1999 European Parliament election

← 1994 10–13 June 1999 2004 →
All 626 seats to the European Parliament 314 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	49.8% 7.0 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Hans-Gert Pöttering Enrique Barón Crespo Pat Cox Party EPP–ED PES ELDR Leader's seat Germany Spain Munster Last election 157, 27.7% 198, 34.9% 43, 7.6% Seats won 233* 180* 50* Seat change 76 18 18 Percentage 37.2% 28.8% 8.0% Swing 9.5% 6.1% 0.4%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Heidi Hautala Francis Wurtz Charles Pasqua Party Greens/EFA GUE/NGL UEN Leader's seat Finland Île-de-France France Last election 23, 4.1% 28, 4.9% 26, 4.6% Seats won 48 42* 30 Seat change 25 14 4 Percentage 7.7% 6.7% 4.8 Swing 3.6% 1.8% 0.2%
President of the European Parliament before election José María Gil-Robles EPP President of the European Parliament after election Nicole Fontaine EPP–ED

The 1999 European Parliament election was a European election for all 626 members of the European Parliament held across the 15 European Union member states on 10, 11 and 13 June 1999. The voter turn-out was generally low, except in Belgium and Luxembourg, where voting is compulsory and where national elections were held that same day. This was the first election where Austria, Finland and Sweden voted alongside the other member states, having joined in 1995 and voted separately. The next election was held in 2004.

Final results

European Parliament election, 1999 - Final results at 20 July 1999
Group		Description	Chaired by	MEPs
	EPP-ED	Conservatives and Christian Democrats	Hans-Gert Pöttering	233
	PES	Social Democrats	Enrique Barón Crespo	180
	ELDR	Liberals and Liberal Democrats	Pat Cox	50
	G–EFA	Greens and Regionalists	Heidi Hautala Paul Lannoye	48
	EUL–NGL	Communists and the Far left	Francis Wurtz	42
	UEN	National Conservatives	Charles Pasqua	31
	EDD	Eurosceptics	Jens-Peter Bonde	16
	TGI	Mixed	Gianfranco Dell'Alba [it] Francesco Speroni	18
	NI	Independents and Far right	none	8	Total: 626	Sources: [1] [2] Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine[3] Archived 2009-03-04 at the Wayback Machine

Results by country

The national results as at 13 June 1999 are as follows:

• [4]

