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2009 European Parliament election
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2009 European Parliament election
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:
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.
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.
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.
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2009 European Parliament election
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:
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.
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.
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.
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