Elections to the European Parliament

The hemicycle of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France

Political groups of the European Parliament during the 10th legislature (2024–2029):

  The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL (The Left)

  Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D)

  Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA)

  Renew Europe (Renew)

  European People's Party Group (EPP)

  European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR)

  Patriots for Europe (PfE)

  Europe of Sovereign Nations Group (ESN)

  Non-Inscrits (NI)

Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's.

Until 2019, 751 MEPs were elected to the European Parliament, which has been directly elected since 1979. Since the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU in 2020, the number of MEPs, including the president, has been 705. No other EU institution is directly elected, with the Council of the European Union and the European Council being only indirectly legitimated through national elections. While European political parties have the right to campaign EU-wide for the European elections, campaigns still take place through national election campaigns, advertising national delegates from national parties.

The election days are 4 consecutive days, from Thursday to Sunday, between April 7th and July 10th. The latest election took place in 2024 and the next election will take place in 2029.

Apportionment

The allocation of seats to each member state is based on the principle of degressive proportionality, so that, while the size of the population of each country is taken into account, smaller states elect more MEPs than is proportional to their populations. As the numbers of MEPs to be elected by each country have arisen from treaty negotiations, there is no precise formula for the apportionment of seats among member states. No change in this configuration can occur without the unanimous consent of all governments.

European Parliament apportionment changes between the Treaty of Nice and the Treaty of Lisbon
(as calculated for purposes of the 2009 European elections)

Member state	2007 Nice	2009 Nice	2014 Lisbon	2014 + Croatia
	99	99	96	96
	78	72	74	74
	78	72	73	73
	78	72	73	73
	54	50	54	54
	54	50	51	51
	35	33	33	32
	27	25	26	26
	24	22	22	21
	24	22	22	21
	24	22	22	21
	24	22	22	21
	24	22	22	21
	19	18	20	20
	18	17	19	18
	18	17	18	17
	14	13	13	13
	14	13	13	13
	14	13	13	13
	–	–	–	11
	13	12	12	11
	13	12	12	11
	9	8	9	8
	7	7	8	8
	6	6	6	6
	6	6	6	6
	6	6	6	6
	5	5	6	6
Total:	785	736	751	751
Italicised countries are divided into sub-national constituencies, except France which changed to full-country voting in 2019.

Voting system

Margrethe Vestager votes in Denmark during the 2019 elections

There is no uniform voting system for the election of MEPs; rather, each member state is free to choose its own system, subject to certain restrictions:

• The system must be a form of proportional representation, under either the party list or the single transferable vote system.
• The electoral area may be subdivided if this will not generally affect the proportional nature of the electoral system.
• The electoral threshold, if there is any, may not exceed 5%. From the 2024 election there might be a minimum threshold of between 2% and 5% for constituencies with more than 35 seats, if the Council Decision (EU, Euratom) 2018/994 of 13 July 2018 is approved by all EU states in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements.

Voting difference by country

Most of the member states of the European Union elect their MEPs with a single constituency covering the entire state, using party-list proportional representation. There is however a great variety of electoral procedures: some countries use a highest averages method of proportional representation, some use the largest remainder method, some open lists and others closed. In addition, the method of calculating the quota and the election threshold vary from country to country. Countries with multiple constituencies are:

• Belgium is split into three constituencies: the Dutch-speaking electoral college, the French-speaking electoral college, and the German-speaking electoral college. The first two of these elect their MEPs using party list PR, but the German-speaking constituency only has one member, who is therefore not elected using a proportional method.
• Ireland is split into three constituencies and uses the single transferable vote.
• The United Kingdom, historically up until its exit from the Union, was split into constituencies representing Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and each of the regions of England. Northern Ireland used the single transferable vote while the other constituencies used party lists. Before 1999, England, Scotland and Wales used first-past-the-post.

Germany, Italy and Poland use a different system, whereby parties are awarded seats based on their nationwide vote as in all of the states that elect members from a single constituency; these seats are given to the candidates on regional lists. With the number of seats for each party known, these are given to the candidates on the regional lists based on the number of votes from each region towards the party's nationwide total, awarded proportionally to the regions. These subdivisions are not strictly constituencies, as they do not affect how many seats each party is awarded, but are districts that the members represent once elected. The number of members for each region is decided dynamically after the election, and depends on voter turnout in each region. A region with high turnout will result in more votes for the parties there, which will result in a greater number of MEPs elected for that region.

European political parties

The European Union has a multi-party system involving a number of ideologically diverse European political parties. As no single European party has ever gained power alone, their affiliated parliamentary groups in the European Parliament work together to pass legislation. Since no pan-European government is formed as a result of European elections, long-term coalitions do not exist.

