Brussels, 08/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - On the basis of almost complete results, it was possible, from Monday lunchtime, to form a reasonably accurate idea of the make up of the new European Parliament following the elections that concluded on Sunday 7 June. According to still provisional information provided by the European Parliament around 4.00pm, turnout stood was 42.94%. Here are main points that can be drawn by the political groups:
EPP: The European People's Party confirmed its position within the Chamber. It is likely to have 265 seats out of the 736 in the new Parliament, compared with 288 (or 261 if the departing UK Conservatives are not counted) out of 785 in the previous Parliament. The gain is 4 seats, no mean achievement in a Parliament which is becoming smaller, should be put in context with the arrival of the Alleanza Nazionale. With its 265 seats, the EPP remains the Parliament's dominant group, but it will have to find an ally or allies if it is to have its preferred candidate for the Presidency of the Commission elected, when legislative votes are cast and when the President of the Parliament is elected. The EPP still has to decide between two possible candidates for the EP Presidency: former Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek and Italian Mario Mauro, who has the backing of Silvio Berlusconi. The Italian delegation of 34 is growing, but is not yet as big as the German delegation (42 seats). The French UMP and the New Centre achieved a remarkable performance and will bring 27 elected members (two MEPs from the Gauche Moderne might choose to sit elsewhere), while the Spanish delegation maintains its position within the group.
PES: The Party of European Socialists had its worst ever European elections. It held on to 162 seats in the Parliament, plus some 20 Italian MEPs (not included in the official count because they were on a list which brought a number of different parties together). In total, therefore, PES will have around 182 MEPs, considerably fewer than the 217 of the outgoing parliament. Its main losses were in France, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Hungary.
ALDE: bolstered by Ireland's Fianna Fail, which leaves the UEN, the European Liberals and Democrats should be able to count on 83 MEPs, again considerably below the hundred or so of the outgoing Parliament. Particularly worthy of note is the relative success of German FDP party, whose number of seats rises from 7 to 12.
Greens/EFA: the main winners of these elections, the Greens and their regional allies are the only ones to increase their numbers, rising from 43 MEPs to 51. They did well in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Finland and scored their first ever representatives in Sweden and Greece. A number of MEPs may join up with them.
UEN: with 32 MEPs (not counting the 9 Lega Nord MEPs in Italy), the Union for the Europe of Nations registered a net loss, as it had 44 MEPs in the previous parliament.
GUE/NGL: the same observation also applies for the Communist Left, which goes from 41 MEPs to just 33.
IND/DEM: with 19 MEPs instead of 22, the group's survival could be under threat, as 25 MEPs from at least seven countries are needed to constitute a political group in the new parliament.
Others: the benchmark of 25 MEPs will be hard for the extreme right to meet. Its MEPs will be put together by the Parliament under the heading of "Others", which also includes the 27 British Conservatives and 9 MEPs of the Czech ODS party. These may decide to try to set up a new Eurosceptic group on the remains of the IND/DEM group. Not including the British and Czech Conservatives and the MEPs of the Italian left, the "Others" group will contain 33 MEPs, scarcely more than the 30 independent MEPs of the outgoing parliament. These will include an MEP from the "Pirate" list in Sweden for the defence of Internet users. (O.J./trans.rt/fl)