1979 European Parliament election

First election to the European Parliament

1979 European Parliament election

* * *

|  | 7–10 June 1979 | 1984 →

|
|

Members elected →

* * *

All 410 seats to the European Parliament
206 seats needed for a majority
Turnout| 114,340,366 / 184,414,900 (62.0%)
|   | First party  | Second party  | Third party

|
|
|

|  |  |
Leader  | Ernest Glinne [fr] | Egon Klepsch | James Scott-Hopkins
Party  | S&D | EPP | ED
Leader's seat  | Belgium (French) | Germany | Hereford and Worcester
Seats won  |

113 / 410

107 / 410

64 / 410

Popular vote  | 29,530,418  | 31,355,631 | 6,878,970
Percentage  | 26.62%  | 28.26% | 6.20%

* * *

| Fourth party  | Fifth party  | Sixth party
|  |  |
Leader  | Giorgio Amendola | Martin Bangemann | Christian de La Malène
Party  | COM | ELDR | EPD
Leader's seat  | Central Italy | Germany | France
Seats won  |

44 / 410

40 / 410

22 / 410

Popular vote  | 14,908,281  | 11,520,616  | 4,114,969
Percentage  | 13.44%  | 10.38%  | 3.71%

* * *

Post-election composition of each member state's delegation

* * *

|  | President of the European Parliament

Simone Veil
ELDR

|

The 1979 European Parliament election was a series of parliamentary elections held across all 9 (at the time) European Community member states. They were the first European elections to be held, allowing citizens to elect 410 MEPs to the European Parliament, and also the first international election in history.

Seats in the Parliament had been allocated to the states according to population, and in some cases were divided into constituencies, but members sat according to political groups.

## Background

[edit]

The Treaty of Rome which established the Communities specified that the European Parliament must be elected by universal suffrage using a common voting system. The Council of the European Union was responsible for setting up the elections but it had procrastinated. As a stop-gap measure, members were appointed to the Parliament by the member states from their own national parliaments, as they had done since the Common Assembly.[1] The Parliament was unhappy with this and threatened to take the Council to the European Court of Justice. The Council eventually agreed to elections and the first European Parliament elections were held in 1979 after proposals were put forward in the mid-1970s.[1][2] The issue of a common voting method was left undecided, and even to this day the voting methods vary from member state to member state, although all have used some form of proportional representation since 1999.

## Campaigns

[edit]

Helmut Schmidt on the campaign trail in 1979

The campaigns varied. The former Social Democrat German Chancellor Willy Brandt took an international campaign to France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands to boost the Socialist group. On the other hand, the former Prime Minister of France Jacques Chirac used the election to gauge his popularity against the then-President of France Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, in anticipation of a presidential bid in 1981.[3]

## Election

[edit]

This article is part of a series on

Politics of the European Union

Member states (27)

*  Austria
*  Belgium
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*  Croatia
*  Cyprus
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*  France
*  Germany
*  Greece
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*  Ireland
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*  Latvia
*  Lithuania
*  Luxembourg
*  Malta
*  Netherlands
*  Poland
*  Portugal
*  Romania
*  Slovakia
*  Slovenia
*  Spain
*  Sweden

* * *

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* * *

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* * *

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* * *

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* * *

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* * *

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* * *

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* * *

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* * *

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* * *

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* * *

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In June, the 410 members were elected by universal suffrage. At the time there were no rules on the system of election to be used. The United Kingdom used a plurality voting system for multiple small constituencies in Great Britain but the other member states used proportional representation for fewer larger constituencies (usually the member state itself as a single constituency), albeit with different methods of seat allocation.