European parties have the exclusive right to campaign for the European elections; their parliamentary groups are strictly forbidden to campaign and to spend funds on any campaign-related activity. Campaign activities differ per member state since national elections for European Parliament representatives are governed by national law. For instance, a European party may buy unlimited advertising airtime in Estonia, while it is barred from any form of paid advertising in Sweden.

Ahead of the 2014 European elections, European political parties decided to put forward candidates for President of the European Commission, also known as "Spitzenkandidaten" or "lead candidates". Each lead candidate led the pan-European campaign of its European party. Even though there is no legal obligation on the European Council to propose the lead candidate of the strongest party to the European Parliament as its nominee for President of the Commission, it was assumed that the Council would accept voters' decision. Indeed, following the victory of the European People's Party (EPP) in the 2014 European elections, its lead candidate Jean-Claude Juncker was nominated by the Council and later approved by the European Parliament. However, following the 2019 European elections, the Council nominated Ursula von der Leyen instead of the EPP's lead candidate, Manfred Weber; the European Parliament later approved this nomination.

The two largest European political parties are the centre-right European People's Party and the centre-left Party of European Socialists (PES). They also form the two largest parliamentary groups, the EPP Group and S&D, along with national parties not members of the European parties but represented in the European Parliament.

There are numerous other European parties and groups, spanning the entire political spectrum. Sometimes, two or more European parties sit in the same group, such as members of the European Green Party and of the European Free Alliance sitting together in the Greens–European Free Alliance group. Members of the European Parliament who are not members of a parliamentary group are known as non-inscrits.

{{#section-h:Tenth European Parliament|Current composition}}

Voter behaviour

A 1980 analysis by Karlheinz Reif and Hermann Schmitt concluded that European elections were fought on national issues and used by voters to punish their governments mid-term, making European Parliament elections de facto national elections of second rank. This phenomenon is also referred to by some experts as the "punishment traps", wherein voters use the European Parliament elections and other European integration referendums as punishment for governments on account of bad economic performance. There is also a study that showed how voters tend to choose candidates of a party at the European level if it has a history of advancing specific issues that they care about. This is related to the second theory that explains voter behaviour and it involves the so-called attitude voting in which voters are assumed to be acting on the basis of their attitude towards the European integration. This is analogous to the American two-party system in the sense that voting on issues and legislation in the Parliament only requires a yes or no vote, which means voters vote for options or candidates that are close to their ideals.

Turnout had constantly fallen in every EU election from 1979 until 2014. The 2019 election, however, saw turnout increase to its highest level since 1994, at 51%. In 2009, the overall turnout was at 43%, down from 45.5% in 2004. In Britain the turnout was just 34.3%, down from 38% in 2004. Despite falling below 50% between 1999 and 2014, turnout was not as low as that of the US Midterm elections, which usually falls below 40%. However, the comparison with the US voter turnout is hampered due to the fact that the US president is elected in separate and direct elections (presidential system), whereas the President of the European Commission is elected by the European Parliament (parliamentary system), giving the European Parliament elections considerable weight. Some, such as former President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, have also noted that turnout in the 1999 election was higher than the previous US presidential election. German MEP Jo Leinen has suggested that EU parties name their top candidate for the position of President of the European Commission in order to increase turnout. This happened for the 2014 election, with EPP candidate Jean Claude Juncker ultimately selected, after the EPP won the most seats overall.

As of 2024, Bulgaria's GERB, Croatia's HDZ, Cyprus's DISY, Germany's CDU/CSU, Hungary's Fidesz, Malta's Labour Party and Sweden's Swedish Social Democratic Party have won every EU election.

Results

<timeline> ImageSize = width:750 height:250 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:95 top:10 right:130 AlignBars = late Period = from:0 till:785 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal

Colors =

id:gray    value:gray(0.5)  
 id:line1                 value:gray(0.9)
 id:line2                 value:gray(0.7)
 id:Left                  value:rgb(0.75,0,0)    legend:Left-wing
 id:Socialist             value:rgb(1,0.4,0.4)   legend:Socialists,_Social-Democrats
 id:ChristianDemocrat     value:rgb(0.2,0.6,1)   legend:Christian-Democrats,_Conservatives
 id:Conservatives         value:rgb(0,0,0.92)    legend:Eurosceptical_conservatives
 id:LiberalCentrist       value:rgb(1,1,0)       legend:Liberals_&_Centrists
 id:Green/Regionalist     value:rgb(0,0.6,0)     legend:Regionalists,_Greens
 id:Heterogeneous         value:rgb(0.6,0.6,0.6) legend:Heterogeneous
 id:Non-Inscrits          value:rgb(0.3,0.3,0.3) legend:Non-Inscrits
 id:Eurosceptics          value:rgb(1,0.6,0)     legend:Eurosceptics
 id:Far-RightNationalist  value:rgb(0,0,0)       legend:Far-Right_Nationalists

