2004 European Parliament election explained

Election Name:	2004 European Parliament election
Country:	European Union
Type:	parliamentary
Flag Year:	1993
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1999 European Parliament election
Previous Year:	1999
Previous Mps:	List of members of the European Parliament (1999–2004)
Next Election:	2009 European Parliament election
Next Year:	2009
Elected Members:	List of members of the European Parliament (2004–2009)
Election Date:	10–13 June 2004
Seats For Election:	All 732 seats to the European Parliament
Majority Seats:	367
Turnout:	45.47%^[1] 4.04 pp
Leader1:	Hans-Gert Pöttering
Alliance1:	European People's Party–European Democrats
Leaders Seat1:	Germany
Last Election1:	232 seats, 37.1%
Seats Before1:	295
Seats1:	268
Seat Change1:	36
Color1:	3399FF
Leader2:	Martin Schulz
Alliance2:	Party of European Socialists
Leaders Seat2:	Germany
Last Election2:	180 seats, 28.8%
Seats Before2:	232
Seats2:	200
Seat Change2:	20
Color2:	F0001C
Leader3:	Graham Watson
Alliance3:	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
Leaders Seat3:	South West England
Last Election3:	50 seats, 8.0%
Seats Before3:	67
Seats3:	88
Seat Change3:	38
Color3:	FFD700
Alliance4:	Greens–European Free Alliance
Leaders Seat4:	Germany North-West Italy
Last Election4:	48 seats, 7.7%
Seats Before4:	47
Seats4:	42
Seat Change4:	6
Color4:	32CD32
Leader5:	Francis Wurtz
Alliance5:	European United Left–Nordic Green Left
Leaders Seat5:	Île-de-France
Last Election5:	42 seats, 6.7%
Seats Before5:	55
Seats5:	41
Seat Change5:	1
Color5:	8B0000
Alliance6:	Independence/Democracy
Leaders Seat6:	South East England Denmark
Last Election6:	16 seats, 2.6%
Seats Before6:	18
Seats6:	37
Seat Change6:	21
Color6:	F7AF20
Map Size:	400px
President of the European Parliament
Posttitle:	President of the European Parliament after election
Before Election:	Pat Cox
Before Party:	ELDR
After Election:	Josep Borrell
After Party:	PES

The 2004 European Parliament election was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom. The European Parliamental parties could not be voted for, but elected national parties aggregated in European Parliamental parties after the elections.

Votes were counted as the polls closed, but results were not announced until 13 and 14 June so results from one country would not influence voters in another where polls were still open; however, the Netherlands, voting on Thursday 10, announced nearly complete provisional results as soon as they were counted, on the evening of its election day, a move heavily criticized by the European Commission.

342 million people were eligible to vote, the second-largest democratic electorate in the world after India. It was the biggest transnational direct election in history, and the 10 new member states elected MEPs for the first time. The new (6th) Parliament consisted of 732 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs).

Results showed a general defeat of governing parties and an increase in representatives from eurosceptic parties. No majority was achieved. The balance of power in the Parliament remained the same (largest party EPP-ED, second largest PES) despite the 10 new member states.

Results

European Parliament election, 2004 - Final results on 20 July 2004
Group		Description	Chaired by	MEPs
	EPP-ED	Conservatives and Christian democrats	Hans-Gert Pöttering	268
	PES	Social democrats	Martin Schulz	200
	ALDE	Liberals and liberal democrats	Graham Watson	88
	G–EFA	Greens and regionalists	Daniel Cohn-Bendit Monica Frassoni	42
	EUL–NGL	Democratic socialists and communists	Francis Wurtz	41
		Eurosceptics	Jens-Peter Bonde Nigel Farage	37
	UEN	National conservatives	Brian Crowley Cristiana Muscardini	27
	NI	Independents and far right	none	29	Total: 732	Sources: http://www.europe-politique.eu/elections-europeennes-2004.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/04/europe_enl_1090423763/html/1.stm http://emlab.berkeley.edu/users/groland/pubs/HNR-Democracy_in_the_EP-11July05.pdf