The electorate took little interest[3] but average voter turnout was 63%. The lowest turn out was in the United Kingdom with 32.2%: all others were above 50% apart from Denmark. Aside from Belgium and Luxembourg, where voting is compulsory, the highest turnout was in Italy with 84.9%.[4]

## Result

[edit]

Socialist parties working together under the Europe-wide Confederation of Socialist Parties won the most seats: the resultant Socialist group had 113 MEPs. Christian Democrat parties united within the pan-European European People's Party came second, with the resultant group having 107 MEPs. The largest third force was the Conservative European Democrats with 64, followed by Communists with 44. The Liberal Democrats had 40 seats, although their candidate was elected as President.

The groups formed were loose coalitions based on the groups founded in previous years, but they soon became the basis for modern European political parties.

National distribution of seats State  | Seats  | State  | Seats

|
|
|

France | 81  |  West Germany | 81
Italy | 81  |  United Kingdom | 81
Netherlands | 25  |  Belgium | 24
Denmark | 16  |  Ireland | 15
Luxembourg | 6  |
1979 European Parliament election – Final results at 17 July 1979  Group[5][6][7][8] | Description  | Chaired by  | MEPs

|
|
|

| SOC | Social Democrats | Ernest Glinne | 113  |
| EPP | Christian Democrats | Egon Klepsch | 107
| ED | Conservatives | James Scott-Hopkins | 64
| COM | Communists and the Far Left | Giorgio Amendola | 44
| LD | Liberals and Liberal Democrats  | Martin Bangemann | 40
| EPD | National Conservatives | Christian de La Malène | 22
| CDI | Heterogeneous  | Marco Pannella
Neil Blaney
Jens-Peter Bonde | 11
| NI | Independents  | none | 9  | Total: 410  |

| Seats summary

|  |
SOC |

| 27.56%
EPP |

| 26.10%
ED |

| 15.61%
COM |

| 10.73%
LD |

| 9.76%
EPD |

| 5.37%
CDI |

| 2.68%
NI |

| 2.20%

### Result by country

[edit]

Group

* * *

Nation  | SOC | EPP | ED | COM | LD | EPD | CDI | NI | Total

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Belgium | 4 PS
3 SP | 7 CVP
3 PSC |  |  | 2 PVV
2 PRL |  | 1 VU | 2 FDF | 24
Denmark | 3 A
1 Siu | 1 D | 2 C | 1 SF | 3 V | 1 FP | 4 N |  | 16
France | 22 PS+MRG | 8 UDF |  | 19 PCF | 17 UDF | 15 RPR |  |  | 81
Ireland | 4 LAB | 4 FG |  |  | 1 Ind. | 5 FF | 1 Ind. FF |  | 15
Italy | 9 PSI
4 PSDI | 29 DC
1 SVP |  | 24 PCI | 3 PLI
2 PRI |  | 3 PR
1 PdUP
1 DP | 4 MSI | 81
Luxembourg | 1 LSAP | 3 CSV |  |  | 2 DP |  |  |  | 6
Netherlands | 9 PvdA | 10 CDA |  |  | 4 VVD |  |  | 2 D66 | 25
United Kingdom | 17 LAB
1 SDLP |  | 60 CON
1 UUP |  |  | 1 SNP |  | 1 DUP | 81
West Germany | 35 SPD | 34 CDU
8 CSU |  |  | 4 FDP |  |  |  | 81
Total  | 113 | 107 | 64 | 44 | 40 | 22 | 11 | 9 | 410

## Post election

[edit]

Simone Veil, elected as the first female President

Louise Weiss, who was born in 1893 and thus 86 at the time, was found to be Parliament's oldest member and hence presided over the chamber while the election of the President took place (July 1979). Before that could happen however, she immediately had to deal with Ian Paisley MEP who, in the first speech of the session, protested that the British flag outside the building was flying upside down.[9] She dealt with the interruption swiftly.[10] The confrontation was seen as one of her finest hours and she later confided that, as a grandmother, she was used to dealing with "recalcitrant youngsters".[11]

There were five candidates for President of the European Parliament: Giorgio Amendola, Italian Communist; Emma Bonino, Italian Technical Independent; Christian de La Malène, French Progressive Democrat; Simone Veil, French Liberal, and Mario Zagari, Italian Socialist.[12]