Results by group

This article is part of a series on
Politics of the European Union
Member states (27)  Austria  Belgium  Bulgaria  Croatia  Cyprus  Czech Republic  Denmark  Estonia  Finland  France  Germany  Greece  Hungary  Ireland  Italy  Latvia  Lithuania  Luxembourg  Malta  Netherlands  Poland  Portugal  Romania  Slovakia  Slovenia  Spain  Sweden Candidate countries Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina Georgia Moldova Montenegro North Macedonia Serbia Ukraine Accession negotiations suspended countries Turkey Applicant countries Kosovo Special territories Belgium–Germany relations France–Germany relations Germany–Netherlands relations EU 3 Withdrawal from the European Union
Treaties and Declarations Schuman Declaration (1950) Treaty of Paris (1951) Europe Declaration (1951) Treaty of Rome (1957) Euratom Treaty (1957) Merger Treaty (1965) Solemn Declaration (1983) Single European Act (1986) Maastricht Treaty (1992) Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) Treaty of Nice (2001) Berlin Declaration (2007) Treaty of Lisbon (2007) Article 7 Article 50 Opt-outs Treaties of accession 1972, 1979, 1985, 1994, 2003, 2005, 2011 Treaties of succession 1984, 2020 Other treaties Schengen Agreement (1985) European Economic Area Agreement (1992) Abandoned treaties and agreements European Constitution (2004) UK membership renegotiation (2015–2016)
Executive institutions European Council President: Michel (ALDE) Parties List of meetings European Commission Von der Leyen Commission President: Von der Leyen (EPP) Vice Presidents College of Commissioners Civil Service Secretary-General: Juhansone
Legislative institutions Legislative procedure Council of the EU Presidency  Belgium (January–June 2024) Configurations GAC FAC ECOFIN Eurogroup AGRIFISH EPSCO COMPET TTE ENVI JHA EYC Voting Secretariat Secretary-General: Thérèse Blanchet Directorates-general COREPER European Parliament (Members) President: Metsola Largest groups EPP (Manfred Weber) S&D (Iratxe García) Member of the European Parliament 9th session (2019–2024) Bureau Vice Presidents Quaestor Conference National parliaments
Judicial institutions Court of Justice of the EU European Court of Justice Members Advocates General Rulings General Court
Auditory institutions European Court of Auditors European Court of Auditors Other auditory bodies Internal Audit Service of the Commission Committee on Budgetary Control of the Parliament Economic and Financial Affairs configuration of the Council Anti-Fraud Office Public Prosecutor's Office
European Central Bank President Lagarde ESCB EMU Euro banknotes Euro coins
Other bodies European Investment Bank Group Investment Bank Investment Fund EIB Institute European Stability Mechanism European Stability Mechanism European University Institute European University Institute Unified Patent Court Unified Patent Court Agencies, decentralised independent bodies and joint undertakings Decentralised agencies of the EU Single market agencies CFSP agencies AFSC agencies ESFS European Supervisory Authorities SRM bodies Executive agencies of the EU Euratom agencies Decentralised independent bodies of the EU European Institute of Innovation and Technology European Public Prosecutor's Office Corporate bodies of the EU European Data Protection Board Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations Joint undertakings of the EU of the Euratom Other independent bodies European Data Protection Supervisor European Ombudsman Advisory bodies European Committee of the Regions European Economic and Social Committee Political and Security Committee European Union Military Committee EU/ESA Space Council Inter-institutional bodies Publications Office of the European Union European External Action Service European Personnel Selection Office Anti-Fraud Office European Administrative School
Euratom Euratom members  Austria  Belgium  Bulgaria  Croatia  Cyprus  Czech Republic  Denmark  Estonia  Finland  France  Germany  Greece  Hungary  Ireland  Italy  Latvia  Lithuania  Luxembourg  Malta  Netherlands  Poland  Portugal  Romania  Slovakia  Slovenia  Spain  Sweden Associated states  Switzerland  United Kingdom Nuclear power in the European Union
Economic and Monetary Union Eurozone members Austria Belgium Croatia Cyprus Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Portugal Slovakia Slovenia Spain Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe Other currencies in use Bulgarian lev Czech koruna Danish krone Hungarian forint Polish złoty Romanian leu Swedish krona ERM II Enlargement of the eurozone Non Euro countries relationship to Euro Bulgaria Czechia Denmark Hungary Poland Sweden Romania
Schengen Area  Austria  Belgium  Croatia  Czech Republic  Denmark  Estonia  Finland  France  Germany  Greece  Hungary  Italy  Latvia  Lithuania  Luxembourg  Malta  Netherlands  Poland  Portugal  Slovakia  Slovenia  Spain  Sweden Non-EU members  Iceland  Liechtenstein  Norway  Switzerland Prüm Convention Schengen Information System Visa Information System Visa policy of the Schengen Area Non-Schengen area EU member states  Bulgaria  Cyprus  Ireland (Opt-out)  Romania
European Economic Area EEA members Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia (provisional member) Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Non-EU members  Iceland  Liechtenstein  Norway Topics EEA Joint Committee EEA National Identity cards Microstates and the European Union
Elections 1979, 1984, 1989, 1994 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014 2019 (last election) European political parties Constituencies Elections in EU member states Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Referendums relating to the EU
Law Acquis Primacy (ECJ Case 6/64) Subsidiarity Regulation Directive Decision Recommendation Fundamental Rights
Policies and issues Budget Customs Union Free Trade Agreements European Single Market Area of FS&J Policies Agricultural Energy Fisheries Regional Citizenship Passports of the European Union Identity Pro-Europeanism Euroscepticism European banking union European Banking Supervision Single Resolution Mechanism Capital Markets Union European System of Financial Supervision Integration Supranationalism United States of Europe Multi-speed Europe Enhanced co-op
Foreign relations High Representative Josep Borrell Ext. Action Service Foreign Policy Defence Policy Foreign relations of EU member states Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Argentina–European Union relations Armenia–European Union relations Australia–European Union relations Brazil–European Union relations Canada–European Union relations China–European Union relations European Union–NATO relations Georgia–European Union relations Iceland–European Union relations Kazakhstan–European Union relations Japan–European Union relations Mexico–European Union relations Moldova–European Union relations Norway–European Union relations Russia–European Union relations Switzerland–European Union relations Turkey–European Union relations Ukraine–European Union relations United Kingdom–European Union relations (History) Post-Brexit United Kingdom relations with the European Union Brexit United States–European Union relations Common Travel Area (Ireland) Microstates and the European Union European Union and the United Nations European Union Association Agreement G7 G20
Defunct bodies European Communities (1958–1993) European Coal and Steel Community European Economic Community European Community Western European Union Convention on the Future of Europe
European Union portal Other countries
v t e