Statistics

European Parliament election, 2004 - Statistics
Area	European Union (EU-25)	Sources
Dates	Thursday 10 June: Netherlands, United Kingdom, Friday 11 June: Czech Republic, Ireland Saturday 12 June: Czech Republic, Italy, Latvia, Malta Sunday 13 June: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden	http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3792877.stm
Seats	732	http://www.europarl.europa.eu/elections2004/ep-election/sites/en/results1306/graphical.html http://www.mzes.uni-mannheim.de/publications/papers/HS_EP_ParElec_2004.pdf
Candidates	over 14,600	http://aei.pitt.edu/3400/01/Summer2004ReviewFor.pdf
Electorate	342 million	http://www.ivu.de/es/referencias/gobierno-electrnico/ http://www.federaleurope.org/index.php?id=3510 http://www.mzes.uni-mannheim.de/projekte/typo3/site/fileadmin/research%20groups/3/Amsterdam%20conference/Amsterdam_Machill_Beiler_Fischer.pdf
Turnout	45.6%	http://www.europarl.europa.eu/elections2004/ep-election/sites/en/results1306/turnout_ep/turnout_table.html
Previous	1999 European Parliament election	n/a
Next	2009 European Parliament election	n/a
Election methods	All proportional representation.	http://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/1_3_4_en.htm
Preference voting allowed?	Yes, via open list: Austria, Belgium, Lithuania, Luxembourg (with panachage), Netherlands, Slovenia, Slovakia, Sweden. Yes, via STV: Ireland, Malta, United Kingdom (NI only) No: the rest	http://www.europarl.europa.eu/facts/1_3_4_en.htm http://www.europarl.europa.eu/facts_2004/1_3_4_en.htm http://www.europarl.europa.eu/elections2004/ep-election/sites/en/yourvoice/index.html
Cutoff?	5%: Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia 4%: Austria, Sweden 3%: Greece none: the rest	http://www.europarl.europa.eu/facts/1_3_4_en.htm http://www.europarl.europa.eu/facts_2004/1_3_4_en.htm http://www.europarl.europa.eu/elections2004/ep-election/sites/en/yourvoice/index.html
Seat allocation	Sainte-Laguë method: Latvia, Sweden STV method: Ireland, Malta, United Kingdom (NI only) Highest averages method: France Largest remainder method: Italy Pro-rata: Greece<	--see talk page for a discussion of which method Greece used for seat allocation--> Droop method: Slovakia Hare-Niemeyer method: Germany Hare-Niemeyer method and D'Hondt method: Poland D'Hondt method: the rest	http://www.europarl.europa.eu/facts/1_3_4_en.htm http://www.europarl.europa.eu/facts_2004/1_3_4_en.htm http://www.europarl.europa.eu/elections2004/ep-election/sites/en/yourvoice/index.html http://www.europe-info.de/facts/en/en.pdf http://www.ypes.gr/ekloges/content/en/EuCombination.htm
Constituency boundaries	Member state subdivided into multiple constituencies: Belgium (3), France (8), Ireland (4), Italy (5), Poland (13), United Kingdom (12) Mixture: Germany (candidate lists at Länder or national level) Member state as single constituency: the rest	http://www.europarl.europa.eu/facts/1_3_4_en.htm http://www.europarl.europa.eu/facts_2004/1_3_4_en.htm http://www.europarl.europa.eu/elections2004/ep-election/sites/en/yourvoice/index.html
Minimum voting age	18	http://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/1_3_4_en.htm
Presidential election	First round: Josep Borrell, 388 votes; Bronisław Geremek, 208 votes; Francis Wurtz, 51 votes Josep Borrell, having achieved a majority of valid votes in the first round, was elected President of the European Parliament	http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+PRESS+DN-20040720-1+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN#SECTION4

European Parliament election, 2004 - Timeline
Fifth Parliament				2004 Election		Regrouping		Sixth Parliament
Groups		Pre-enlargement April 30	Pre-elections May 5	Change	Results June 30	Change	Results July 20	New Groups		First session July 20
	EPP-ED	232	295	-16	279	-11	268		EPP-ED	268
	PES	175	232	-33	199	+1	200		PES	200
	ELDR	52	67	0	67	+21	88		ALDE	88
	G/EFA	45	47	-7	40	+2	42		G/EFA	42
	EUL-NGL	49	55	-16	39	+2	41		EUL-NGL	41
	EDD	18	18	-3	15	+22	37		ID	37
	NI	32	44	22	66	-37	29		NI	29
	UEN	23	30	-3	27	0	27		UEN	27
Total		626	788	-56	732	0	732	Total		732
Sources: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/elections2004/ep-election/sites/en/yourparliament/outgoingparl/members/graphical2004.html http://www.europarl.europa.eu/elections2004/ep-election/sites/en/yourparliament/outgoingparl/members/index.html http://www.europarl.europa.eu/elections2004/ep-election/sites/en/results1306/global.html http://www.europarl.europa.eu/elections2004/ep-election/sites/en/results1306/parties.html http://www.europe-politique.eu/elections-europeennes-2004.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/sha#FF0000/spl/hi/pop_ups/04/europe_enl_1090423763/html/1.stm http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+PRESS+TW-20040720-S+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN http://emlab.berkeley.edu/users/groland/pubs/HNR-Democracy_in_the_EP-11July05.pdf http://www.jura.uni-duesseldorf.de/institute/iur/materials/Introduction%20to%20Europe%20-%20Leaflets.pdf