In the first ballot, Veil secured 183 of the 380 votes cast – eight short of the absolute majority needed. The next closest contender was Zagari with 118 votes, then Amendola with 44, de la Malène with 26 and Bonino with 9. Bonino and de la Malène dropped out and Veil secured an absolute majority in the second ballot with 192 of the 377 votes cast (Zagari gained 128 and Amendola 47). Veil was elected as the first President of the elected Parliament, and first female President of the Parliament since it was founded in 1952.[12]

The following were elected as Vice-Presidents: Danielle De March, Basil de Ferranti, Bruno Friedrich, Guido Gonella, Gérard Jacquet, Hans Katzer, Poul Møller, Pierre Pflimlin, Bríd Rodgers, Marcel Albert Vandewiele, Anne Vondeling and Mario Zagari.[12]

Previously the Parliament was a weak consultative assembly, the members of which were part-time. With the elections the new body of MEPs were full-time, energetic and more diverse. As soon as the Parliament was established the "old guard" MEPs of the larger parties sought to raise the bar at which a European Parliament political group could be formed (the status gave financial support and representation in committees). This move was quickly blocked by smaller groups working together and filibustering the proposal. The ties formed at this time laid the foundations of the Rainbow group: an alliance of left-wing and green parties[1] which later became the European Greens–European Free Alliance group.

### Statistics

[edit]

European Parliament election, 1979 – Electoral map at 17 July 1979  European Parliament election, 1979 - electoral map

Key  | Group | Description
| SOC | Social Democrats
| EPP | Christian Democrats
| ED | Conservatives
| COM | Communists and the Far Left
| LD | Liberals and Liberal Democrats
| EPD | National Conservatives
| CDI | Heterogeneous
| NI | Independents
European Parliament election, 1979 - Statistics  Area  | Dates  | Seats  | Electorate  | Turnout  | Previous  | Next  | Election methods  | Sources

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

European Community
(EC-9)  | 7, 10 June
1979  | 410  | 191,783,528  | 63%  | Inaugural  | 1981 | All PR, except UK (not NI)
which used FPTP | [13][14][15]
European Parliament election, 1979 - Timeline  Appointed Parliament  | 1979 Election  | Regrouping  | First Parliament

|
|
|

Groups  | Pre-elections
13 February 1978  | Change  | Results
7 July  | Change  | Results
17 July  | New
Groups  | First session
17 July
| SOC  | 63  | +48  | 111  | +2  | 113  |   | SOC  | 113
| CD  | 52  | +54  | 106  | +1  | 107  |   | EPP  | 107
| C  | 18  | +45  | 63  | +1  | 64  |   | ED  | 64
| COM  | 17  | +27  | 44  | +0  | 44  |   | COM  | 44
| LD  | 24  | +17  | 41  | -1  | 40  |   | LD  | 40
| EPD  | 19  | +2  | 21  | +1  | 22  |   | EPD  | 22
| NI  | 3  | +21  | 24  | +11  | 11  |   | CDI  | 11
-15  | 9  |   | NI  | 9
Total  | 196  | +214  | 410  | +0  | 410  | Total  | 410
Sources:[6][16][5][7][8]
European Parliament election, 1979 - Delegation at 17 July 1979  Group  | Description  | Details  | %  | MEPs