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BarData =

 bar:1979    text:1979
 bar:1984    text:1984
 bar:1989    text:1989
 bar:1994    text:1994
 bar:1999    text:1999
 bar:2004    text:2004
 bar:2009    text:2009
 bar:2014    text:2014
 bar:2019    text:2019
 bar:2024    text:2024

Define $A10 = width:14 fontsize:S shift:(0,-5) align:center # Normal bar, black text Define $A20 = width:14 fontsize:S shift:(0,-5) align:center textcolor:white # Normal bar, white text

PlotData =

1. ************** 1979 **************

 bar:1979 color:Left                  $A20 from:start till:44  text:44
 at:44 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1979 color:Socialist             $A20 from:44    till:157 text:113
 at:157 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1979 color:Heterogeneous         $A10 from:157   till:168 text:11
 at:168 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1979 color:Non-Inscrits          $A20 from:168   till:179 text:9
 at:179 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1979 color:LiberalCentrist       $A10 from:179   till:219 text:40
 at:219 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1979 color:ChristianDemocrat     $A10 from:219   till:326 text:107
 at:326 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1979 color:ChristianDemocrat     $A10 from:326   till:348 text:22
 at:348 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1979 color:Conservatives         $A20 from:348   till:410 text:64
 at:410 shift:(5,-5)   text:Total: 410

1. ************** 1984 **************

 bar:1984 color:Left                  $A20 from:start till:41  text:41
 at:41 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1984 color:Socialist             $A20 from:41    till:171 text:130
 at:171 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1984 color:Green/Regionalist     $A10 from:171   till:191 text:20
 at:191 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1984 color:Non-Inscrits          $A20 from:191   till:198 text:7
 at:198 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1984 color:LiberalCentrist       $A10 from:198   till:229 text:31
 at:229 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1984 color:ChristianDemocrat     $A10 from:229   till:339 text:110
 at:339 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1984 color:ChristianDemocrat     $A10 from:339   till:368 text:29
 at:368 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1984 color:Conservatives         $A20 from:368   till:418 text:50
 at:418 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1984 color:Far-RightNationalist  $A20 from:418   till:434 text:16
 at:434 shift:(5,-5)   text:Total: 434

1. ************** 1989 **************

 bar:1989 color:Left                  $A20 from:start till:42  text:42
 at:42 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1989 color:Socialist             $A20 from:42    till:222 text:180
 at:222 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1989 color:Green/Regionalist     $A10 from:222   till:252 text:30
 at:252 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1989 color:Green/Regionalist     $A10 from:252   till:265 text:13
 at:265 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1989 color:Non-Inscrits          $A20 from:265   till:277 text:12
 at:277 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1989 color:LiberalCentrist       $A10 from:277   till:326 text:49
 at:326 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1989 color:ChristianDemocrat     $A10 from:326   till:447 text:121
 at:447 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1989 color:ChristianDemocrat $A10 from:447   till:467 text:20
 at:467 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1989 color:Conservatives         $A20 from:467   till:501 text:34
 at:501 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1989 color:Far-RightNationalist  $A20 from:501   till:518 text:17
 at:518 shift:(5,-5)   text:Total: 518

1. ************** 1994 **************

 bar:1994 color:Left                  $A20 from:start till:28  text:28
 at:28 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1994 color:Socialist             $A20 from:28    till:226 text:198
 at:226 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1994 color:Green/Regionalist     $A10 from:226   till:249 text:23
 at:249 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1994 color:LiberalCentrist       $A10 from:249   till:268 text:19
 at:268 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1994 color:Non-Inscrits          $A20 from:268   till:295 text:27
 at:295 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1994 color:LiberalCentrist       $A10 from:295   till:338 text:43
 at:338 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1994 color:ChristianDemocrat     $A10 from:338   till:495 text:157
 at:495 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1994 color:ChristianDemocrat     $A10 from:495   till:522 text:27
 at:522 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1994 color:Conservatives         $A20 from:522   till:548 text:26
 at:548 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1994 color:Eurosceptics          $A10 from:548   till:567 text:19
 at:567 shift:(5,-5)   text:Total: 567

