45-447: The European People's Party ( EPP ) is a European political party with Christian democratic , liberal-conservative , and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Christian-democratic parties in 1976, it has since broadened its membership to include liberal-conservative parties and parties with other centre-right political perspectives. On 31 May 2022,
90-684: A parliamentary group on its own, approximately half a million votes in total were sufficient to send one of the founders, Damian Boeselager , into the European Parliament via a German Volt list. Since June 2019, Volt is part of the group of the Greens/EFA . = In June 2018, the European Council decided to reapportion 27 of the 73 seats which would become vacant in the event of the United Kingdom leaving
135-623: A broader group, including ALDE, but also centrist and centre-left parties outside of ALDE. The European Spring initiated from the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 ran as a pan-European party alliance with one unified vision for Europe, the European Green New Deal. The most prominent figure is the former Greek minister Yanis Varoufakis , who ran as a candidate in the constituency of Germany, but failed to secure
180-581: A consensus President of the Commission. The two Spitzenkandidaten were discussed, but neither Manfred Weber (EPP), nor Frans Timmermans (PES), who had the backing of many leaders but not of those from the Visegrád Group , had a majority. In the final hours of the vote, the name of Ursula von der Leyen was suggested and agreed to by all governments, with Germany's abstention. The European Parliament elected Ursula von der Leyen as President of
225-468: A new alliance of anti-establishment parties that claim to be neither left nor right. In the 5-month period preceding the 2019 European Parliament elections, the blog byoblu.com, which collaborated with the Five Star Movement (M5S), published deceptive information on Twitter, spreading disinformation during the 2019 European elections. The blog byoblu.com is owned by Claudio Messora, who was
270-544: A process that has to start at least six weeks before the elections. The European Parliament gave its consent on 4 July 2018 and the Act was adopted by the Council on 13 July 2018. However, not all member states ratified the Act prior to the 2019 elections and therefore this election took place in line with the previous rules. The Spitzenkandidat process involves the nomination by European political parties of candidates for
315-564: A raid at the EPP headquarters in Brussels as part of an investigation in Germany. Within the EPP there are three kinds of member organisations: full members, associate members and observers. Full members are parties from EU states. They have absolute rights to vote in all the EPP's organs and on all matters. Associate members have the same voting rights as full members except for matters concerning
360-449: A seat. Despite garnering approximately one and a half million votes, no representatives who ran DiEM25 were elected, due to the votes being dispersed throughout different EU countries. As a new pan-European party, Volt Europa was founded in different European countries two years before the elections and successfully campaigned in eight EU countries for the elections with one transnational programme. Despite missing its own goal to create
405-528: A suspended member of the EPP itself. On 18 March 2021, Fidesz decided to leave the European People's Party. In June 2024, The Hungarian Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP), who serve in government with Fidesz, left the European People's Party. That same month, members of the newly elected Hungarian Tisza Party led by Peter Magyar , a former Fidesz insider, applied to join EPP. In April 2023, Belgian police and German investigators carried out
450-505: Is required to form a new group. In November 2018, LREM decided to cooperate with the liberal ALDE Group instead. Nevertheless, Macron stressed that this was merely a loose alliance and his party is not a member of ALDE Party. He bluntly criticised ALDE for accepting donations from the Bayer-Monsanto chemical group while LREM's campaign chief threatened to recall the alliance. In April and May 2019, LREM continued its efforts to build
495-722: The Civic Platform of Poland, the Social Democratic Party of Portugal and the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria . According to its website, the EPP is "the family of the political centre-right, whose roots run deep in the history and civilisation of the European continent, and [which] has pioneered the European project from its inception". The EPP was founded in Luxembourg on 8 July 1976 on
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#1732780147263540-678: The European Alliance of Peoples and Nations as a new coalition of populist, hard Eurosceptic and anti-immigration parties. It has been joined by most of the members of the outgoing Europe of Nations and Freedom group (including Lega, the French National Rally , Freedom Party of Austria and the Dutch Party for Freedom ) as well as some former EFDD ( Alternative for Germany ) and ECR parties ( Danish People's Party and Finns Party ). It has been predicted to become
