European Parliament election, 1984

European Parliament election, 1984
European Union
14–17 June 1984

All 434 seats to the European Parliament
218 seats needed for a majority
Turnout 61%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Rudi Arndt Egon Klepsch Henry Plumb
Party SOC EPP ED
Leader's seat Germany Germany Cotswolds
Last election 113, 27.6% 107, 26.1% 64, 15.6%
Seats won 130* 110* 50*
Seat change Increase17 Increase3 Decrease14
Percentage 30% 25.3% 11.5%
Swing Increase2.4% Decrease0.8% Decrease4.1%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Gianni Cervetti Simone Veil Christian de La Malène
Party COM ELDR EPD
Leader's seat North-West Italy France France
Last election 44, 10.7% 40, 9.8% 22, 5.4%
Seats won 41 31 29
Seat change Decrease3 Decrease9 Increase7
Percentage 9.4% 7.1% 6.7
Swing Decrease1.3% Decrease2.7% Increase1.3%

* The number of seats was increased from 410 to 434 – so this is a nominal figure

Majority Leader before election


SOC

Majority Leader-Elect


SOC

European Union

This article is part of a series on the
politics and government
of the European Union

The 1984 election to the European Parliament was the first since the inaugural election of 1979 and the 1981 enlargement of the European Community to include Greece. It was also the last before the accession of Spain and Portugal in 1987.

Results showed centre-left and right wing MEPs profiting at the expense of the far-left and centre-right. The Socialists consolidated their position as the biggest group in the Parliament and there were notable changes for the smaller groups, with far-right MEPs forming a group and the coalescence of the Green and Regionalist group known as "Rainbow". Overall turnout dropped to 61%. No majority was achieved.

Pre-election

Seat changes

National distribution of seats
State Seats State Seats
 West Germany 81  Belgium 24
 United Kingdom 81  Greece 24
 France 81  Denmark 16
 Italy 81  Ireland 15
 Netherlands 25  Luxembourg 6

The number of seats was the same as before for each member state that took part in the 1979 election. Greece, which had joined in 1981, was allocated 24 new seats. This raised the number of seats to 434 from 410.

Campaign

Election and regrouping

Overview

The Socialists increased their share by six seats to 130 seats, up from 124 before the elections. The Democratic Alliance (formerly Progressive Democrats) also made gains, up by seven to 29 seats. The People's Party's, the European Democrats, Communists and Liberals all lost seats. The French National Front and the Italian Social Movement founded a group called the "European Right": the first far-right group in the Parliament. The Technical Group of Independents was replaced by the Rainbow Group, a mixture of Greens and Regionalists.

Final results

European Parliament election, 1984 - Final results at 23-26 July 1984
Group Description Chaired by MEPs
  SOC Social Democrats Rudi Arndt 130
  EPP Christian Democrats Egon Klepsch 110
  ED Conservatives Henry Plumb 50
  COM Communists and the Far Left Gianni Cervetti 41
  LD Liberals and Liberal Democrats Simone Veil 31
  EDA National Conservatives Christian de La Malène 29
  RBW Greens and Regionalists Else Hammerich
Jaak Vandemeulebroucke
Bram van der Lek
Paul Staes
20
  ER Far Right Nationalists Jean-Marie Le Pen 16
  NI Independents none 7 Total: 434 Sources:

Statistics

Post-election

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