1. ************** 1999 **************

 bar:1999 color:Left                  $A20 from:start till:42  text:42
 at:42 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1999 color:Socialist             $A20 from:42    till:222 text:180
 at:222 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1999 color:Green/Regionalist     $A10 from:222   till:270 text:48
 at:270 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1999 color:Non-Inscrits          $A20 from:270   till:278 text:9
 at:278 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1999 color:Heterogeneous         $A10 from:278   till:296 text:18
 at:296 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1999 color:LiberalCentrist       $A10 from:296   till:346 text:50
 at:346 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1999 color:ChristianDemocrat     $A10 from:346   till:579 text:233
 at:579 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1999 color:Conservatives         $A20 from:579   till:609 text:30
 at:609 mark:(line,white)
 bar:1999 color:Eurosceptics          $A10 from:609   till:626 text:16
 at:626 shift:(5,-5)   text:Total: 626

1. ************** 2004 **************

 bar:2004 color:Left                  $A20 from:start till:41  text:41
 at:41 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2004 color:Socialist             $A20 from:41    till:241 text:200
 at:241 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2004 color:Green/Regionalist     $A10 from:241   till:283 text:42
 at:283 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2004 color:Non-Inscrits          $A20 from:283   till:312 text:29
 at:312 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2004 color:LiberalCentrist       $A10 from:312   till:400 text:88
 at:400 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2004 color:ChristianDemocrat     $A10 from:400   till:668 text:268
 at:668 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2004 color:Conservatives         $A20 from:668   till:695 text:27
 at:695 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2004 color:Eurosceptics          $A10 from:695   till:732 text:37
 at:732 shift:(5,-5)   text:Total: 732

1. ************** 2009 **************

 bar:2009 color:Left                  $A20 from:start till:35  text:35
 at:35 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2009 color:Socialist             $A20 from:35   till:219 text:184
 at:219 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2009 color:Green/Regionalist     $A10 from:219   till:274 text:55
 at:274 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2009 color:Non-Inscrits          $A20 from:274   till:301 text:26
 at:301 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2009 color:LiberalCentrist       $A10 from:301   till:385 text:84
 at:385 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2009 color:ChristianDemocrat     $A10 from:385   till:650 text:265
 at:650 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2009 color:Conservatives         $A20 from:650   till:704 text:54
 at:704 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2009 color:Eurosceptics          $A10 from:704   till:736 text:32
 at:736 shift:(5,-5)   text:Total: 736

1. ************** 2014 **************

 bar:2014 color:Left                  $A20 from:start till:52  text:52
 at:52 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2014 color:Socialist             $A20 from:52    till:243 text:191
 at:243 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2014 color:Green/Regionalist     $A10 from:243   till:293 text:50
 at:293 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2014 color:Non-Inscrits          $A20 from:293   till:345 text:52
 at:345 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2014 color:LiberalCentrist       $A10 from:345   till:412 text:67
 at:412 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2014 color:ChristianDemocrat     $A10 from:412   till:633 text:221
 at:633 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2014 color:Conservatives         $A20 from:633   till:703 text:70
 at:703 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2014 color:Eurosceptics          $A10 from:703   till:751 text:48
 at:751 shift:(5,-5)   text:Total: 751

1. ************** 2019 **************

 bar:2019 color:Left                  $A20 from:start till:41  text:41
 at:41 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2019 color:Socialist             $A20 from:41    till:195 text:154
 at:195 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2019 color:Green/Regionalist     $A10 from:195   till:269 text:74
 at:269 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2019 color:Non-Inscrits          $A20 from:269   till:326 text:57
 at:327 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2019 color:LiberalCentrist       $A10 from:326   till:434 text:108
 at:434 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2019 color:ChristianDemocrat     $A10 from:434   till:616 text:182
 at:616 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2019 color:Conservatives         $A20 from:616   till:678 text:62
 at:678 mark:(line, white)
 bar:2019 color:Far-RightNationalist  $A20 from:678   till:751 text:73

 at:751 shift:(5,-5)   text:Total: 751

1. ************** 2024 **************

 bar:2024 color:Left                  $A20 from:start till:46  text:46
 at:46 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2024 color:Socialist             $A20 from:46    till:182 text:136
 at:182 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2024 color:Green/Regionalist     $A10 from:182   till:235 text:53
 at:235 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2024 color:Non-Inscrits          $A20 from:235   till:268 text:33
 at:268 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2024 color:LiberalCentrist       $A10 from:268   till:345 text:77
 at:345 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2024 color:ChristianDemocrat     $A10 from:345   till:533 text:188
 at:533 mark:(line,white)
 bar:2024 color:Conservatives         $A20 from:533   till:611 text:78
 at:611 mark:(line, white)
 bar:2024 color:Far-RightNationalist  $A20 from:611   till:695 text:84
 at:695 mark:(line, white)
 bar:2024 color:Far-RightNationalist  $A20 from:695   till:720 text:25

 at:720 shift:(5,-5)   text:Total: 720

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  pos:(19,80) textcolor:gray text:MEPs

