independent Members" (full title "Group for the technical co-ordination of groups and the defence of independent members", abbreviated to "TGI" or "TDI"). The attempt initially succeeded, with the group allowed to start the Fifth Parliament until the legal position could be checked. In September, the Constitutional Affairs Committee ruled that they lacked a coherent position ("political affinity", the basis for forming a group) and were disbanded - the only group ever to be forcibly dissolved. The TGI members returned to the Non-Inscrits, increasing their number to 27.
See also Members of the European Parliament 1999–2004
Statistics European Parliament election, 1999 - StatisticsAreaEuropean Union (EU-15)SourcesDates Thursday 10 June: Netherlands, United Kingdom, Denmark Friday 11 June: Ireland Sunday 13 June: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, SwedenSeats626Candidatesover 10,000Electorate288 millionTurnout49.8%Previous1994 European Parliament electionn/aNext2004 European Parliament electionn/aElection methodsAll proportional representation. 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 Cutoff? 5%: France, Germany 4%: Austria, Sweden 3%: Greece none: the restSeat 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 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 restMinimum voting age18 European Parliament election, 1999 - TimelineFourth Parliament 1999 Election Regrouping Fifth ParliamentGroups Pre-electionsMay 5 Change ResultsJune 13 Change ResultsJuly 20 NewGroupsFirstsessionJuly 20Break upof TGISept 13NewGroupsNewsessionSept 13 EPP 201 +23 224 +9 233 EPP-ED 233 +0 EPP-ED 233 PES 214 -34 180 +0 180 PES 180 +0 PES 180 ELDR 42 +1 43 +7 50 ELDR 50 +0 ELDR 50 ERA 21 -8 13 -348 G/EFA48 +0 G/EFA48 G 27 +11 38 EUL-NGL 34 +1 35 +7 42 EUL-NGL 42 +0 EUL-NGL 42 I-EN 15 +6 21 -5 16 EDD 16 +0 EDD 16 NI 38 -20 18 -10 8 NI 8 +19 NI 27 Others 0 +37 37 -19 18 TGI 18 -18 UFE 34 -17 17 +14 31 UEN 31 -1 UEN 30Total 626 0 626 0 626Total 626 0Total 626Sources: European Parliament election, 1999 - Delegation at 20 July 1999GroupDescriptionDetails%MEPs EPP-EDConservatives and christian democratsGermany 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 537%233 PESSocial democratsGermany 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 629%180 ELDRLiberals and liberal democratsBelgium 5, Denmark 6, Ireland 1, Italy 7, Luxembourg 1, Netherlands 8, UK 10, Spain 3, Finland 5, Sweden 48%50 G/EFAGreens and regionalistsGermany 7, Belgium 7, France 9, Ireland 2, Italy 2, Luxembourg 1, Netherlands 4, UK 6, Spain 4, Austria 2, Finland 2, Sweden 28%48 EUL/NGLLeft-wing groupGermany 6, Denmark 1, France 11, Italy 6, Netherlands 1, Greece 7, Spain 4, Portugal 2, Finland 1, Sweden 37%42 UENNational conservativesDenmark 1, France 13, Ireland 6, Italy 9, Portugal 25%31 NI & TGIIndependentsBelgium 2, France 5, Italy 12, UK 1, Spain 1, Austria 54%26 (18+8) EDDEuroscepticsDenmark 4, France 6, Netherlands 3, UK 33%16Sources: 100%626
References
External links European Election Studies www.europeanelectionstudies.net Outgoing parliament as of January 1999 (also includes June 1994) Outgoing parliament as of May 4th 1999 (last session of Fourth Parliament): source 1 Outgoing parliament as of May 4th 1999 (last session of Fourth Parliament): source 2 Election results as of June 13 1999, before regrouping Incoming parliament as of July 20th 1999 (first session of Fifth Parliament. Includes TGI a.k.a. TDI) Incoming parliament as of September 13 1999 (after TGI was forcibly dissolved)