1984 European Parliament election

1984 European Parliament election

14–17 June 1984
All 434 seats to the European Parliament 218 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	61% 2.0 pp
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
President of the European Parliament before election Piet Dankert SOC Elected President of the European Parliament Pierre Pflimlin EPP

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 1986.

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.

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

Seats summary SOC   29.95% EPP   25.35% ED   11.52% COM   9.45% LD   7.14% EDA   6.68% RBW   4.61% ER   3.69% NI   1.61%

External links

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