</timeline>

List of elections (excluding by-elections)

2019 – EU 28 2014 – EU 28 2013 – Croatia 2009 – EU 27 2007 – Bulgaria and Romania 2004 – EU 25 1999 – EU 15 1996 – Austria and Finland 1995 – Sweden 1994 – EU 12 1989 – EC 12 1987 – Portugal and Spain 1984 – EC 10 1981 – Greece 1979 – EC 9

List of European Parliament elections by state

Historical percentage (of seats) results in union-wide elections of the three major groups by region:

Region	1979	1984	1989	1994	1999	2004	2009	2014	2019
Northern	3.6	6.3	6.3	22.0	35.3	31.2	10.9	9.2
	3.6	2.7	4.5	6.8	16.7	18.1	20.3	9.2
	23.2	33.0	45.5	56.8	27.6	23.9	21.0	24.6
Western	33.6	30.9	26.7	31.9	36.4	34.9	37.3	29.5
	6.5	10.6	12.0	8.5	5.2	11.9	12.5	10.8
	34.1	32.7	32.7	29.9	27.9	30.2	20.8	22.0
Southern	37.0	34.3	29.6	25.9	39.8	38.2	45.2	28.2
	6.2	4.8	9.5	8.5	5.0	7.9	5.0	5.5
	16.0	21.0	29.1	29.9	30.8	33.0	35.0	34.3
Central and South-Eastern	-	-	-	-	-	46.4	41.0	43.7
	-	-	-	-	-	14.3	10.0	9.5
	-	-	-	-	-	21.4	23.7	22.6
Total	26.0	25.3	23.4	27.7	37.2	36.9	36.0	29.4
	9.8	7.1	9.5	7.6	8.0	12.4	11.4	8.9
	27.6	30.0	34.2	34.9	28.8	28.3	25.0	25.4
Turnout of registered voters	61.99	58.98	58.41	56.67	49.51	45.47	42.97	42.61	50.66

Legend:     Socialist (PES/S&D) –   Liberal (ELDR/ALDE) –   People's (EPP/EPP-ED)

Template:Chart

Percentage turnout of registered votersTemplate:DMCA

Results by member state

Election	1979	1984	1989	1994	1999	2004	2009	2014	2019	2024
Belgium	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
Denmark	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
France	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
Germany	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
Ireland	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
Italy	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
Luxembourg	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
Netherlands	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
United Kingdom	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	-
Greece	-	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
Portugal	-	-	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
Spain	-	-	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
Austria	-	-	-	-	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
Finland	-	-	-	-	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
Sweden	-	-	-	-	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
Cyprus	-	-	-	-	-	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
Czech Republic	-	-	-	-	-	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
Estonia	-	-	-	-	-	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
Hungary	-	-	-	-	-	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
Latvia	-	-	-	-	-	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
Lithuania	-	-	-	-	-	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
Malta	-	-	-	-	-	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
Poland	-	-	-	-	-	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
Slovakia	-	-	-	-	-	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
Slovenia	-	-	-	-	-	Results	Results	Results	Results	Results
Bulgaria	-	-	-	-	-	-	Results	Results	Results	Results
Romania	-	-	-	-	-	-	Results	Results	Results	Results
Croatia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Results	Results	Results

Off-year

1981: Greece

1987: Spain, Portugal

1995: Sweden

1996: Austria, Finland

2007: Bulgaria, Romania

2013: Croatia

By-elections in the United Kingdom

1979: London South West

1987: Midlands West

1988: Hampshire Central

1996: Merseyside West

1998: Yorkshire South, North East Scotland

Proposed reforms

The final report of the Conference on the Future of Europe includes more than 320 proposed measures to reform the European Union. It proposes amending EU electoral law to harmonise electoral conditions (voting age, election date, requirements for electoral districts, candidates, political parties and their financing) for the European Parliament elections, as well as moving towards voting for Union-wide lists, or 'transnational lists', with candidates from multiple member states. It also recommends facilitating digital voting possibilities and guaranteeing effective voting rights for persons with disabilities. The report states that European citizens should have a greater say on who is elected President of the European Commission, suggesting this could be achieved either by the direct election of the Commission President or by a lead candidate system.