|
|
|
|

| SOC | Social Democrats | West Germany 35, Belgium 7, Denmark 4, France 22, Ireland 4, Italy 13, Luxembourg 1, Netherlands 9, UK 18  | 28%  | 113
| EPP | Christian Democrats | West Germany 42, Belgium 10, France 8, Ireland 4, Italy 30, Luxembourg 3, Netherlands 10  | 26%  | 107
| ED | Conservatives | Denmark 3, UK 61  | 16%  | 64
| COM | Communists and the Far Left | Denmark 1, France 19, Italy 24  | 11%  | 44
| LD | Liberals and Liberal Democrats  | West Germany 4, Belgium 4, Denmark 3, France 17, Ireland 1, Italy 5, Luxembourg 2, Netherlands 4  | 10%  | 40
| EPD | National Conservatives | Denmark 1, France 15, Ireland 5, UK 1  | 5%  | 22
| CDI | Heterogeneous  | Belgium 1, Denmark 4, Ireland 1, Italy 5  | 3%  | 11
| NI | Independents  | Belgium 2, Italy 4, Netherlands 2, UK 1  | 2%  | 9
Sources:[5][6][7][8] | 100%  | 410
European Parliament election, 1979 - Votes by national party at unknown 1979 date  Country  | Party  | Abbr.  | Group  | Votes  | % (nat.)  | Seats

