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European Union
| COUNTRY |
ELECTION TYPE |
DATE |
| European Union |
Parliamentary |
June 10-13,
1999 |
At stake
in this election:
- Seats in the European Parliament: 626
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Description
of government structure:
- European Council: The European
Council is composed of the heads of state or government of all European Union member
states and serves as the Union's chief decision-making body.
- European Commission: The European
Commission is composed of 20 commissioners nominated by the member states and confirmed by the European Parliament. The Commission is charged with the initiation and implementation of EU policies.
- Parliament: The European Parliament
is composed of 626 members serving five-year terms. The Parliament is responsible for
adopting the EU Budget, approving all international treaties, and approving the members of the European Commission. As the EU's only popularly chosen institution, the Parliament is also charged with representing the people's interests at the European level.
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Description
of electoral system:
- The type of electoral system used to
select Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) is that which pertains to each separate EU member state.
- Proportional representation systems
are used in all EU member states to elect members to the European Parliament except the Republic of Ireland, which uses the single transferable vote system (STV).
- Seats in the European Parliament are
distributed across the 15 member states according to population.
- Representatives of the political
parties of individual member states sit in the European Parliament according to their
political group affiliation. The number of MEPs required to form a political group varies according to the number of member states represented.
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Main
political groups in the electoral race:
- Party: Group
of the Party of European Socialists (PSE)
Leader: Pauline GREEN
Seats won in last election to the European Parliament: 198
Seats held at the end of the 1997-99 parliamentary session: 213
- Party: Group
of the European People's Party (PPE)
Leader: Wilfried MARTENS
Seats won in last election to the European Parliament: 157
Seats held at the end of the 1997-99 parliamentary session: 199
- Party: Group
of the European Liberal, Democrat, and Reform Party (ELDR)
Leader: Pat COX
Seats won in last election to the European Parliament: 43
Seats held at the end of the 1997-99 parliamentary session: 42
- Party:
Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL)
Leader: Alonso J. PUERTA
Seats won in last election to the European Parliament: 28
Seats held at the end of the 1997-99 parliamentary session: 34
- Party: Union
for Europe Group (UFE)
Leaders: Jean-Claude PASTY, Claudio AZZOLINI
Seats won in last election to the European Parliament: 27
Seats held at the end of the 1997-99 parliamentary session: 36
- Party: The
Green Group in the European Parliament (V)
Leaders: Magda AELVOET, Claudia ROTH
Seats won in last election to the European Parliament: 23
Seats held at the end of the 1997-99 parliamentary session: 27
- Party:
European Radical Alliance (ARE)
Leader: Catherine LALUMIÉRE
Seats won in last election to the European Parliament: 19
Seats held at the end of the 1997-99 parliamentary session: 19
- Party: Group
of Independents for a Europe of Nations (I-EDN)
Leaders: Jens-Peter BONDE, Georges BERTHU, Johannes BLOKLAND
Seats won in last election to the European Parliament: 19
Seats held at the end of the 1997-99 parliamentary session: 17
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When
was the last election? Number of seats in last election?
- Election to the European Parliament last held:
June 9 and 12, 1994
- Seats decided in the 1994 election: 567
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Population
and number of registered voters:
- Population: 373,775,000 (approx.)
- Number of registered voters: 298,000,000 (approx.)
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Of Interest:
- Since the 1994 election, the number
of seats in the European Parliament has increased from 567 to 626. This increase reflects the addition of 3 new EU member states in 1995: Austria, Finland, and Sweden.
- Originally granted only limited
advisory capacities, the Parliament's decision-making powers have gradually increased. The Amsterdam Treaty, made effective on May 1, 1999, enlarges the number of policy areas in which the Parliament's "co-decision," or approval, powers are required.
- The election to the European
Parliament comes three months after the resignation of the twenty-member European Commission on March 16. The Commission's en masse resignation was due largely to fraud allegations asserted in a report by the Parliament.
- Nearly 100 separate political parties
are currently represented in the European Parliament.
- The June 1999 election comes six
months after the establishment of the Euro, the European Union's single currency.
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| SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR ELECTION SYSTEMS (IFES) |
| For additional information:
IFES ElectionGuide Online |
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