Communists/Far Left

The EUL/NGL group picked up one seat in the election and seven in the subsequent regrouping, raising its total from 34 to 42.

Social Democrats

The PES group did badly, losing 34 of its seats in the election and slipping to the second-biggest group.

Liberals/Liberal Democrats

The ELDR group did moderately well, picking up one seat in the election and seven in the regrouping, giving a total of 50 seats and retaining its place as the third biggest group. The European Radical Alliance (ERA) were not so fortunate and slipped badly, losing eight of its 21 members in the election.

Conservatives/Christian Democrats

The EPP group did well, picking up 23 seats in the election and nine in the regrouping, giving a total of 233 seats and overtaking the left to become the biggest group. To placate the increasingly eurosceptic British Conservatives, the group was renamed "EPP-ED" for the new Parliament, partly resurrecting the name of the former European Democrat group which was merged^[1] with the EPP in 1992.

National Conservatives

The Union for Europe (UFE) group slipped during the election and lost 17 seats. The group split^[2] during the regrouping, with Ireland's Fianna Fáil and Portugal's CDS/PP forming a new group called "Union for Europe of the Nations". UEN started the Fifth Parliament with 31 MEPs.

Far-Right Nationalists

No explicitly far-right group per se was in existence immediately before or after the election. All far-right MEPs that were elected sat as Independents (see below).

Greens/Regionalists

The Green Group solidified its position, picking up 11 seats in the election to give it 38 MEPs. The European Free Alliance members of the ERA joined with the Green Group to create^[3] the Greens/EFA group, which started the Fifth Parliament with 48 MEPs.

Eurosceptics

The I-EN group trod water, gaining six members in the election but losing five in the regrouping, leaving it with 16 members. The group was renamed^[4] "Europe of Democracies and Diversities" (EDD) for the new Parliament.

Independents

The Non-Inscrits did badly, losing 20 MEPs to the election. Disparate members (two from Belgium, five from France and eleven from Italy)^[5] tried to gain Group privilege by creating a group called the "Technical Group of Independent Members" (full title "Group for the technical co-ordination of groups and the defence of independent members", abbreviated to "TGI" or "TDI"). The attempt initially succeeded, with the group allowed to start the Fifth Parliament until the legal position could be checked.^[5] In September, the Constitutional Affairs Committee ruled that they lacked a coherent position ("political complexion") and were disbanded^[6] - the only group ever to be forcibly dissolved. The TGI members returned to the Non-Inscrits, increasing their number to 27.^[7]