585-712: The European elections in 2009, the EPP approved its election manifesto at its Congress in Warsaw in April that year. The manifesto called for: Concerns that the Hungarian ruling party Fidesz and its leader Viktor Orbán were undermining the rule of law in Hungary caused a split in the EPP in the run-up of the 2019 European Parliament election . On one hand, the EPP had been reluctant for years to address Fidesz's stance against
630-686: The Greens adopted the principle of having two leading candidates for the European Elections 2019. Unlike in 2014, where the candidates were chosen through an open online primary elections, the two leading candidates were elected by the Council of the Party in Berlin in November 2018. Four people, two of them being currently MEPs, have declared their candidacy: At their 2018 Congress in Berlin,
675-537: The United Kingdom . As such, it won the most seats by any national political party in the parliament; the German CDU/CSU also won 29 seats but as an alliance. The biggest new party after UK exit is La République En Marche! (LREM) of French President Emmanuel Macron that was formed in 2016 and won the French presidential and parliamentary elections of the following year. Initially, it balked at joining any of
720-832: The Common Candidate. The party convened an extraordinary Congress in Lisbon to ratify the election of the candidate and to vote upon the manifesto. Jan Zahradil , an MEP for the Czech Civic Democratic Party , is the Spitzenkandidat of the European Conservatives and Reformists . Rather than present a single candidate, the ALDE group presented a Team Europe of seven people as the alliance's leading candidates: As in 2014,
765-591: The EPP the same year. The EPP has had seven Presidents: During its Congress in Bucharest in 2012, the EPP updated its political platform after 20 years (since its Congress in Athens in 1992) and approved a political manifesto in which it summarised its main values and policies. The manifesto highlights: The manifesto also describes the EPP's priorities for the EU, including: As a central part of its campaign for
810-629: The EPP. Many of the founding fathers of the European Union were also from parties that later formed the EPP. The EPP includes major centre-right parties such as the CDU/CSU of Germany, ÖVP of Austria, CD&V of Belgium, PNL of Romania, Fine Gael of Ireland, National Coalition Party of Finland, New Democracy of Greece, the Moderates of Sweden, the People's Party (PP) of Spain,
855-503: The EU . As the United Kingdom was still a member of the EU at the time of the election, the elections were held with the same allocation of seats as in 2014. When the United Kingdom left the EU, 27 of the seats were reallocated to other EU member states as shown below, resulting in a total of 705 MEPs. The table below shows the changes in group composition after the United Kingdom left the EU. There were no pan-European polls for
900-560: The EU's structure or policies. These associate members are parties from EU candidate countries and EFTA countries. Observer parties can participate in all the activities of the EPP, and attend the Congresses and Political Assemblies, but they do not have any voting rights. Special status of "supporting member" is granted by the Presidency to individuals and associations. Although they do not have voting rights, they can be invited by
945-856: The European Commission. Two candidates sought the nomination of the EPP: At their 2018 Congress in Helsinki, the EPP elected Manfred Weber as their Spitzenkandidat for President of the European Commission. Previous candidate Martin Schulz left the European Parliament in 2017 to head the Social Democratic Party of Germany , but he stepped down from the latter position in 2018. Two candidates were nominated by PES member parties and organisations: Šefčovič announced his withdrawal in November and supported Frans Timmermans as
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#1732780147263990-573: The European Union on 29 March 2019. However, the United Kingdom participated alongside other EU member states after an extension of Article 50 to 31 October 2019; therefore, the allocation of seats between the member states and the total number of seats remained as it had been in 2014. On 26 May 2019, the centre-left and centre-right parties suffered significant losses, while pro-EU centrist , liberal and environmentalist parties and anti-EU right-wing populist parties made substantial gains. The European People's Party led by Manfred Weber won
1035-662: The European Union of Christian Democrats , founded in 1965. In the late 1990s, the Finnish politician Sauli Niinistö negotiated the merger of the European Democrat Union (EDU), of which he was president, into the EPP. In October 2002, the EDU ceased its activities after being formally absorbed by the EPP at a special event in Estoril, Portugal. In recognition of his efforts, Niinistö was elected Honorary President of