European Parliament election, 2004 - Delegation at 20 July 2004
Group		Description	Details	%	MEPs
	EPP-ED	Conservatives and Christian democrats	Germany 49, Belgium 6, Denmark 1, France 17, Ireland 5, Italy 24, Luxembourg 3, Netherlands 7, UK 28, Greece 11, Spain 24, Portugal 9, Austria 6, Finland 4, Sweden 5, Cyprus 3, Estonia 1, Hungary 13, Latvia 3, Lithuania 2, Malta 2, Poland 19, Czech Republic 14, Slovakia 8, Slovenia 4	37%	268
	PES	Social democrats	Germany 23, Belgium 7, Denmark 5, France 31, Ireland 1, Italy 16, Luxembourg 1, Netherlands 7, UK 19, Greece 8, Spain 24, Portugal 12, Austria 7, Finland 3, Sweden 5, Estonia 3, Hungary 9, Lithuania 2, Malta 3, Poland 8, Czech Republic 2, Slovakia 3, Slovenia 1	27%	200
	ALDE	Liberals and liberal democrats	Germany 7, Belgium 6, Denmark 4, France 11, Ireland 1, Italy 12, Luxembourg 1, Netherlands 5, UK 12, Spain 2, Finland 5, Sweden 3, Cyprus 1, Estonia 2, Hungary 2, Latvia 1, Lithuania 7, Poland 4, Slovenia 2	12%	88
	G/EFA	Greens and regionalists	Germany 13, Belgium 2, Denmark 1, France 6, Italy 2, Luxembourg 1, Netherlands 4, UK 5, Spain 3, Austria 2, Finland 1, Sweden 1, Latvia 1	6%	42
	EUL/NGL	Left-wing group	Germany 7, Denmark 1, France 3, Ireland 1, Italy 7, Netherlands 2, UK 1, Greece 4, Spain 1, Portugal 3, Finland 1, Sweden 2, Cyprus 2, Czech Republic 6	6%	41
	IND/DEM	Eurosceptics	Denmark 1, France 3, Ireland 1, Italy 4, Netherlands 2, UK 11, Greece 1, Sweden 3, Poland 10, Czech Republic 1	5%	37
	NI	Independents	Belgium 3, France 7, Italy 4, UK 2, Austria 3, Poland 6, Czech Republic 1, Slovakia 3	4%	29
	UEN	National conservatives	Denmark 1, Ireland 4, Italy 9, Latvia 4, Lithuania 2, Poland 7	4%	27
Sources: http://www.europe-politique.eu/elections-europeennes-2004.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/sha#FF0000/spl/hi/pop_ups/04/europe_enl_1090423763/html/1.stm http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+PRESS+TW-20040720-S+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN http://emlab.berkeley.edu/users/groland/pubs/HNR-Democracy_in_the_EP-11July05.pdf				100%	732

Results by country

The national results as at 21 July 2004 are as follows:

Party group Country	EPP-ED	PES	ELDR	Greens-EFA	EUL-NGL	ID	UEN	others	MEPs	%	Turnout
Austria	6 (ÖVP)	7 (SPÖ)		2 (GRÜNE)				2 (Martin) 1 (FPÖ)	18	2.5%	42.43%
Belgium	4 (CD&V/N-VA) 1 (CDH) 1 (CSP)	4 (PS) 3 (SP.A)	3 (VLD) 3 (MR)	1 (Groen!) 1 (Ecolo)				3 (VB)	24	3.3%	90.81%
Cyprus	2 (DISY) 1 (GTE)		1 (DIKO)		2 (AKEL)				6	0.8%	71.19%
Czech Republic	9 (ODS) 2 (SNK) 2 (KDU–ČSL) 1 (ED)	2 (ČSSD)			6 (KSČM)	1 (Ind.)		1 (Ind.)	24	3.3%	28.32%
Denmark	1 (C)	5 (S)	3 (V) 1 (B)	1 (SF)	1 (N)	1 (J)	1 (DF)		14	1.9%	47.9%
Estonia	1 (IL)	3 (SDE)	1 (K) 1 (ER)						6	0.8%	26.83%
Finland	4 (Kok.)	3 (SDP)	4 (Kesk.) 1 (SFP)	1 (Vihr.)	1 (VAS)				14	1.9%	41.1%
France	17 (UMP)	31 (PS)	11 (UDF)	6 (Verts)	3 (PCF)	3 (MPF)		7 (FN)	78	10.7%	42.76%
Germany	40 (CDU) 9 (CSU)	23 (SPD)	7 (FDP)	13 (GRÜNE)	7 (PDS)				99	13.5%	43.0%
Greece	11 (ND)	8 (PASOK)			3 (KKE) 1 (Synaspismós)	1 (LAOS)			24	3.3%	63.4%
Hungary	12 (FIDESZ) 1 (MDF)	9 (MSZP)	2 (SZDSZ)						24	3.3%	38.5%
Ireland	5 (FG)	1 (LAB)	1 (Ind.)		1 (SF)	1 (Ind.)	4 (FF)		13	1.8%	59.7%
Italy	16 (FI) 5 (UDC) 1 (SVP) 1 (UDEUR) 1 (PP)	12 (DS) 2 (SDI) 2 (Ind.)	7 (DL) 2 (LB) 2 (IdV) 1 (MRE)	2 (FdV)	5 (PRC) 2 (PdCI)	4 (LN)	9 (AN)	2 (SUE) 1 (AS) 1 (FT)	78	10.7%	73.1%
Latvia	2 (JL) 1 (TP)		1 (LC)	1 (PCTVL)			4 (TB/LNNK)		9	1.2%	41.34%
Lithuania	2 (TS)	2 (LSDP)	5 (DP) 2 (LiCS)				1 (VNDPS) 1 (LDP)		13	1.8%	48.38%
Luxembourg	3 (CSV)	1 (LSAP)	1 (DP)	1 (Gréng)					6	0.8%	90.0%
Malta	2 (PN)	3 (PL)							5	0.7%	82.37%
Netherlands	7 (CDA)	7 (PvdA)	4 (VVD) 1 (D66)	2 (GL) 2 (ET)	2 (SP)	2 (CU-SGP)			27	3.7%	39.3%
Poland	15 (PO) 4 (PSL)	5 (SLD) 3 (SDPL)	4 (UW)			10 (LPR)	7 (PiS)	6 (SRP)	54	7.4%	20.87%
Portugal	7 (PSD) 2 (CDS-PP)	12 (PS)			2 (PCP) 1 (BE)				24	3.3%	38.6%
Slovakia	3 (SDKÚ) 3 (KDH) 2 (MKP)	3 (SMER)						3 (ĽS-HZDS)	14	1.9%	16.96%
Slovenia	2 (NSi) 2 (SDS)	1 (ZLSD)	2 (LDS)						7	1.0%	28.3%
Spain	24 (PP)	24 (PSOE)	1 (CDC) 1 (EAJ)	1 (Verdes) 1 (ICV) 1 (ERC)	1 (IU)				54	7.4%	45.1%
Sweden	4 (M) 1 (KD)	5 (SAP)	2 (FP) 1 (C)	1 (MP)	2 (V)	3 (JL)			19	2.6%	37.8%
United Kingdom	27 (CON) 1 (UUP)	19 (LAB)	12 (LD)	2 (GPEW) 2 (SNP) 1 (PC)	1 (SF)	11 (UKIP)		1 (UKIP) 1 (DUP)	78	10.7%	38.9%
Total	268	200	88	42	41	37	27	29	732	100.0%	45.6%

Results by EU party (2004 estimated result)

The estimated votes by EU party are as follows:

European Parliament Election 2004
estimated votes byEU party
Group		Votes	% Votes	Seats	Party/Subgroup		Votes	% Votes	Seats
	EPP-ED	52,534,612	34.0%	277		EPP	44,670,810	28.9%	227
						ED	5,189,196	3.4%	37
						Independents	2,674,606	1.7%	13
	PES	37,271,453	24.1%	198		PES	36,716,593	23.8%	193
	PES	37,271,453	24.1%	198		Independents	554,860	0.4%	5
	ELDR	13,732,594	8.9%	66		ELDR	10,835,213	7.0%	59
	ELDR	13,732,594	8.9%	66		Independents	2,897,381	1.9%	7
	EUL/NGL	9,999,413	6.5%	41			5,512,904	3.6%	17
						NGLA¹	623,401	0.4%	4
						EACL²	529,782	0.3%	0
						Independents	3,333,327	2.2%	20
	G/EFA	9,742,287	6.3%	40			8,290,609	5.4%	33
						EFA	946,834	0.6%	4
						Independents	504,844	0.3%	3
	NI	13,745,847	8.9%	68		Independents	13,745,847	8.9%	68
	UEN	6,141,614	4.0%	27		UEN	6,141,614	4.0%	27
	EDD	3,611,803	2.3%	15		ECPM³	341,895	0.2%	1
	EDD	3,611,803	2.3%	15		Independents	3,269,908	2.1%	14
Not elected		7,094,142	4.6%	0	Not elected		7,094,142	4.6%	0
Total		154,317,718	100%	732	Total		154,317,718	100%	732

Registered voters: 353,460,958 (est.)
Votes cast: 154,317,718 (43.66%) (est.)
Total seats: 732

Results by EU party (2007 notional result)

The notional results by EU party as at 8 January 2007 are as follows:

European Parliament Election 2004: Estimated notional results, January 2007
Group		Votes	% Votes	Seats	+/-	Party/Subgroup		Votes	% Votes	Seats	+/-
	EPP-ED	52,567,771	34.1%	277	0		EPP	46,183,932	27.5%	232	+5
							ED¹	5,628,052	3.3%	39	+2
							Independents	755,786	1.6%	6	−7
	PES	43,327,099	25.8%	218	+20		PES	41,598,383	24.7%	211	+18
	PES	43,327,099	25.8%	218	+20		Independents	1,728,716	1.0%	7	+2
	ALDE	21,375,247	12.7%	106	+40		ELDR	14,106,116	8.4%	76	+17
							EDP	6,037,453	3.6%	25	+25
							Independents	1,231,678	0.7%	5	−2
	EUL/NGL	9,873,587	5.9%	41	0			6,842,489	4.1%	28	+10
							NGLA²	623,401	0.4%	4	0
							EACL³	345,962	0.2%	0	0
							Independents	2,061,735	1.2%	9	−10
	G/EFA	10,182,153	6.1%	42	+2		EGP	8,457,969	5.0%	33	0
							EFA	1,277,042	0.8%	6	+2
							Paul van Buitenen	174,578	0.1%	1
							Independents	272,564	0.2%	2	−1
	NI	10,218,366	6.1%	14	-54		Hans-Peter Martin	262,272	0.2%	1	1
							Roger Helmer	185,681	0.1%	1	1
							Jim Allister	175,761	0.1%	1	1
							Independents	1,658,374	1.0%	11	−57
	UEN	8,934,925	5.3%	44	+17			5,457,115	3.2%	26	+26
							EUD⁴	547,318	0.3%	5	+5
							Independents	2,980,491	1.8%	13	−14
	IND/DEM	5,265,991	3.1%	23	+8		ADIE⁵	1,687,718	1.0%	7	7
							ECPM⁶	341,895	0.2%	1	0
							EUD⁷	294,887	0.2%	2	2
							Independents	2,941,491	1.7%	13	−1
	ITS	6,135,671	3.6%	20	0		Euronat⁸	5,465,545	3.2%	17	0
							Ashley Mote	215,556	0.1%	1	0
							Independents	454,570	0.3%	2	0
Not elected		8,107,746	4.8%	0		Not elected		8,107,746	4.8%	0
Total		168,222,513	100%	785	+53	Total		168,222,513	100%	785	+53

Registered voters: 378,106,633 (est.)
Votes cast: 168,317,718 (44.49%) (est.)
Total seats: 785 (+53)

New parties in the 2004 election

In the United Kingdom, RESPECT The Unity Coalition was established to fight this election with the intention to use it as a springboard for a campaign against Tony Blair's government. The English Democrats party appeared in England for the first time in 5 of the 9 English Constituencies, campaigning for an English Parliament and against English 'European' regions.
A European Union-wide political party, the European Greens, was established in Rome on 21 February 2004 to contest this election.
Swedish Junilistan (the June list) formed early in the year, meant to provide social democratic and right wing voters an EU sceptic alternative.
In the Netherlands Europa Transparant of Paul van Buitenen got two seats.
In Austria the Liste Hans-Peter Martin obtained two seats.