European Parliament Elections 2019
| Published date | 01 September 2019 |
| Date | 01 September 2019 |
| DOI | 10.1177/2041905819871841 |
| Author | Benjamin D. Hennig |
| Subject Matter | In Focus |
20 POLITICAL INSIGHT • SEPTEMBER 2019
In Focus
Following the second extension to the
Brexit deadline, the 2019 European
Parliament election was held in all
28 member states of the European
Union. With the UK being a full member until
at least 31 October, the number of seats in the
European Parliament therefore also remained
at 751, before in a future leave scenario
the number of MEPs would be reduced to
705, abolishing 47 of the 73 UK seats. The
remaining 27 will be redistributed to some
member states under-represented through
the ‘degressive proportional’ system which
sees more people are represented per MEP
in larger states compared to smaller ones.
The minimum number of seats for a country
is six, while the maximum number is limited
to 96 (equivalent to currently 12.8 per cent
of all seats), as shown in the map of the seat
distribution across the EU.
The seat distribution map also shows
the voter turnout at this year’s election. The
overall turnout of 50.62 per cent constituted
a rst-ever increase and was up by eight per
cent on 2014. It was the rst time it was above
50 per cent in 25 years. Yet the geographic
distribution of voter participation shows that
the spatial pattern is more complex than this
presumably positive trend suggests. Belgium
and Luxembourg come highest (88.47 and
84.24 per cent), not least due to compulsory
voting there. In contrast, low turnout can be
observed especially in some Eastern European
countries, with Czechia, Slovakia and Croatia
being even below 30 per cent. But even there
voter participation increased by about ve to
10 per cent points. Despite – or because – of
the ‘Brexit eect’, the UK’s turnout remained
relatively low (36.90 per cent) and not much
higher than at the previous elections.
Europe’s populist tide was held at bay, to
a certain extent. Yet voting patterns have
undergone some signicant changes which
do signify changing and more fragmented
European Parliament
Elections 2019
Benjamin D. Hennig maps an election that saw major gains for smaller
alliances and left big questions for the future of the European project.
European political landscapes.
This fragmentation is clearly visible in the
decline in the two dominant centre-left and
centre-right groups, the European People’s
Party and the Socialists and Democrats.
Together, these groups lost 65 seats and with
that their majority in the Parliament. Both
groups are still the largest but the success
of smaller alliances was the big story of the
election.
Renew Europe, the successor to the Alliance
of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, gained
16 seats. This was in large part through the
Liberal Democrats’ revival in the UK as well as
gains in France, primarily through president
Macron’s En Marche! party. As the third largest
group with 108 seats, Renew Europe is widely
represented across the continent in almost all
member states.
More division becomes evident in the
smaller groups. In Western Europe a ‘surge’
of the Green parties could be observed. The
Greens/European Free Alliance now holds 74
seats, an increase of 24 on last time out. Half of
this increase was generated in Germany. Other
Political Insight SEPT2019.indd 20 01/08/2019 14:10
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