1080-403: The European elections". In May 2018 a Eurobarometer poll suggested that 49% of the 27,601 individuals from all 28 EU countries surveyed think that the Spitzenkandidat process will help them vote in the next European elections while 70% also think that the process requires a real debate on European issues. Incumbent Jean-Claude Juncker stated he would not seek a second term as President of
1125-452: The European elections. However, several organisations calculated the theoretical seat distribution in the European Parliament based on national polls in all member states. The table below displays these different projections. Since the United Kingdom notified its intention to leave the European Union in March 2017, the United Kingdom was expected not to participate in the European elections and
1170-1227: The President to attend meetings of certain organs of the party. [REDACTED] Albania [REDACTED] Bosnia and Herzegovina [REDACTED] Georgia [REDACTED] Iceland [REDACTED] Montenegro [REDACTED] North Macedonia [REDACTED] Norway [REDACTED] Serbia [REDACTED] Switzerland [REDACTED] Ukraine [REDACTED] Armenia [REDACTED] Belarus [REDACTED] Bosnia and Herzegovina [REDACTED] Georgia [REDACTED] Kosovo [REDACTED] Moldova [REDACTED] Norway [REDACTED] San Marino [REDACTED] Ukraine [REDACTED] Armenia [REDACTED] Belgium [REDACTED] Belarus [REDACTED] France [REDACTED] Croatia [REDACTED] Hungary [REDACTED] Italy [REDACTED] Romania [REDACTED] Slovakia European political party Too Many Requests If you report this error to
1215-485: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 212725752 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:49:07 GMT 2019 European Parliament election Jean-Claude Juncker EPP Ursula von der Leyen EPP The 2019 European Parliament election
1260-564: The existing party families, instead trying to form a new parliamentary group of pro-European centrists who support Macron's plans to reform the European institutions, drawing away members from ALDE, EPP and S&D. Possible partners for such a project were expected to include Spanish Ciudadanos , Progressive Slovakia and the Hungarian Momentum Movement . However, the hypothetical group was considered to have difficulties to find MEPs from at least seven member states as
1305-438: The fourth largest group in parliament with an estimate of more than 80 MEPs. 2019 saw the debut of new parties such as Wiosna of Poland, Czech Pirate Party of Czech Republic, USR-PLUS of Romania, Human Shield and Most of Croatia, ĽSNS and Progressive Slovakia of Slovakia. Some of the new parties have already joined European parties, e.g. LMŠ of Slovenia is a member of ALDE. The new Brexit Party won 29 seats in
1350-445: The head of communications for the 5 Star Movement and a close associate and friend of Beppe Grillo. The Movement is an alliance of populist parties set up by Steve Bannon in 2018 with the purpose of contesting the European elections. Participating parties included, at least temporarily, Lega Nord , People's Party of Belgium and Brothers of Italy and possibly French National Rally . Originally envisioned as an attempt to unite
1395-591: The initiative of Jean Seitlinger ; Leo Tindemans , then Prime Minister of Belgium , who became the first President of the EPP; and Wilfried Martens , who later became both President of the EPP and Prime Minister of Belgium. It had been preceded by the Secretariat International des partis démocratiques d'inspiration chrétienne , founded in 1925, the Nouvelles Equipes Internationales , founded in 1946 (or 1948), and
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1440-487: The most seats in the European Parliament, making Weber the leading candidate to become the next President of the European Commission . Despite this, the European Council decided after the election to nominate Ursula von der Leyen as new Commission President. On 7 June 2018, the Council agreed at ambassador level to change the EU electoral law and to reform old laws from the 1976 Electoral Act. The purpose of
1485-562: The next President of the European Commission . After years of deferring a decision about the Fidesz issue, the EPP was eventually compelled to address the problem two months before the 2019 European elections, as 13 outraged member parties requested the Hungarian party's exclusion from the EPP due to its billboard campaign featuring Jean-Claude Juncker. 190 of the 193 EPP delegates supported the common agreement with Fidesz on 20 March 2019 to partially suspend its membership. According to it, Fidesz
1530-628: The party elected Ska Keller and Bas Eickhout as their Spitzenkandidaten for the President of the European Commission. Oriol Junqueras , a Catalan historian, academic and former Vice President of Catalonia who, at the time of the election, was imprisoned because of his involvement in the 2017 Catalan independence referendum , was the Spitzenkandidat of the European Free Alliance . The designated candidates are Violeta Tomič from Slovenia and Belgian trade-unionist Nico Cué . The Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy
1575-653: The party elected as its President Manfred Weber , who was also EPP's Spitzenkandidat in 2019. The EPP has been the largest party in the European Parliament since 1999 and in the European Council since 2002. It is also the largest party in the current European Commission . The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola are from
1620-493: The party. Three days before this, the Hungarian Parliament had passed a law, declaring a state of emergency within Hungary, granting Prime Minister Viktor Orbán the right to rule by decree. On 3 March 2021, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced that Fidesz would leave the EPP group after it changed its internal rules (to allow suspension and expulsion of multiple deputies and their groups), although Fidesz remained
1665-781: The populist parties in Europe, The Movement has so far been snubbed by the Alternative for Germany , the Freedom Party of Austria and the UK Independence Party . In March 2019, reporters assessed Bannon's project as a failure. Shortly ahead of the election, Marine Le Pen of the French National Rally distanced herself from Bannon, clarifying that he played no role in her party's campaign. In April 2019, Matteo Salvini of Italy's Lega launched
1710-563: The process and the parties are almost certain to select the candidates again. On 23 January 2018, the Constitutional Affairs Committee adopted a text stating that the Spitzenkandidat process could not be overturned, and that Parliament "will be ready to reject any candidate in the investiture procedure of the Commission President who was not appointed as a Spitzenkandidat in the run-up to
1755-445: The reform is to increase participation in elections, raise understanding of their European character and prevent irregular voting while at the same time respecting the constitutional and electoral traditions of the member states. The reform forbids double voting and voting in third countries, thus improving the visibility of European political parties. To avoid double voting, contact authorities are established to exchange data on voters,
1800-443: The role of Commission President, the party winning the most seats in the European Parliament receiving the first opportunity to attempt to form a majority to back their candidate (akin to how heads of government are elected in national parliamentary democracies). This process was first used in 2014 and was opposed by some in the European Council . The future of the process is uncertain, but the European Parliament has attempted to codify
1845-510: The rule of law, expressed by the Article 7 proceedings of the European Parliament . On the other hand, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker , a prominent EPP-member, stated "I believe his [Fidesz's] place is not in the European People's Party". Orbán's campaigns targeting billionaire George Soros and Jean-Claude Juncker carried wide reverberations for Europe questioning the EPP's effort to install its lead candidate Manfred Weber as
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1890-516: Was "until further notice" excluded from EPP meetings and internal elections, but remained in the European People's Party Group of the European Parliament . Fidesz did not deliver on its earlier promise to leave the EPP in case of a penalty. In February 2020, the EPP extended the suspension of Fidesz indefinitely. On 2 April 2020, thirteen parties within the EPP issued a joint statement aimed at Donald Tusk, asking him to expunge Fidesz from
1935-499: Was held in the European Union (EU) between 23 and 26 May 2019. It was the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979 . A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected to represent more than 512 million people from 28 member states . In February 2018, the European Parliament had voted to decrease the number of MEPs from 751 to 705 if the United Kingdom were to withdraw from
1980-536: Was therefore excluded from projections. On 10 April 2019, the European Council extended the Brexit deadline to 31 October 2019, and the UK did participate in the European elections. The UK was included in most projections after that date. → (no En Marche) The following table shows projections with vote share instead of seats. The heads of governments, gathered in a European Council on 1–3 July 2019, could not agree on
2025-536: Was widely expected to disband after the election. One reason was that its biggest share of MEPs came from the United Kingdom, which was long expected to leave the EU before the election. The second was that the second-biggest partner, Italy's Five Star Movement (M5S), felt uneasy about this alliance anyway, having unsuccessfully tried to join the Greens/EFA or ALDE group instead. In February 2019, M5S alongside partners from Croatia, Finland, Greece and Poland presented
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