|
|
|
|
|
|

Italy  | Christian Democracy | DC  | EPP  | 12,753,708  | 36.45  | 29
West Germany | Social Democratic Party of Germany | SPD  | SOC  | 11,370,045  | 40.83  | 35
West Germany | Christian Democratic Union | CDU  | EPP  | 10,883,085  | 39.08  | 34
Italy  | Italian Communist Party | PCI  | COM  | 10,345,284  | 29.57  | 24
United Kingdom  | Conservative Party | CP  | ED  | 6,508,493  | 48.40  | 60
France  | Union for French Democracy | UDF  | LD  | 5,666,984  | 27.87  | 25
France  | Socialist Party – Movement of Left Radicals | PS-MRG  | SOC  | 4,763,026  | 23.43  | 22
United Kingdom  | Labour Party | LP  | SOC  | 4,253,207  | 31.63  | 17
France  | French Communist Party | PCF  | COM  | 4,153,710  | 20.43  | 19
Italy  | Italian Socialist Party | PSI  | SOC  | 3,858,295  | 11.03  | 9
France  | Rally for the Republic | RPR  | EPD  | 3,301,980  | 16.24  | 15
West Germany | Christian Social Union of Bavaria | CSU  | EPP  | 2,817,120  | 10.12  | 8
Netherlands | Christian Democratic Appeal | CDA  | EPP  | 2,017,743  | 35.60  | 10
Italy  | Italian Social Movement | MSI  | NI  | 1,907,880  | 5.45  | 4
Netherlands | Labour Party | PvdA  | SOC  | 1,722,240  | 30.39  | 9
United Kingdom  | Liberal Party | L  |  | 1,691,531  | 12.58  |
West Germany | Free Democratic Party | FDP  | LD  | 1,662,621  | 5.97  | 4
Belgium | Christian People's Party | CVP  | EPP  | 1,607,941  | 29.54  | 7
Italy  | Italian Democratic Socialist Party | PSDI  | SOC  | 1,512,425  | 4.32  | 4
Italy  | Radical Party | PR  | CDI  | 1,283,512  | 3.67  | 3
Italy  | Italian Liberal Party | PLI  | LD  | 1,270,152  | 3.63  | 3
Netherlands | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | VVD  | LD  | 914,787  | 16.14  | 4
Italy  | Italian Republican Party | PRI  | LD  | 895,558  | 2.56  | 2
West Germany | The Greens | GRÜNE  |  | 893,683  | 3.21  |
France  | Ecological Europe | VERTS  |  | 891,683  | 4.39  |
Belgium | Socialist Party | SP  | SOC  | 698,889  | 12.84  | 3
France  | Workers' Struggle – Revolutionary Communist League | LO-LCR  |  | 623,663  | 3.07  |
Belgium | Socialist Party | PS  | SOC  | 575,824  | 10.58  | 4
Belgium | Party for Freedom and Progress | PVV  | LD  | 512,363  | 9.41  | 2
Netherlands | Democracy 66 | D66  | NI  | 511,967  | 9.03  | 2
Ireland | Fianna Fáil | FF  | EPD  | 464,451  | 34.68  | 5
Belgium | Christian Social Party | PSC  | EPP  | 445,912  | 8.19  | 3
Ireland | Fine Gael | FG  | EPP  | 443,652  | 33.13  | 4
Belgium | Democratic Front of Francophones | FDF  | NI  | 414,603  | 7.62  | 2
Italy  | Proletarian Unity Party | PdUP  | CDI  | 406,007  | 1.16  | 1
Denmark | Social Democrats | S  | SOC  | 382,487  | 21.80  | 3
France  | 5th List: Employment. Equality. Europe | 5-EEE  |  | 373,259  | 1.84  |
Belgium | Liberal Reformist Party | PRL  | LD  | 372,904  | 6.85  | 2
Denmark | People's Movement against the EU | FolkeB  | CDI  | 365,760  | 20.85  | 4
Luxembourg | Christian Social People's Party | CSV  | EPP  | 352,296  | 36.12  | 3
Belgium | People's Union | VU  | CDI  | 324,540  | 5.96  | 1
France  | Inter-Professional Union for an
Independent France in a Solidary Europe | UDIP-FIDES  |  | 290,555  | 1.43  |
Luxembourg | Democratic Party | DP  | LD  | 274,307  | 28.12  | 2
France  | Party of New Forces | PFN  |  | 265,911  | 1.31  |
Denmark | Venstre | V  | LD  | 252,767  | 14.41  | 3
Italy  | Proletarian Democracy | DP  | CDI  | 251,927  | 0.72  | 1
United Kingdom  | Scottish National Party | SNP  | EPD  | 247,836  | 1.84  | 1
Denmark | Conservative People's Party | KF  | EPP  | 245,309  | 13.98  | 2
Luxembourg | Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party | LSAP  | SOC  | 211,106  | 21.64  | 1
