European Parliament election, 1984

European Parliament election, 1984

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 17 3 14 Percentage 30% 25.3% 11.5% Swing 2.4% 0.8% 4.1%   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 3 9 7 Percentage 9.4% 7.1% 6.7 Swing 1.3% 2.7% 1.3%

* 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

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

External links

• The election of the Members of the European Parliament European Navigator
• Full Election Details Elections Online (In French)