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Special coverage: European elections

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Special coverage: European elections

The 2009 European elections were held on 4-7 June across the 27 Member States of the EU to appoint the 736 MEPs that will sit in the European Parliament in the 2009-2014 legislature. In marked contrast to the growing power of the European Parliament, overall voter turnout dropped to a historic low of 43% in these elections. Overall, centre-right and eurosceptic parties made significant gains, although in some Member States left-wing parties won protest votes against centre-right governments.

While results are still provisional, the following key trends are discernible:

• The centre-right European People’s Party (EPP-ED) managed to maintain its percentage of seats (approx. 36%) and remains the largest political group in the EP. The EPP result is even more successful than it appears, as it was achieved despite the departure of the UK Conservatives and the gains made by eurosceptic and populist parties in several Member States. The UK Conservatives are expected to form a new political group with right-wing parties from six other Member States, notably Poland and the Czech Republic. The EPP’s gains were largely made possible by the success of the governing centre-right parties in Germany (CDU/CSU), France (UMP), Italy (PDL), Poland (PO), as well as the Spanish conservative Opposition (PP).
• The Party of European Socialists (PES) made significant losses (around 6%) and will find itself with considerably fewer seats (approx. 21%) than the EPP. This is largely due to the defeat of centre-left parties in the large Member States, especially Germany (SPD), France (PS), UK (Labour) and Spain (PSOE). However, PES losses were limited by the strong performance of socialist and social-democratic parties in several Member States, e.g. the Czech Republic (CSSD), Greece (PASOK), Malta (Labour), Romania (PSD), Slovakia (SMER), Slovenia (SDS), Sweden (Socialdemokraterna). The above results for the PES Group do not take into account the Italian centre-left PD (22 seats), as it is not yet officially decided whether this newly formed party will join the PES group.
• The Alliance for Liberals and Democrats in Europe (ALDE) remains the third-largest political group in the EP, with a virtually unchanged share of the vote (approx. 11%). National parties that are members of ALDE and scored well include the German FDP, UK LibDems, Italian IdV and the Dutch PL, in marked contrast to the French MoDem, which scored unexpectedly low.
• The Greens are a clear winner of the election, having managed to increase their share of MEPs to approx. 7%. Among the Green parties that scored well, the French Europe-Ecologie list did best, with 16% of the national vote and 14 MEPs, more than twice as many as MoDem. The German Greens also managed to retain their status of third-largest national political force and the Greens performed well in several other Member States (e.g. Belgium, Sweden). The far left group on the other hand (GUE/NGL) incurred minor losses overall.
• Eurosceptic and populist parties made significant gains, led by the UK Independence Party (ahead of the governing Labour party, with 13 MEPs), the Polish Law and Justice Party (16 MEPs), the Italian Lega Nord (8 MEPs), the Dutch PVV (3-4 MEPs), the Greater Romania Party (2 MEPs), the Freedom Party of Austria (2 MEPs) and the Vlaams Belang in Flanders (2 MEPs). The rise of the British National Party (2 MEPs) made the headlines in the UK, while the French Front National managed to retain 3 MEPs. A surprise was the failure of the Irish anti-Lisbon Treaty party Libertas to gain sufficient votes to send even one MEP to Brussels.

Implications for marketers

Overall, the European Parliament that emerges from the elections will continue to be dominated by the centre-right. However, it will be more splintered, with more non-aligned MEPs and at least one new political group to the right of the EPP, to be spearheaded by the UK Conservatives, which will rally several smaller eurosceptic parties. While the centre-left is weakened, the Greens and the far right will be stronger in the new EP.

The strong performance of the EPP and conservative parties such as the UK Conservatives will ensure a prevailing pro-business sentiment in the new EP. It also increases the chances that the new EP will endorse Commission President Manuel Barroso for a second term, with an overall business-friendly team of Commissioners. At the same time, the more splintered balance of power will potentially mean more unpredictable political behaviour.

However, the behaviour of the new EP will also largely depend on the individual MEPs who are elected. While several of the most prominent figures, both supportive and critical of advertising, have been re-elected, there will be a large number of new MEPs whose views are less well known and defined. Of primary importance will be forthcoming appointments to positions of power within the EP and the composition of the new parliamentary committees. Among these, the likely split of the previous Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee into two new Committees (Environment and Public Health) can be expected to allow for more in-depth discussion of marketing-related issues in these fields.

Next steps: Once all results are finalised in the course of this week, the political groups will be holding their constituent meetings in late June; this is where key appointments within each group will be made. During the constituent plenary session in mid-July, the new EP President and other office holders will be elected. At this stage the EP will also vote for the new Commission President, to be proposed by the Heads of State and Government at the 18-19 June European Council. The new parliamentary Committees will hold their constituent meetings in the second half of July. The first working plenary and committee sessions will take place in the last week of August.

	WFA Priorities:
WFA will closely monitor important developments relating to the new European Parliament and the appointment of a new Commission in the coming weeks and will reach out to re-elected and new MEPs that will deal with advertising issues in the new legislature.

	View EU Brief Archives		View WFA Advocacy priorities		European Action Group Meeting 15 Sept 2009 - Brussels, 10:30 - 13:00