2019 European Parliament election in Belgium

Last updated

2019 European Parliament election in Belgium
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg
←  2014 26 May 2019 2024  →
All 21 Belgian seats to the European Parliament
Turnout88.47%
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Geert Bourgeois.jpg Gerolf-annemans-1398165754.jpg Members debate and vote on the EU-UK withdrawal agreement (49459809218) (cropped 2).jpg
Leader Geert Bourgeois Gerolf Annemans Guy Verhofstadt
Party N-VA Vlaams Belang Open Vld
Alliance ECR ID ALDE
Last election4 seats, 16.79%1 seat, 4.26%3 seats, 12.84%
Seats won332
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 1Increase2.svg 2Decrease2.svg 1
Popular vote954,048811,169678,051
Percentage14.17%12.05%10.07%
SwingDecrease2.svg 2.62%Increase2.svg 7.79%Decrease2.svg 2.77%
 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
  Paul Magnette 2012.jpg Kris-peeters-1391318830 (cropped).jpg Marc Botenga (48941651437) (cropped).jpg
Leader Paul Magnette Kris Peeters Marc Botenga
Party PS CD&V PVDA-PTB
Alliance PES EPP GUE/NGL
Last election3 seats, 10.68%2 seats, 12.57%0 seats, 3.51%
Seats won221
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 1Steady2.svg 0Increase2.svg 1
Popular vote655,812617,651566,274
Percentage9.74%9.17%8.42%
SwingDecrease2.svg 1.03%Decrease2.svg 3.39%Increase2.svg 4.91%
 Seventh partyEighth partyNinth party
  Petra de Sutter at ILGA conference 2018 Political Town Hall 06 (cropped) 2.jpg Philippe Lamberts.jpg Olivier chastel.jpg
Leader Petra De Sutter Philippe Lamberts Olivier Chastel
Party Groen Ecolo MR
Alliance European Greens European Greens ALDE
Last election1 seat, 6.69%1 seat, 4.26%3 seats, 9.88%
Seats won122
Seat changeSteady2.svg 0Increase2.svg 1Decrease2.svg 1
Popular vote525,908492,330475,338
Percentage7.81%7.31%7.06%
SwingIncrease2.svg 1.13%Increase2.svg 2.95%Decrease2.svg 2.92%
2019 European Parliament Election in Belgium.svg

An election was held on 26 May 2019 in the three Belgian constituencies (the Dutch-speaking electoral college, the French-speaking electoral college and the German-speaking electoral college) to elect the Belgian delegation to the European Parliament. It was part of the 2019 European Parliament election.

Contents

A royal order of 15 June 2018 fixed the date of the European Parliament election in Belgium, following an agreement at European level. [1] Per the Belgian Constitution, the Belgian regional elections, and additionally the Belgian federal election because no snap election occurred, were automatically held on the same day.

Marianne Thyssen, who was re-elected Member of the European Parliament in 2014 as lijsttrekker for CD&V and who subsequently became European Commissioner, announced in July 2018 that she would quit politics in 2019. [2]

Electoral system

.mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{} Dutch-speaking electoral college (12 MEPs) French-speaking electoral college (8 MEPs) German-speaking electoral college (1 MEP) Communities of Belgium.svg
  Dutch-speaking electoral college (12 MEPs)
  French-speaking electoral college (8 MEPs)
  German-speaking electoral college (1 MEP)

As the reapportionment after Brexit did not impact the number of seats allocated to Belgium, 21 MEPs were elected in Belgium, as in the 2014 election. One of them is by law allocated to the German-speaking electoral college and the remaining ones are allocated to the Dutch-speaking and to the French-speaking electoral college in accordance with a population formula, giving them respectively twelve and eight seats, as in 2014. [3]

Voters could only vote on the lists depending on the language area they live in. This means that in the bilingual arrondissement of Brussels-Capital, voters could choose whether to vote for the Dutch-speaking or for the French-speaking electoral college. There was an exception to this rule for the six municipalities with language facilities in the Brussels Periphery, whose inhabitants could also opt to vote for French-speaking lists despite being in the Dutch language area.

Seats were allocated according to the D'Hondt method in each of the three electoral colleges; however, the German-speaking electoral college de facto used a first-past-the-post system, since it elected only one MEP. The electoral threshold was 5%, which was based on the vote share per electoral college rather than nationally.

All Belgian citizens aged 18 or over and residing in Belgium were obligated to participate in the election.

Other EU citizens residing in Belgium as well as Belgians living in another EU member state had the right to vote on Belgian lists in European Parliament elections. The law of 17 November 2016 extended this right to Belgians living in a non-EU member state, which was already possible for federal elections.

