1999 European Parliament election in Portugal

An election of MEP representing Portugal constituency for the 1999–2004 term of the European Parliament was held on 13 June. It was part of the wider 1999 European election.

In the runner up for the 1999 general elections, the Socialist Party (PS) won the EU election by a landslide. The party, headed by its founder and former President of the Republic and Prime Minister Mário Soares, scored a convincing victory over the Social Democrats. The PS increased its share of vote by more than 8 percentange points, and won 2 more seats compared with 1994. The Social Democratic Party (PSD) had a bad performance, but were still able to hold on to its 9 seats, but at the same time, the party saw their share of vote drop to 31 percent, around 3 points lower than in 1994.

The Democratic Unity Coalition (CDU) performed quite well, although it dropped compared with 1994. The Communist/Green alliance won more than 10 percent of the votes, a drop of around 1 point, and lost one seat, but was able to reclaim the title of 3rd largest party. The People's Party (CDS–PP), was the party that suffered the most. The People's Party dropped to fourth place and had the biggest fall in terms of share of the vote, winning just 8 percent of the vote, a fall of more than 4 points. They also lost one seat compared to 1994.

Turnout increased compared with 1994, with 39.9 percent of voters casting a ballot.

Electoral system The voting method used, for the election of European members of parliament, is by proportional representation using the d'Hondt method, which is known to benefit leading parties. In the 1999 EU elections, Portugal had 25 seats to be filled. Deputies are elected in a single constituency, corresponding to the entire national territory.

Parties and candidates The major parties that partook in the election, and their EP list leaders, were:Comissão Nacional de Eleições - Deputados

Left Bloc (BE), Miguel Portas Democratic Unity Coalition (CDU), Ilda Figueiredo People's Party (CDS–PP), Paulo Portas Earth Party (MPT), Paulo Trancoso Portuguese Workers' Communist Party (PCTP/MRPP), António Garcia Pereira Socialist Party (PS), Mário Soares Social Democratic Party (PSD), José Pacheco Pereira Workers' Party of Socialist Unity (POUS), Carmelinda Pereira

Opinion polling The following table shows the opinion polls of voting intention of the Portuguese voters before the election. Those parties that are listed were represented in the EU parliament (1994–1999). Included is also the result of the Portuguese EP elections in 1994 and 1999 for reference.

Note, until 2000, the publication of opinion polls in the last week of the campaign was forbidden.

Polling firm/Link Date Released Lead 1999 EP election 13 Jun 199443.1 31.1 8.2 10.3 7.3 12.0 Público 6 Jun 1999 48.3 31.4 20.3 16.9 Euroexpansão 4 Jun 1999 54.6 30.8 14.6 23.8 Diário de Notícias 2 Jun 1999 52.2 35.9 11.9 16.3 Semanário 2 Jun 1999 49.7 33.6 16.7 16.1 Visão 2 Jun 1999 44 33 23 11.0 Visão 20 May 1999 45 40 15 5 1994 EP election 12 Jun 1994 34.9 34.4 12.5 11.2 7.1 0.5

Results

Distribution by European group + Summary of political group distribution in the 5th European Parliament (1999–2004) Groups Parties Seats Total % Party of European Socialists (PES) 12 12 48.00 European People's Party–European Democrats (EPP–ED) 9 9 36.00 European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) 2 2 8.00 Union for Europe (UFE) 2 2 8.00 Total 25 25 100.00

Maps

1999 European Parliament election in Portugal

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