Role in the appointment of Commission President

Election	Largest Group	President	Party	Spitzenkandidat process adhered to?	Notes on Spitzenkandidat
1994	PES	Jacques Santer	EPP	N/A	Process not yet introduced.
1999	EPP-ED	Romano Prodi	ELDR	N/A	Process not yet introduced.
2004	EPP-ED	José Manuel Barroso	EPP	N/A	Process not yet introduced.
2009	EPP	José Manuel Barroso	EPP	N/A	Process not yet introduced.
2014	EPP	Jean-Claude Juncker	EPP	Yes	Jean-Claude Juncker (EPP) was nominated and elected Commission President.
2019	EPP	Ursula von der Leyen	EPP	No	Ursula von der Leyen (EPP) was elected despite Manfred Weber being nominated as the EPP Spitzenkandidat.
2024	EPP	Ursula von der Leyen	EPP	Yes	Incumbent Ursula von der Leyen (EPP) was the Spitzenkandidat and re-elected Commission President.

The third Delors Commission had a short mandate, to bring the terms of the Commission in line with that of the Parliament. Under the European Constitution the European Council would have to take into account the results of the latest European elections and, furthermore, the Parliament would ceremonially "elect", rather than simply approve, the council's proposed candidate. This was taken as the parliament's cue to have its parties run with candidates for the President of the European Commission with the candidate of the winning party being proposed by the council.

This was partly put into practice in 2004 when the European Council selected a candidate from the political party that won that year's election. However at that time only one party had run with a specific candidate: the European Green Party, who had the first true pan-European political party with a common campaign, put forward Daniel Cohn-Bendit. However the fractious nature of the other political parties led to no other candidates, the People's Party only mentioned four or five people they'd like to be president. The Constitution failed ratification but these amendments have been carried over to the Treaty of Lisbon, which came into force in 2009.

There are plans to strengthen the European political parties in order for them to propose candidates for the 2009 election. The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party have already indicated, in their October 2007 congress, their intention for forward a candidate for the post as part of a common campaign. They failed to do so however the European People's Party did select Barroso as their candidate and, as the largest party, Barroso's term was renewed. The Socialists, disappointed at the 2009 election, agreed to put forward a candidate for Commission President at all subsequent elections. There is a campaign within that party to have open primaries for said candidate.

In February 2008, President Barroso admitted there was a problem in legitimacy and that, despite having the same legitimacy as Prime Ministers in theory, in practice it was not the case. The low turnout creates a problem for the President's legitimacy, with the lack of a "European political sphere", but analysis claim that if citizens were voting for a list of candidates for the post of president, turn out would be much higher than that seen in recent years.

The President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek proposed in 2010 that Commissioners be directly elected, by member states placing their candidate at the top of their voting lists in European elections. That would give them individually, and the body as a whole, a democratic mandate.

Eligibility

Logo and slogan of the European Parliament election 2014: Act. React. Impact.

Each Member State has different rules determining who can vote for and run as the European Parliamentary candidates. In Spain v United Kingdom, the European Court of Justice held that member states are permitted to extend the franchise to non-EU citizens.

Every EU citizen residing in an EU country of which they are not a national has the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in European Parliamentary elections in their country of residence, under the same conditions as nationals of that country – this right is enshrined in Article 39 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. In addition, the right to vote is included in Articles 20(1) and 22(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. To this extent all EU countries keep electoral registers containing the names of all eligible voters in the specific region, to which eligible newcomers to the area can apply at any time to have their names added. EU citizens are then eligible to vote for the duration of their stay in that country.

It is therefore possible for a person to have the choice of voting in more than one EU member state. For example, a Portuguese citizen who studies at university in France and lives at home outside term-time in the family home in the Netherlands has the option of voting in the European Parliamentary election in France, Portugal or the Netherlands. In this scenario, although the Portuguese citizen qualifies to vote in three EU member states, they are only permitted to cast one vote in one of the member states.

Minimum age to vote in European elections by country

  18

  17

  16*

*Belgium and Germany lowered the voting age to 16 for the next European elections.