Italy  | South Tyrolean People's Party | SVP  | EPP  | 196,277  | 0.56  | 1
Ireland | Irish Labour Party | ILP  | SOC  | 193,898  | 14.48  | 4
Ireland | Independents | Ind.  | NI  | 189,499  | 14.15  | 2
United Kingdom  | Democratic Unionist Party | DUP  | NI  | 170,688  | 1.27  | 1
Italy  | Valdostan Union – Sardinian Action Party | UV-PSd'Az  |  | 166,194  | 0.47  |
Belgium | Communist Party of Belgium | PCB-KPB  |  | 145,796  | 2.68  |
Italy  | National Democracy | DN  |  | 142,354  | 0.41  |
United Kingdom  | Social Democratic and Labour Party | SDLP  | SOC  | 140,622  | 1.05  | 1
Netherlands | Reformed Political Party | SGP  |  | 126,412  | 2.23  |
United Kingdom  | Ulster Unionist Party | UUP  | ED  | 125,169  | 0.93  | 1
United Kingdom  | Independents | Ind.  |  | 112,366  | N/A |
West Germany | German Communist Party | DKP  |  | 112,055  | 0.40  |
Belgium | Confederated Ecologists | ECOLO  |  | 107,833  | 1.98  |
Denmark | Centre Democrats | CD  | ED  | 107,790  | 6.14  | 1
Denmark | Progressive Party | FP  | EPD  | 100,702  | 5.74  | 1
Netherlands | Communist Party of the Netherlands | CPN  |  | 97,343  | 1.72  |
Netherlands | Pacifist Socialist Party | PSP  |  | 97,243  | 1.72  |
Netherlands | Political Party of Radicals | PPR  |  | 92,055  | 1.62  |
United Kingdom  | Plaid Cymru | PC  |  | 83,399  | 0.62  |
Denmark | Socialist People's Party | SF  | COM  | 81,991  | 4.67  | 1
Belgium | Another way of Living | AGALEV  |  | 77,986  | 1.43  |
Luxembourg | Social Democratic Party | SDP  |  | 68,289  | 7.00  |
Netherlands | Reformed Political League | GPV  |  | 62,610  | 1.10  |
Denmark | Justice League | DR  |  | 60,954  | 3.47  |
Denmark | Left Socialists | VS  |  | 59,379  | 3.38  |
Denmark | Radical Left | RV  |  | 56,944  | 3.25  |
Luxembourg | Communist Party of Luxembourg | KPL  |  | 48,813  | 5.00  |
Belgium | All Power to the Workers | TPO-AMADA  |  | 45,423  | 0.83  |
West Germany | Christian Bavarian People's Party | CBV  |  | 45,311  | 0.16  |
Ireland | Sinn Féin – The Workers Party | SFWP  |  | 43,942  | 3.28  |
United Kingdom  | Alliance Party of Northern Ireland | A  |  | 39,026  | 0.29  |
Belgium | Flemish People's Party | VVP  |  | 34,706  | 0.64  |
West Germany | European Workers Party | EAP  |  | 31,822  | 0.11  |
West Germany | German Centre Party | ZENTRUM  |  | 31,367  | 0.11  |
Denmark | Christian People's Party | KrF  |  | 30,985  | 1.77  |
United Kingdom  | United Against the Common Market | UACM  |  | 27,506  | N/A |
Netherlands | Leschot List | LL  |  | 24,903  | 0.44  |
Belgium | E-NON  | E-NON  |  | 22,187  | 0.41  |
United Kingdom  | Ecology Party | EP  |  | 17,953  | 0.13  |
Belgium | PLW-PLE  | PLW-PLE  |  | 17,566  | 0.32  |
Belgium | Workers Revolutionary League | LRT-RAL  |  | 16,911  | 0.31  |
United Kingdom  | Mebyon Kernow | MK  |  | 10,205  | N/A |
Luxembourg | Alternative List | AL  |  | 9,845  | 1.01  |
Belgium | PPB  | PPB  |  | 9,704  | 0.18  |
Belgium | PFU  | PFU  |  | 7,273  | 0.13  |
United Kingdom  | United Labour Party | ULP  |  | 6,122  | 1.1  |
Luxembourg | Liberal Party  | LP  |  | 5,610  | 0.58  |
Luxembourg | Revolutionary Socialist Party | RSP  |  | 5,085  | 0.52  |
Belgium | POE  | POE  |  | 4,617  | 0.08  |
United Kingdom  | Workers' Party | WP  |  | 4,418  | 0.8  |
United Kingdom  | Unionist Party of Northern Ireland | UPNI  |  | 3,712  | 0.6  |
Ireland | CDI  | CDI  |  | 3,630  | 0.27  |
United Kingdom  | International Marxist Group | IMG  |  | 1,635  | N/A |
United Kingdom  | Ulster Liberal Party | ULP  |  | 932  | 0.2  |
United Kingdom  | EFP  | EFP  |  | 497  | N/A |
France  | Europe – Self-Management List | PSU  |  | 382  | 0.00  |
France  | Regions-Europe | RE  |  | 337  | 0.00  |
Source:[17]

