Elections to the European Parliament were held from June 10, 2004 to June 13, 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom. Votes were counted as the polls closed, but results were not announced until June 13 and 14 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.

Approximately 343 657 800 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 Parliament consists of 732 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). Voting was in most cases by proportional voting, using the D'Hondt method for calculating the number of seats to be allocated to each party's candidate list. In Italy open lists are used. In the United Kingdom, closed lists are used in England, Wales and Scotland but the Single Transferable Vote is used in Northern Ireland.

Results overall show a general defeat of governing parties and an increase in representatives from eurosceptic parties. However, the balance of power in the Parliament remains similar despite the 10 new member states.

Results

At a glance

(source: [1] (http://www2.europarl.eu.int/omk/sipade2?PUBREF=-//EP//TEXT+PRESS+BR-20040503-S+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&LEVEL=2&NAV=S) [2] (http://www.elections2004.eu.int/system/galleries/pics/election-gallerie/hemi788.png) [3] (http://www.elections2004.eu.int/results/en/ep_732_average.png) [4] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/europe/2004/elections_2004/default.stm) [5] (http://wwwdb.europarl.eu.int/ep6/owa/p_meps2.repartition))

Detailed results

¹ Due to calculation used to determine number of seats awarded to a party, the percentage of the vote will not exactly match the number of seats
⁶Includes parties which belong to Non-Attached group as well as newly elected parties which have not yet been able to select their grouping. May include more than one party and seats obtained will not be directly comparable with the party results shown.
⁷These are final results taken from the official website [6] (http://www.elecciones.mir.es/elecjun2004/peuropeo/PEF_TOP.htm)
⁸These are final results taken from the official website [7] (http://www.bundeswahlleiter.de/europawahl2004/ergebnisse/bundesergebnisse/be_tabelle_99.html)

Final results are also available from the official EU website (http://www.elections2004.eu.int/ep-election/sites/en/).

New parties in the 2004 election

Voting in the election, in the Netherlands

• 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.

• 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 a EU sceptic alternative.

• In the Netherlands Europa Transparant of Paul van Buitenen got two seats

Political group reshuffle after the 2004 election

• Liberals: The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party created a new grouping by allying with MEPs from the French party Union for French Democracy (previously part of the EPP-ED), the Margherita Party (Italy) (previously part of the EPP-ED), other Italian members, the Lithuanian Labour Party and the Belgian MR-MCC (previously EPP-ED). The new allies formed the EDP and a new combined group, between the ELDR and the EDP, was formed with the name ALDE: the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.

• Eurosceptics: Sweden's Junilistan, the pro-life League of Polish Families, and the French Combats Souverainistes joined the existing Europe of Democracies and Diversities group, which already includes the United Kingdom Independence Party. The group renamed itself Independence and Democracy (ID).

Other elections

a poster for the European Parliament election 2004 in Italy, showing party lists

The elections coincided with legislative elections in Luxembourg and presidential elections in Lithuania. They also coincided with local and regional elections in England and Wales, Irish local elections, regional elections in Belgium, local or regional elections in most of Italy, and state parliament elections in the German state of Thuringia.

See also

• List of Members of the European Parliament 2004-2009
• European Parliament election in Austria
• European Parliament election in Belgium
• European Parliament election in Cyprus
• European Parliament election in the Czech Republic
• European Parliament election in Denmark
• European Parliament election in Estonia
• European Parliament election in Finland
• European Parliament election in France
• European Parliament election in Germany
• European Parliament election in Greece
• European Parliament election in Hungary
• European Parliament election in Ireland
• European Parliament election in Italy
• European Parliament election in Latvia
• European Parliament election in Lithuania
• European Parliament election in Luxembourg
• European Parliament election in Malta
• European Parliament election in Netherlands
• European Parliament election in Poland
• European Parliament election in Portugal
• European Parliament election in Slovakia
• European Parliament election in Slovenia
• European Parliament election in Spain
• European Parliament election in Sweden
• European Parliament election in the United Kingdom

External links

• European Union's site for the European Parliament election, covering all of Europe (http://www.elections2004.eu.int)
• National Information offices and national election web sites (http://www.elections2004.eu.int/ep-election/sites/en/newsroom/info_office.html)
• Election days in the 25 countries (http://epp-ed.europarl.eu.int/home/en/countries.asp)
• Czech Republic and the European Parliament elections 2004 (http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?aid=14799)

Results

• BBC News: EU-wide results (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/vote2004/euro/html/1.stm)
• Guardian: results in the United Kingdom (http://politics.guardian.co.uk/elections2004/tables/0,14549,1234741,00.html)
• Irish results from RTE (http://www.rte.ie/news/elections2004/european_resultsindex.html)
• Polish official results (http://www.pe2004.pkw.gov.pl/)
• Full Danish official results (http://www.im.dk/res13juni2004/)

European Election information sites

• Europe: Great Resource on the European Election 2004 (http://www.betterworldlinks.org/europawahl.htm)
• Ireland: European Parliament Office in Ireland election information (http://www.europarl.ie/elections/index.html)
• UK: EuropeCounts.org.uk (http://europecounts.org.uk/) - Official UK European Elections Website
• Information from the Finnish Justice Ministry (http://www.vaalit.fi/21952.htm) on the election
• attendance and voting records (http://www.europarliament.net/); software patents (http://wiki.ael.be/index.php/EuropeanElections) (see article software patent) and environment issues (http://www.foeeurope.org/euvotewatch/) (see articles green/environment issues) collect data on how MEPs voted, in order that the electorate may have a better idea on how to vote on them.

Candidates

• Belgium (http://wiki.ael.be/index.php/EuropeanElection2004CandidatesBelgium)
• Luxembourg (http://www.linux.lu/lilux/front_content.php?idcat=27)
• France (http://francepolitique.free.fr/euro20040.htm)
• Netherlands (http://www.ukomttochook.nl/index1.asp?hr=3)
• Sweden (http://ffii.se/dokument/eukandidater.html)
• UK (http://www.europecounts.org.uk/your_candidate)
• See German version of this article for the German and Austrian candidates