Results

PartyVotes%Seats
French-speaking electoral college
Socialist Party 651,15726.692
Ecolo 485,65519.912
Reformist Movement 470,65419.292
Workers' Party of Belgium 355,88314.591
Humanist Democratic Centre 218,0788.941
DéFI 144,5555.920
People's Party 113,7934.660
Total2,439,775100.008
Dutch-speaking electoral college
New Flemish Alliance 954,04822.443
Vlaams Belang 811,16919.083
Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats 678,05115.952
Christian Democratic and Flemish 617,65114.532
Green 525,90812.371
Socialist Party Differently 434,00210.211
Workers' Party of Belgium 210,3914.950
Volt Belgium 20,3850.480
Total4,251,605100.0012
German-speaking electoral college
Christian Social Party 14,24734.941
Ecolo 6,67516.370
ProDG 5,36013.140
Partei für Freiheit und Fortschritt–Reformist Movement 4,68411.490
Socialist Party 4,65511.420
Vivant 4,55011.160
DierAnimal 6061.490
Total40,777100.001
Valid votes6,732,15793.68
Invalid/blank votes454,5206.32
Total votes7,186,677100.00
Registered voters/turnout8,122,98588.47
Source: Belgian Elections

Elected members

PartyElected members
Dutch-speaking electoral college (12)
New Flemish Alliance (3) Geert Bourgeois, Assita Kanko, Johan Van Overtveldt
Vlaams Belang (3) Gerolf Annemans, Filip De Man, Tom Vandendriessche [4]
Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (2) Guy Verhofstadt, Hilde Vautmans
Christian Democratic & Flemish (2) Kris Peeters, Cindy Franssen
Groen (1) Petra De Sutter
Socialist Party Differently (1) Kathleen Van Brempt
French-speaking electoral college (8)
Socialist Party (2) Marie Arena, Marc Tarabella [5]
Ecolo (2) Philippe Lamberts, Saskia Bricmont
Reformist Movement (2) Olivier Chastel, Frédérique Ries
Workers' Party of Belgium (1) Marc Botenga
Humanist Democratic Centre (1) Benoît Lutgen
German-speaking electoral college (1)
Christian Social Party (1) Pascal Arimont

Groups

From 2019 European Parliament election#Groups

AllianceSeats
European People's Party (EPP)4
Renew Europe (RE)4
Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D)3
Identity and Democracy (ID)3
European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR)3
Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA)3
European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL)1
Non-Inscrits 0

Outgoing delegation

Belgian parties in the European Parliament in the eighth legislature (2014–2019)
Group21Dutch-speaking electoral college12French-speaking electoral college8German-speaking electoral college1
ALDE 6 Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open VLD)3 Reformist Movement (MR)3
ECR 4 New Flemish Alliance (N-VA)4
S&D 4 Socialist Party Differently (sp.a)1 Socialist Party (PS)3
EPP 4 Christian Democratic & Flemish (CD&V)2 Humanist Democratic Centre (cdH)1 Christian Social Party (CSP)1
Greens-EFA 2 Groen 1 Ecolo 1
ENF 1 Vlaams Belang (VB)1

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathalijne Buitenweg</span> Dutch politician (born 1970)

Kathalijne Maria Buitenweg is a Dutch politician for the GreenLeft who served as a member of the House of Representatives between 2017 and 2021. Between 1999 and 2009, she was a Member of the European Parliament, and sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. In 2019 she was exposed as one of the members of the secret Bilderberg meeting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Party for the Animals</span> Dutch political party

The Party for the Animals is a political party in the Netherlands. Among its main goals are animal rights and animal welfare. The PvdD was founded in 2002 as a single-issue party for animal rights, opposing animal cruelty and the treatment of animals in agriculture. The party then developed into a left-wing, ecological party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dutch-speaking electoral college</span> Constituency of the European Parliament

The Dutch-speaking electoral college is one of three constituencies of the European Parliament in Belgium. It currently elects 13 MEPs using the D'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation. Before it elected 14 MEPs, until the 2007 accession of Bulgaria and Romania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bas Eickhout</span> Dutch politician

Bas Eickhout is a Dutch politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since the 2009 elections. He is a member of the GreenLeft, part of the European Green Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auke Zijlstra</span> Dutch politician

Auke Zijlstra is a Dutch politician. He has been a member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Party for Freedom (PVV) since July 2024. He previously served on the body from 13 September 2011 to 1 July 2014 and once more from 7 September 2015 until 2 July 2019.