### Overall final results (after regrouping)

[edit]

Party or alliance| Votes| %| Seats

|
|
|

| Group of the European People's Party (EPP)| | Christian Democracy (Italy) (DC)| 12,774,320| 11.42| 29
| Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU)[18]| 10,883,085| 9.73| 34
| Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU)| 2,817,120| 2.52| 8
| Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA)| 2,017,743| 1.80| 10
| Union for French Democracy (UDF)[19][20][21][22]| 1,851,460| 1.66| 8
| Christian People's Party (Flanders) (CVP)| 1,607,941| 1.44| 7
| Christian Social Party (Wallonia) (PSC)| 445,912| 0.40| 3
| Fine Gael| 443,652| 0.40| 4
| Christian Social People's Party (Luxembourg) (CSV)| 352,296| 0.31| 3
| South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP)| 196,373| 0.18| 1
| Christian Democrats (Denmark)[23]| 30,985| 0.03| 0
Total| 33,420,887| 29.88| 107
| Socialist Group (SOC)| | Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)[24]| 11,370,045| 10.17| 35
| Socialist Party (France) (PS) – Movement of Radicals of the Left (MRG)| 4,763,026| 4.26| 22
| Labour Party (UK)| 4,253,247| 3.80| 17
| Italian Socialist Party (PSI)| 3,866,946| 3.46| 9
| Labour Party (Netherlands) (PvdA)| 1,722,240| 1.54| 9
| Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI)| 1,514,272| 1.35| 4
| Belgian Socialist Party (Flanders) (BSP)| 698,889| 0.62| 3
| Belgian Socialist Party (Wallonia) (PSB)| 575,824| 0.51| 4
| Social Democrats (Denmark)| 382,487| 0.34| 3
| Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP)| 211,106| 0.19| 1
| Labour Party (Ireland)| 193,898| 0.17| 4
| Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP)| 140,622| 0.13| 1
| Siumut| 5,118| 0.00| 1
Total| 29,697,720| 26.55| 113
| Communists and Allies Group (COM)| | Italian Communist Party (PCI)| 10,361,344| 9.26| 24
| French Communist Party (PCF)| 4,153,710| 3.71| 19
| Communist Party of Belgium (KPB/PCB)| 145,796| 0.13| 0
| German Communist Party (DKP)[25]| 112,055| 0.10| 0
| Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN)[26]| 97,343| 0.09| 0
| Socialist People's Party (Denmark) (SF)| 81,991| 0.07| 1
| Communist Party of Luxembourg (KPL)| 48,813| 0.04| 0
Total| 15,001,052| 13.41| 44
| Liberal and Democratic Group (LD)| | Union for French Democracy (UDF)[20][21]| 3,815,524| 3.41| 17
| Liberal Party (UK)[27]| 1,690,638| 1.51| 0
| Free Democratic Party (Germany) (FDP)| 1,662,621| 1.49| 4
| Italian Liberal Party (PLI)| 1,271,159| 1.14| 3
| People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD)| 914,787| 0.82| 4
| Italian Republican Party (PRI)| 896,139| 0.80| 2
| Party for Freedom and Progress (Flanders) (PVV)| 512,363| 0.46| 2
| Liberal Reformist Party (Wallonia) (PRL)| 372,904| 0.33| 2
| Democratic Party (Luxembourg) (DP)| 274,307| 0.25| 2
| Venstre (Denmark) (CSV)| 252,767| 0.23| 3
| Thomas Joseph Maher (Independent from Ireland)[28][29]| 86,208| 0.08| 1
Total| 11,749,467| 10.50| 40
| European Democratic Group (ED)| | Conservative Party (UK)| 6,508,492| 5.82| 60
| Conservative People's Party (Denmark) (DKF)[30]| 245,309| 0.22| 2
| Ulster Unionist Party (UUP)| 125,169| 0.11| 1
| Centre Democrats (Denmark) (CD)| 107,790| 0.10| 1
Total| 6,986,760| 6.25| 64
| Group of European Progressive Democrats (EPD)| | Rally for the Republic (France) (RPR)| 3,301,980| 2.95| 15
| Fianna Fáil| 464,451| 0.42| 5
| Scottish National Party (SNP)| 247,836| 0.22| 1
| Progress Party (Denmark) (FrP)| 100,702| 0.09| 1
Total| 4,114,969| 3.68| 22
| Group for the Technical Coordination and Defence of Independent Groups and Members (CDI)| | Radical Party (Italy) (PR)| 1,285,065| 1.15| 3
| Proletarian Unity Party (Italy) (PdUP)| 406,656| 0.36| 1
| People's Movement against the EEC (Denmark)| 365,760| 0.33| 4
| People's Union (Flanders) (VU)| 324,540| 0.29| 1
| Proletarian Democracy (DP)| 252,342| 0.23| 1
| Independent Fianna Fáil| 81,522| 0.07| 1
Total| 2,715,885| 2.43| 11
| Non-Inscrits (NI)| | Italian Social Movement (MSI)| 1,909,055| 1.71| 4
| Democrats 66 (D66)| 511,967| 0.46| 2
| Democratic Front of Francophones–Walloon Rally (DéFI-RW)| 414,603| 0.37| 2
| Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)| 170,688| 0.15| 1
Total| 3,006,313| 2.69| 9
| Other parties and independents| 5,154,957| 4.61| 0
Total| 111,847,960| 100.00| 410
Source: Belgian Elections, Folketingsårbog, France Politique, jcautran.free.fr, France Politique, ElectionsIreland.org, Irish Elections, Italian Ministry of the Interior, Public.lu, Kiesraad, UK Parliament Briefing, House of Commons Library, CAIN Archive, Federal Statistics Office, Wahlen-in-Deutschland.de, Europe Politique