Member state	Eligible voters	Eligible candidates
Austria	Austrian citizens who are aged 16 or over on polling day and resident in Austria. Austrian citizens who are aged 16 or over on polling day, resident abroad, and have submitted a notification to be listed in the electoral register of the Austrian commune they were a resident of. European Union citizens aged 16 or over, resident in Austria, and have submitted a notification to be listed in the electoral register of the Austrian commune they are a resident of.	Same as on the left; the passive voting age is 18 instead of 16.
Belgium	Belgian citizens aged 18 or over on polling day resident in Belgium and entered in the population register of a Belgian commune. Belgian citizens aged 18 or over on polling day resident outside Belgium, who have sent an application to vote to the Belgian diplomatic or consular post in their country of residence up to 16 days before polling day. European Union citizens resident in Belgium, aged 18 or over on polling day, entered in the population register or in the foreigners' register of their commune of residence and enrolled in the electoral register. Voting is compulsory and failing to vote can lead to a fine of up to €137.50.	European Union citizens aged 21 or over on polling day who speak French, Dutch or German.
Bulgaria	Bulgarian citizens who have attained the age of 18 years by polling day, have resided in the Republic of Bulgaria or in another Member State of the European Union at least 60 days during the last three months, are not interdicted and do not serve a custodial sentence Each national of a Member State of the European Union, who is not a Bulgarian citizen, shall have the right to elect Members of the European Parliament for the Republic of Bulgaria if the said person has attained the age of 18 years by polling day, is not interdicted, does not serve a custodial sentence, has a certificate for residence status in the Republic of Bulgaria, has resided in the Republic of Bulgaria or in another Member State of the European Union at least 60 days during the last three months, is not deprived of the right to elect in the Member State of which the person is a national, and has stated in advance, by a declaration in writing, the desire thereof to exercise his or her right to vote within the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria.	Bulgarian citizen who has attained the age of 21 years by polling day, does not hold the citizenship of any State that is not a Member State of the European Union, is not interdicted, does not serve a custodial sentence, has a permanent address in the Republic of Bulgaria, and has resided in the Republic of Bulgaria or in another Member State of the European Union at least during the last six months. Any national of a Member State of the European Union, who is not a Bulgarian citizen, has attained the age of 21 years by polling day, does not hold the citizenship of any State that is not a Member State of the European Union, is not interdicted, does not serve a custodial sentence, is not deprived of the right to be elected in the Member State of which the person is a national, enjoys a durable or permanent residence status for the Republic of Bulgaria, has resided in the Republic of Bulgaria or in another Member State of the European Union at least during the last six months, and has stated, by a declaration in writing, the desire thereof to be elected.
Croatia	Croatian citizens aged 18 or over European Union citizens resident in Croatia enrolled in the electoral register at least 30 days before the election.	European Union citizens resident in Croatia enrolled in the electoral register at least 30 days before the election.
Cyprus
Czech Republic	European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are registered in the register of citizens for at least 45 days before polling day, unless a statutory limitation is imposed for reasons of protection of health or withdrawal or legal capacity.	European Union citizens
Denmark	Danish citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are resident in Denmark or another EU member state, unless deprived of legal capacity. European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day and resident in Denmark, unless deprived of legal capacity.	European Union citizens eligible to vote, unless they have been convicted of an action that in the public opinion makes them unworthy of being a member of the European Parliament.
Estonia	European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day and whose address is entered in the population register. A person who has been divested of their active legal capacity with regard to the right to vote and a person who has been convicted of a crime and is serving sentence in a penal institution, cannot vote.	European Union citizens at least 21 years of age and satisfying the requirements of the right to cast a vote, except members of the Defence Forces.
Finland	Every Finnish citizen aged 18 or over on polling day, regardless of domicile. European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day and who are enrolled on the voting register in Finland and whose municipality of residence, as defined by law, is in Finland on the 51st day before election day, unless they have lost the right to vote in the Member State whose citizen they are.	Finnish citizens entitled to vote and not legally incompetent. European Union citizens who are entitled to vote, registered with and entered into the voting register in Finland and not lost the right to stand as a candidate in elections in their home state.
France	French citizens aged 18 or over on polling day resident in France and enrolled in the electoral register. French citizens aged 18 or over on polling day resident outside France and entered either in the consular register of electors (la liste électorale consulaire) or in the register of a municipality with which they are related (place of birth, last residence in France, municipality of one of forebears, spouse or relatives, municipality where they own a residence or pay local taxes) . European Union citizens resident in France, aged 18 or over on polling day and enrolled in the electoral register.	European Union citizens aged 23 or over.
Germany	European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day resident in Germany, if they are resident in member states of the European Union for at least three months. Additionally, German citizens aged 18 or over who have lived in Germany for at least three consecutive months within the last 25 years when they were at least aged 14.	European Union citizens aged 18 or over.
