2009 European Parliament election in France

European elections to elect 72 French Members of the European Parliament were held on Sunday 7 June 2009.

European Parliament election in France, 2009
7 June 2009
72 seats to the European Parliament
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Xavier Bertrand Martine Aubry Daniel Cohn-Bendit
Party UMP PS EE
Alliance EPP S&D Greens/EFA
Leader since 24 January 2009 26 November 2008 20 October 2008
Last election 17 31 6
Seats won 29 14 14
Seat change 12 17 8
Popular vote 4,799,908 2,838,160 2,803,759
Percentage 27.88% 16.48% 16.28%
Swing 11.24 12.42% 8.87%
French MEPs elected in 2004
European Parliament election posters in France

Due to the entry of Romania and Bulgaria in the European Union in 2007, the number of seats allocated to France was revised from 78 to 72 seats, a loss of 6 seats. France now represents only 9.8% of all European MEPs compared to 12.5% in 2004 and 19.8% in 1979, following the first European election.

The turnout in European elections in France has almost always declined, with the sole exception of an increase in 1994, falling from 60.7% turnout in the 1979 election to 43.1% in the latest election in 2004.

Results

Nicolas Sarkozy's governing Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) won a pleasing result, the first time the presidential party had won since the first European elections in 1979. Compared to the party's disastrous 2004 result, it gained 12 seats and over 11% in the popular vote. However, many have said that the UMP is the only governing party in France, making its position very weak compared to the combined opposition.

Led since the tumultuous Reims Congress by Martine Aubry, the main opposition party, the Socialists, won a very bad result: only 16.48% and suffering a loss of 17 seats. Prominent Socialist MEPs, including defeated leadership candidate Benoît Hamon, lost their seats. The Socialists lost most votes in middle-class urban areas, while holding their ground better in their rural strongholds.

The Europe Ecology was the surprise of these elections, with a remarkable 16.28% and the same number of MEPs as the Socialist Party. The green coalition's result was the best result ever for any French Green party, beating out the previous record set by Antoine Waechter in the 1989 European elections – 10.59%. The gains made by the Greens also came from the centrist MoDem led by François Bayrou. The MoDem won only 8.45%, a surprisingly low result for the centrist party, thought to be France's third party.

The far-right FN suffered loses, being reduced to only 3 MEPs. The conservative nationalist Libertas coalition formed around Philippe de Villiers's Movement for France, but also including the smaller agrarian Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition, suffered losses compared to the two parties' combined 8% showing in 2004. De Villiers was re-elected, becoming the only Libertas.eu MEP elected in the European Union.

On the left of the PS, the new Left Front formed around the French Communist Party and the smaller Left Party surpassed Olivier Besancenot's New Anticapitalist Party. The Left Front and an ally overseas won 6.47% and 5 seats, while Besancenot's NPA won only 4.88% and no seats (despite polling better on aggregate than Libertas, which did win a seat).

Summary of the results of France's 7 June 2009 election to the European Parliament
← 2004 • 2009 • 2014 →
National party European party Main candidate Votes % +/– Seats +/– Seats (post-Lisbon) +/–
Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) + New Centre (NC)
  • Union for a Popular Movement (UMP)
  • New Centre (NC)
 EPP 4,799,908 27.88 11.24
29 / 72
26 / 72
3 / 72
9
3
30 / 74
27 / 74
3 / 74
1
0
Socialist Party (PS) PES 2,838,160 16.48 12.42
14 / 72
 17
14 / 74
 0
Europe Écologie (EE) EGP 2,803,759 16.28 8.87
14 / 72
 8
15 / 74
 1
Democratic Movement (MD) EDP 1,455,841 8.46 [1] 4.07
6 / 72
 5
6 / 74
 0
Left Front (FG)

Alliance of the Overseas (AO-M)

 PEL 1,115,021 6.48 0.59
5 / 72
3 / 72
1 / 72
0 / 72

1 / 72
1
0
0

0
5 / 74
3 / 74
1 / 74
0 / 74

1 / 74
0
0
0

0
National Front (FN) EURONAT 1,091,691 6.34 3.47
3 / 72
 4
3 / 74
 0
Libertas (LIBERTAS) LIBERTAS 826,357 4.80 [2] 3.60
1 / 72
1 / 72
0 / 72
2
0
1 / 74
1 / 74
0 / 74
0
0
New Anticapitalist Party (NPA) EACL 840,833 4.88 [3] 2.32
0 / 72
 0
0 / 74
 0
Independent Ecological Alliance (AEI) None 625,375 3.63 [4] 1.72
0 / 72
 0
0 / 74
 0
Arise the Republic (DLR) EUD 304,585 1.77 new
0 / 72
 0
0 / 74
 0
Workers' Struggle (LO) None 205,975 [5] 1.20 *
0 / 72
 0
0 / 74
 0
Others 311,109 2.00 —
0 / 72
 0
0 / 74
 0
Valid votes 17,218,614 95.70
Blank and invalid votes 773,547 4.30
Totals 17,992,161 100.00 —
72 / 72
 6
74 / 74
 2
Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout 44,282,823 40.63
Source: France-politique.fr and Ministry of the Interior

Candidates for parliamentary parties
Top Candidates by Constituency[6]
Region  
UMP-NC-LGM PS MoDem Europe Ecology Left Front (PCF-PG-GU) FN MPF-CPNT PDF
East Joseph Daul Catherine Trautmann Jean-François Kahn Sandrine Bélier Hélène Franco Bruno Gollnisch Christophe Beaudouin —
Île-de-France Michel Barnier Harlem Désir Marielle de Sarnez Daniel Cohn-Bendit Patrick Le Hyaric Jean-Michel Dubois Jérôme Rivière —
Massif central-Centre Jean-Pierre Audy Henri Weber Jean-Marie Beaupuy Jean-Paul Besset Marie-France Beaufils Patrick Bourson Véronique Goncalvès Jean Verdon
North-West Dominique Riquet Gilles Pargneaux Corinne Lepage Hélène Flautre Jacky Hénin Marine Le Pen Frédéric Nihous Carl Lang
Overseas Marie-Luce Penchard Ericka Bareigts Harry Durimel Alliance of the Overseas — Erika Kuttner-Perreau —
South-East Françoise Grossetête Vincent Peillon Jean-Luc Bennahmias Michèle Rivasi Marie-Christine Vergiat Jean-Marie Le Pen Patrick Louis —
South-West Dominique Baudis Kader Arif Robert Rochefort José Bové Jean-Luc Mélenchon Louis Aliot Eddie Puyjalon Jean-Claude Martinez
West Christophe Béchu Bernadette Vergnaud Sylvie Goulard Yannick Jadot Jacques Généreux Brigitte Neveux Philippe de Villiers —

Opinion polls
Main article: Opinion polling for the European Parliament election, 2009 (France)

References
  1. Compared to the 2004 result of the UDF (11.96%) and CAP21 (0.57%)
  2. Compared to the 2004 result of the MPF (6.67%) and CPNT (1.73%)
  3. Compared to the 2004 result of the LCR-LO common lists (2.56%)
  4. Compared to the 2004 result of France in Action (1.57%) and the MEI (0.36%)
  5. In 2004, the common lists of the LCR-LO won 2.56%
  6. "Européennes J-3 : le tableau de bord des têtes de listes | Institutions | L'Europe avec". Euractiv.fr. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.