M.J.R.L. "Marcel" de Graaff is a Dutch politician. He was a member of the Senate of the Netherlands for the Party for Freedom (PVV) from 2011 to 2014. He served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Netherlands in the periods 2014–2019 and 2020–2024. He was co-president of the Europe of Nations and Freedom, and he switched party affiliation to Forum for Democracy in his second term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeroen Lenaers</span> Dutch politician (born 1984)

Jeroen Lenaers is a Dutch politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the Netherlands. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Appeal, part of the European People's Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne-Marie Mineur</span> Dutch politician (born 1967)

Anne-Marie Mineur is a Dutch politician who was Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Netherlands between 2014 and 2019. She is a member of the Socialist Party, part of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left in the European Parliament. Previously Mineur was municipal councillor in De Bilt (2006–2012) and member of the States of Utrecht (2011–2014).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anja Hazekamp</span> Dutch politician (born 1968)

Anja Hazekamp is a Dutch politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Netherlands. She is a member of the Party for the Animals, part of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left. Previously she was member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands in 2012 and member of the States of Groningen between 2007 and 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Wassenberg</span> Dutch politician

Frank P. Wassenberg is a Dutch politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives for the Party for the Animals between November 2016 and October 2017 and between March 2017 and December 2023. He was the temporary replacement Esther Ouwehand in the former. He serves in the States of Limburg since the 2015 elections, and previously served between 2007 and 2011.

An election of the Members of the European Parliament from the Netherlands was held on 23 May 2019. It was the ninth time such an election had been held in the Netherlands. The number of Dutch seats had been set to increase from 26 to 29 following Brexit, but due to the extension of the Article 50 process in the United Kingdom, the number of seats to be elected remained at 26.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bert-Jan Ruissen</span> Dutch politician

Bert-Jan Ruissen (born 22 March 1972) is a Dutch politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the Netherlands. He is a member of the Reformed Political Party (SGP), part of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2024 European Parliament election in Belgium</span>

The 2024 European Parliament election in Belgium was held on 9 June 2024 in the three Belgian constituencies to elect the Belgian delegation to the European Parliament. It is part of the 2024 European Parliament election and the 2024 Belgian elections. It was the tenth European Parliament election held in Belgium, and the first to take place after Brexit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim van Sparrentak</span> Dutch politician (born 1989)

Kim van Sparrentak is a Dutch politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament for the GroenLinks political party since 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eva van Esch</span> Dutch politician

Eva Maria van Esch is a Dutch politician, currently serving as a Member of Parliament for the Party for the Animals. She was appointed on 9 October 2019, taking the seat of outgoing party leader Marianne Thieme. She previously served as the party's parliamentary leader in the Utrecht City Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bart Groothuis</span> Dutch politician and cybersecurity expert

Bart Groothuis is a Dutch politician serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2020. He is a member of the Dutch conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party, which are both part of the European political group Renew Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thijs Reuten</span> Dutch politician

M.J.A. "Thijs" Reuten is a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA). He began his career as a policy advisor of the party's parliamentary group in the House of Representatives and was a member of the Amsterdam municipal council in the years 2002–07. He then served for two terms as a district alderman in Amsterdam-Oost with a focus on housing and the economy. Starting in 2018, Reuten worked as an independent consultant and as head of policy at the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). He was appointed to the European Parliament in April 2021 after the resignation of Kati Piri, and he was re-elected in June 2024.

Michiel P. Hoogeveen is a Dutch politician of the right-wing conservative JA21 party. He started his career in the financial sector and as a freelance North Korea researcher. He became a member of Forum for Democracy (FVD) in 2016 and was elected to the States of South Holland three years later. He left the party in 2020 and subsequently joined JA21, which he represented in the European Parliament as part of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) between April 2021 and July 2024.

The duty to vote in Belgium belongs to all adult Belgians. EU citizens can vote in European and municipal elections. Other foreigners have local voting rights when they have lived in the country for more than five years. Attendance is compulsory for Belgians in Belgium, not doing so results in a fine, 3 fines equals the loss of civil rights.

References

  1. ↑ 15 juni 2018. - Koninklijk besluit tot vastlegging van de datum van de verkiezing van het Europese Parlement
  2. ↑ "Marianne Thyssen stapt volgend jaar uit de politiek: "Er is ook een leven ernaast"". 12 July 2018.
  3. ↑ 30 JULI 2018. - Koninklijk besluit tot vaststelling van het aantal zetels dat toegekend wordt aan het Nederlandse kiescollege en het Franse kiescollege voor de verkiezing van het Europees Parlement
  4. ↑ Patsy Vatlet resigned from her seat before inauguration.
  5. ↑ Paul Magnette resigned from his seat before inauguration.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.