An election of the Members of the European Parliament from Bulgaria to the European Parliament was held on 25 May 2014 as part of the larger European Parliament election. After a decision by the European Council in 2013, Bulgaria was allocated 17 seats in the European Parliament for the Eighth European Parliament.

The election campaign officially began on 25 April 2014, one month before the election day.

Background The elections come a year after the 2013 parliamentary elections in Bulgaria that resulted in a minority parliament. Since the election winner, GERB, failed to form a government the Socialists and the DPS formed a coalition government led by Plamen Oresharski. The European elections of 2014 are considered to be of importance as they will reflect the popularity of the current government.

Changes in electoral law In February 2014 Bulgarian MPs voted to lower the preferential-vote threshold for the election from 6% to 5% of each list's total votes.

Implicit electoral threshold still remains equal to the Hare Quota, which is about 5.88% of the total valid votes.

Opinion polls Polls include Bulgarian parliamentary election polls if European parliamentary election polling numbers are unavailable.

Pre election campaign Pre election campaign polls Source Date GERB BSP DPS Attack Reformist Bloc BBT NFSB ABV Others Total 21 July 2013 16.9% 19.3% 7.8% 2.3% 3.9% – 2.3% – 1.8% 54.3% Alpha Research 27 August 2013 15.6% 18.4% 5.8% 1.5% 7.6% – 3.1% – 21.6% 73.6% Alpha Research 25 September 2013 15.6% 17.9% 5.8% 1.5% 7.6% – 3.1% – 21.6% 73.6% Institute for Modern Politics 28 September 2013 16.6% 18.5% 5.8% 1.4% 5.6% – 1.9% – 16.5% 66.3% Afis 29 September 2013 19.9% 21.2% 6.5% 2.5% 3.3% – 2.8% – 7.8% 64.0% 24 October 2013 19.5% 21.7% 5.3% 2.0% 3.8% 2.4% 1.9% – 0.7% 57.3% Alpha Research 31 October 2013 16.5% 16.9% 6.1% 3.0% 6.4% – 2.6% – 8.2% 59.7% Institute for Modern Politics 10 November 2013 26.2% 26.2% 8.1% 1.3% 8.2% 6.1% 1.9% – – 78.0% Mediana 18 November 2013 16.9% 22.8% 7.6% 2.8% 8.6% 4.3% 2.9% – 2.9% 68.8% Gallup 19 November 2013 18.1% 21.4% 5.9% 2.4% 6.7% – – – – 54.5% 4 December 2013 16.3% 21.3% 5.5% 2.7% 4.3% 3.0% 1.3% – 1.2% 55.6% Alpha Research 8 December 2013 15.8% 16.5% 6.1% 2.7% 6.9% – 3.5% – 9.7% 61.2% 12 December 2013 18% 22% 5% 2% 5% 3% 1% – 10% 66% Focus 13 December 2013 23.5% 22.3% 5.5% 2.7% 5.8% 3% 3% – – 65.8% Institute for Modern Politics 17 December 2013 21.0% 21.2% 4.8% 1.9% 4.8% 5.0% 1.9% – – 60.6% Gallup 18 December 2013 18.0% 22.8% 6.1% 1.8% 4.8% 2.1% 1.6% – 3.5% 60.7% 15 January 2014 18.4% 19.5% 6.8% 2.3% 4.2% 3.0% 1.5% – 0.8% 56.5% Gallup 16 January 2014 18.1% 21.6% 5.8% 1.5% 4.8% 2.5% 2.1% – 3.5% 59.9% Alpha Research 22 January 2014 17.8% 15.0% 6.0% 2.5% 5.2% 2.6% 3.1% 7.0% 3.2% 62.4% Modern Institute for Politics 31 January 2014 19.8% 20.5% 4.3% 1.6% 4.5% 5.6% 1.5% 1.0% 4.0% 62.8%Medina 7 February 2014 19.3% 24.8% 9.5% <2.8% 6.4% 7.1% 3.3% 1.9% - 72.3% Gallup 10 February 2014 17.7% 18.9% 6.7% 1.6% 4.6% 6.1% 1.3% 6.0% 3.4% 66.3% Focus 11 February 2014 21.7% 19.2 6.0% 1.8% 5.6% 6.0% 3.0% 6.0% 5.1% 74.4% Alpha Research 22 February 2014 16.9% 15.1% 6.9% 2.1% 5.0% 5.5% 3.2% 6.1% 5.8% 66.6% Metapolls 28 February 2014 25.4% 22.7% 10.4% 3.2% 7.5% 8.3% 4.8% 9.2% 8.7% 100% Gallup 13 March 2014 20.7% 19.5% 6.0% 2.5% 3.1% 5.0% 1.9% 3.2% 8.6% 70.5% Metapolls 13 March 2014 29.4% 27.7% 8.7% 3.5% – 7.1% – 4.5% 19.3% 100% Alpha Research 24 March 2014 17.4% 15.2% 6.5% 2.0% 5.1% 5.2% 3.6% 4.0% 5.5% 64.5% 25 March 2014 20.6% 21.9% 7.0% 2.2% 2.8% 6.6% 0.9% 2.4% 0.6% 65.0% Gallup 3 April 2014 20.9% 20.0% 6.4% 2.2% 2.1% 5.3% 2.4% 3.5% 8.1% 70.9% Medina 5 April 2014 19.6% 21.9% 8.8% 2.5% 3.8% 7.0% 4.0% 3.7% – 71.3% Afis 7 April 2014 21.0% 23.0% 5.1% 3.5% 2.9% 5.7% 1.8% 4.4% – 67.4% Ekzakta 10 April 2014 22.5% 18.9% 6.0% – 5.2% 5.3% 3.4% 5.0% – 66.3% Institute for Modern Politics 12 April 2014 21.8% 21.0% 5.1% 4.1% 2.7% 7.3% 1.2% 3.1% 1.7% 68.0% Source Date GERB BSP DPS Attack Reformist Bloc BBT NFSB ABV Others Total

