The results of the European elections show a poor turnout and bad results for the socialists
Extremist and fringe parties were the beneficiaries as voters across Europe deserted mainstream parties or stayed at home in protest at the state of their economies.
The Centre Left was set to be the big loser across the 27 European Union countries with the Centre Right consolidating its position as the largest group in the Parliament. Anti-immigrant parties gained MEPs in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, the Netherlands and Slovakia.
Governing parties generally suffered except in Italy, where Silvio Berlusconi’s Party of Freedom was heading for gains, and in France, where Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP recovered dramatically from a poor showing in 2004.
European turnout for the elections was 43.09 percent which means that 213 million voters abstained from the poll.
Margot Wallstrom, vice-president of the European Commission in charge of communications, warned that the low turnout would affect the legitimacy of the EU.
In Germany, Angela Merkel’s ruling Christian Democratic Union lost a handful of seats but maintained its strong lead over the left-of-centre SPD (Social Democratic Party), its coalition partner.
The bad results for the Socialists were a trend across Europe, with disappointing results for centre-left parties. Only in Greece and Malta could socialist oppositions really claim success.
There were poor results for governing centre-left parties in Britain, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovenia and Spain. In France the Socialists were soundly defeated.
Martin Schulz, the leader of the Socialist group of MEPs in the European Parliament, said that domestic reasons were to blame for the failure of the Centre Left. “We have seen in various European countries that domestic issues have been the most important determinant,” he said. “In each member state, it was little to do with our work in the European Parliament.”
In Finland there was a big rise for the nationalist True Finns, which won 10 per cent of the vote with their anti-immigration message. The far-right Danish People’s Party gained up a second MEP, while in Austria the big winner was the Freedom Party, which more than doubled its strength to 13.1 per cent of the vote. It campaigned on anti-Islamic themes.
To see the provisional results of the EP elections visit http://www.elections2009-results.eu/en/index_en.html
