European Parliament election, 1994

European Parliament election, 1994
European Union
9–12 June 1994
All 567 seats to the European Parliament
285 seats needed for a majority
Turnout 56.8%
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Pauline Green Wilfried Martens
Party PES EPP
Leader's seat London North Belgium (Dutch)
Last election 180 121
Seats won 198 157
Seat change Increase18 Increase36

Majority Leader before election

Jean-Pierre Cot
PES

 Majority Leader-Elect

Pauline Green
PES

The 1994 European Parliamentary Election was a European election held across the 12 European Union member states in June 1994.

This election saw the merge of the European People's Party and European Democrats, an increase in the overall number of seats (567 members were elected to the European Parliament) and a fall in overall turnout to 57%.

The five years which had passed since the previous election had seen enormous political upheavals in Europe. These changes included the end of communism in Europe, German reunification, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Velvet Divorce in Czechoslovakia and the breakup of Yugoslavia. The integration of 5 former East German states and Berlin into the Federal Republic of Germany had constituted the first physical expansion of the EC since 1986. The end of the Cold War meant three politically neutral states in Europe had begun a process of acceding to the EU that would culminate in the 1995 enlargement of the European Union. The EU itself had assumed its current name through adoption of the Treaty of Maastricht in 1993.

Results

European Parliament election, 1994 - Final results at 18-21 July 1994
Group Description Chaired by MEPs
  PES Social Democrats Pauline Green 198
  EPP Conservatives and Christian Democrats Wilfried Martens 157
  ELDR Liberals and Liberal Democrats Gijs De Vries 43
  EUL Communists and the Far Left Alonso José Puerta 28
  FE Conservatives and Christian Democrats Giancarlo Ligabue 27
  EDA National Conservatives Jean-Claude Pasty 26
  G Greens Alexander Langer
Claudia Roth 		23
  ERA Radicals, Social Liberals and Regionalists Catherine Lalumière 19
  EN Eurosceptics James Goldsmith 19
  NI Independents none 27 Total: 567 Sources:

The members of the European Democrats had joined the European People's Party, some as associate members such as the British Conservatives who did not wish to subscribe to the EPP's pro-federalist position. Despite the merger the EPP failed one more to become the largest party, with the Party of European Socialists once more claiming victory with a 41-seat lead over the People's Party.

Elected in 1994 were Forza Italia, who formed their own short lived group, Forza Europa, before merging with the European Democratic Alliance a year after the election to become the Group Union for Europe. In addition to Forza Europa, another new group was founded following the fall of the European Right group: the Europe of Nations Group (Coordination Group) - the first Eurosceptic group in parliament, which lasted until 1996.

Results by country

The national results as at 9–12 June 1994 are as follows:

Group
Nation		 PPE PSE ELDR G–EFA EUL NI Total
Belgium 4 CVP

2 PSC
1 CSP

 3 PS

3 SP

 3 VLD

3 PRL–FDF

1 ECOLO

1 AGALEV
1 VU

 2 VB 25

Statistics

Seat distribution

National Distribution of Seats
State 1989 1994 State 1989 1994
 Germany 81 99  Belgium 24 25
 United Kingdom 81 87  Portugal 24 25
 France 81 87  Greece 24 25
 Italy 81 87  Denmark 16 16
 Spain 60 64  Ireland 15 15
 Netherlands 25 31  Luxembourg 6 6

The number of seats was changed to accommodate Austria, Finland and Sweden who were joining the following year, holding elections then. They were granted 21,16 and 22 seats respectively. The total number of seats increased from 518 to 567.

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