## See also

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|  Hallstein Commission|  1958

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## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Hoskyns, Catherine; Michael Newman (2000). Democratizing the European Union: Issues for the twenty-first Century (Perspectives on Democratization. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-5666-6.
2. ^ Patijn Report
3. ^ a b Electing a New Parliament, Time Magazine 11 June 1979
4. ^ Rates of participation in European elections (1979–2004) on CVCE website
5. ^ a b c "Parlement européen 1979 - Parlement élu en 1979". www.europe-politique.eu (in French).
6. ^ a b c "Elections Europeennes" (PDF) (in French). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 September 2008.
7. ^ a b c "Democracy in the European Parliament" (PDF). emlab.berkeley.edu.
8. ^ a b c "Power to the Parties: Cohesion and Competition in the European Parliament, 1979-2001" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 September 2008.
9. ^ Matthew Tempest and agencies Paisley to stand down as MEP, The Guardian, 19 January 2004
10. ^ How? Did she climb the flagpole and fixed it?
11. ^ A number of names worth remembering ..., European Voice, 26 November 1998
12. ^ a b c Election of the President of the European Parliament, European Parliament
13. ^ "Elections 1989 - Results and members" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2009.
14. ^ "Election '79 - Voting figures and winners" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2008.
15. ^ "Turnout trends at European elections". European Parliament. 2004.
16. ^ "Elections '79 - The results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2011.
17. ^ "Arxiu Històric Electoral - Unió Europea". Archived from the original on 21 June 2012., with exception of some UK results
18. ^ Including two indirectly elected members from West Berlin
19. ^ Only members of UDF who were part of the EPP group
20. ^ a b Marius Autran and Jean-Claude Autran. "Elections européennes du 10 juin 1979 (1ère législature)". jcautran.free.fr. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
21. ^ a b Laurent de Boissieu. "Élections européennes 1979". www.france-politique.fr. France Politique. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
22. ^ "Olivier LEFEVRE D'ORMESSON". www.europarl.europa.eu. European Parliament. 5 August 1918. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
23. ^ "ELECTION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 17 JUNE 1984 (in Italian)" (PDF). lipari.istat.it. ISTAT. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
24. ^ Including one indirectly elected member from West Berlin
25. ^ "ELECTION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 17 JUNE 1984 (in Italian)" (PDF). lipari.istat.it. ISTAT. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
26. ^ "HARTOG, Wessel (COM, NL)". www.europarl.europa.eu. European Parliament. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
27. ^ Dimitri Almeida (2012). The Impact of European Integration on Political Parties: Beyond the Permissive Consensus. Taylor & Francis. pp. 102–103\. ISBN 978-1-136-34039-0.
28. ^ "Thomas Joseph MAHER". www.europarl.europa.eu. European Parliament. 29 April 1922. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
29. ^ "Munster: 1979 European Election". irelandelection.com. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
30. ^ "List of Danish MEPs (in Danish) on Wayback Machine" (PDF). www.europarl.dk. European Parliament. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2024.

## External links

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