Election campaign Source Date GERB BSP DPS Attack Reformist Bloc BBT NFSB ABV Others Total Institute for Modern Politics 26 April 2014 17.6% 15.9% 6.2% 2.5% 4.5% 4.9% 3.0% 4.5% 7.0% 66.1% 28 April 2014 17.0% 19.2% 6.2% 2.3% 4.1% 5.5% 1.4% 2.3% 0.3% 58.3% Center for Analysis and Marketing 30 April 2014 14.8% 13.3% 6.8% 1.7% 3.0% 2.7% 2.1% 0.7% – 45.1% Mediana 13 May 2014 17.1% 20.5% 7.3% 3.5% 4.3% 9.8% 3.6% 2.9% – 69.0% Institute for Modern Politics 13 May 2014 19.3% 20.5% 7.0% 4.5% 2.5% 7.5% 1.4% 3.5% 2.6% 68.8% Exacta Research 19 May 2014 28.5% 24.0% 11.3% 4.1% 6.2% 11.1% 3.8% 5.8% – 94.8% Alpha Research 20 May 2014 27.3% 23.6% 13.4% 4.1% 5.9% 10.5% 3.9% 5.3% – 94.0% Source Date GERB BSP DPS Attack Reformist Bloc BBT NFSB ABV Others Total

Exit polls Source Date GERB BSP DPS Attack Reformist Bloc BBT NFSB ABV Others Total Mediana 25 May 2014 27.9% 20.2% 14.5% – 7.3% 11.6% – – – 81.5% Alpha Research 25 May 2014 28.4% 21.6% 15.5% – 6.8% 9.9% – – – 82.2% Gallup International 25 May 2014 28.6% 19.8% 14.9% – 6.4% 11.1% – – – 80.8%

Results

Elected MEPs

The following 17 MEP were elected:

European People's Party–European Democrats – 7 seats: GERB – 6 seats Tomislav Donchev (former Minister of European Funding management) Andrey Kovatchev (second term as MEP) Maria Gabriel (second term as MEP) Vladimir Uruchev (third term as MEP) Eva Paunova Emil Radev RB Reformist Bloc – 1 seat Svetoslav Malinov (second term as MEP) (according to preliminary info a majority of the voters have expressed their preference for the second candidate in the list – Malinov. Confirmed by the Central Electoral Commission)

Party of European Socialists – 4 seats: BSP Bulgarian Socialist Party – 4 seats Momchil Nekov (Candidate No. 15 on the party list, but finished in first place after a surprising preference voting victory) Sergei Stanishev Iliana Yotova (third term as MEP) Georgi Pirinski

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe – 4 seats: DPS Movement for Rights and Freedoms – 4 seats: Filiz Husmenova (third term as MEP) Nedjmi Ali Ilhan Kyuchuk Iskra Mihaylova (incumbent Minister of Environment and Water Resources, instead of Delyan Peevski) Declined: Delyan Peevski (steps down, turns over his seat to the fifth on the list)

European Conservatives and Reformists – 2 seats BBT Bulgaria Without Censorship (Electoral Alliance) – 2 seats Nikolay Barekov (Bulgaria Without Censorship) Angel Dzhambazki (IMRO – Bulgarian National Movement)

Media expenses According to a survey taken by the NGO Institute for Public Environment Development, the following table represents the media campaign expenses of the main parties: PartySpending (BGN)Spending per seatBulgaria Without Censorship1,085,655542,827.50Bulgarian Socialist Party740,000185,000Attack648,000Did not win any seatsReformist Bloc360,000360,000Movement for Rights and Freedoms294,50073,625Alternative for Bulgarian Revival229,318Did not win any seatsGERB133,27122,211.80 Note: Campaign expenses were capped at BGN 2 million.

See also 2007 European Parliament election in Bulgaria 2009 European Parliament election in Bulgaria 2014 European Parliament election European Parliament elections, Bulgaria

References