Greece	Greek citizens aged 17 or over on the last day of the year the election happens who are resident in Greece and registered in the electoral roll in a Greek municipality or community, unless deprived of legal capacity. Greek citizens aged 17 or over on the last day of the year the election happens who are resident in another EU member state, registered in the electoral roll in a Greek municipality or community and have submitted an application to vote overseas to the Greek embassy or consulate in their country of residence on or before 31 March 2014Template:DMCA, unless deprived of legal capacity. European Union citizens aged 17 or over on the last day of the year the election happens, resident in Greece and registered in the electoral roll on or before 3 March 2014Template:DMCA. Voting is compulsory but not enforced.	European Union citizens aged 25 or over, unless deprived of legal capacity.
Hungary	Hungarian citizens aged 18 or over on polling day and whose municipality of residence is in Hungary. (automatically listed in the electoral register) European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day and whose municipality of residence is in Hungary and have submitted a notification to be listed in the electoral register.	Any European Union citizens who are entitled to vote (whose municipality of residence is in Hungary).
Ireland	European Union citizens who are ordinarily resident in Ireland on 1 September in the year before the Register of Electors comes into force. Irish citizens who are officials on duty abroad (and their spouses) who are registered on the postal voters list.	European Union citizens over the age of 21, not otherwise disqualified from election to the Dáil.
Italy	Italian and European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are resident in Italy and enrolled in the electoral list of their town of residence up to 19 days before polling day. Italian citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are resident in other EU member states and have submitted an application to the Italian consulate up to 18 days before polling day. Italian citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are resident outside the European Union for the purpose of work, study or living with family and have submitted an application to the Italian consulate up to 18 days before polling day.	European Union citizens aged 25 or over on polling day and not deprived of the right to stand in their home country.
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg	Luxembourgish citizens aged 18 or over on polling day resident in Luxembourg or overseas and enrolled in the electoral list up to 87 days before polling day. European Union citizens resident in Luxembourg for at least 2 years, aged 18 or over on polling day and enrolled in the electoral list up to 87 days before polling day. Voting is compulsory.	Luxembourgish citizens aged 18 or over on polling day and resident in Luxembourg. European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day and resident in Luxembourg for at least 5 years.
Malta	Maltese citizens aged 18 or over on polling day.
Netherlands	Dutch citizens aged 18 or over on polling day. European Union citizens resident in the Netherlands, aged 18 or over on polling day and not deprived of the right to stand in their home country.	European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day. Any people aged 18 or over on polling day and legally resident in the European Union at the time of candidature.
Poland	Polish citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are resident outside Poland and registered to vote. European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are resident in Poland.	European Union citizens aged 21 or over on polling day and resident in Poland or the European Union for at least 5 years, were never sentenced to imprisonment for a crime committed intentionally prosecuted by public indictment or for an intentional fiscal offence.
Portugal	European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are resident in Portugal and registered to vote. Portuguese citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are resident outside Portugal and registered to vote. Brazilian citizens enjoying special status of equal political rights in Portugal (cidadãos brasileiros com estatuto especial de igualdade de direitos políticos) aged 18 or over on polling day who are resident in Portugal and registered to vote.	European Union citizens. Brazilian citizens enjoying special status of equal political rights in Portugal (cidadãos brasileiros com estatuto especial de igualdade de direitos políticos) aged 18 or over on polling day who are resident in Portugal and registered to vote.
Romania	Romanian citizens aged 18 or over on polling day, regardless of domicile. European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day and whose municipality of residence is in Romania.	European Union citizens who are entitled to vote.
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain	Spanish citizens aged 18 or over on polling day. European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are recorded in the register kept by the Municipal Council of their municipality of residence (Padrón) and have formally expressed their wish to vote in the European Parliament election in Spain.	European Union citizens
Sweden	Swedish citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are, or at some time have been, registered residents in Sweden. European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are current registered residents in Sweden and have submitted a notification to be listed on the electoral roll.	European Union citizens

Opinion polling

Opinion polling for EU Parliament elections is less common than for national parliament elections, and no polls are available on the aggregate level. Europe Elects introduced a monthly seat projection based on publicly available polling data in 2014. This was complemented in 2019 by a popular vote projection based on EU parliament groups.

See also

• Democratic legitimacy of the European Union
• History of the European Union
• Appointment of the European Commission
• Law of 6 June 2000 (France)

External links

• EU-NED dataset: subnational election data in European Parliament elections, 1990–2020
• Section devoted to the 2009 election on the European Parliament website
• Adam Carr's Election Archive
• European Election Studies
• The European Parliament and Supranational Party System (Cambridge University Press 2002)
• Archive of European Integration (AEI) > Institutional Administration, Developments & Reform > Parliament > Elections
• EPP Juncker 2014 campaign site
• Election Results 2016