1984 European Parliament election

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1984 European Parliament election
Flag of Europe.svg
  1979 14–17 June 1984 1989  

All 434 seats to the European Parliament
218 seats needed for a majority
Turnout61% Decrease2.svg 2.0 pp
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Rudi Arndt.jpg Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F061785-0005, Hamburg, CDU-Bundesparteitag, Egon Klepsch (cropped).jpg Henry Plumb (cropped).jpg
Leader Rudi Arndt Egon Klepsch Henry Plumb
Party SOC EPP ED
Leader's seat Germany Germany Cotswolds
Last election113, 27.6%107, 26.1%64, 15.6%
Seats won130*110*50*
Seat changeIncrease2.svg17Increase2.svg3Decrease2.svg14
Percentage30%25.3%11.5%
SwingIncrease2.svg2.4%Decrease2.svg0.8%Decrease2.svg4.1%

 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
  Giovanni Cervetti.jpg Simone Veil (1984).jpg No image.svg
LeaderGianni Cervetti Simone Veil Christian de La Malène
Party COM ELDR EPD
Leader's seat North-West Italy France France
Last election44, 10.7%40, 9.8%22, 5.4%
Seats won413129
Seat changeDecrease2.svg3Decrease2.svg9Increase2.svg7
Percentage9.4%7.1%6.7%
SwingDecrease2.svg1.3%Decrease2.svg2.7%Increase2.svg1.3%

1984 European Parliament election, political grouping breakdown by countries.svg
Post-election composition of each member state's delegation
* 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

President of the European Parliament after election

Pierre Pflimlin
EPP

The 1984 European Parliament election 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.

Contents

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.

Electoral system

There was no single voting system for all member states; each of them adopted its own method, established by national law.

The United Kingdom used a one-round (first-past-the-post) system of 78 constituencies in England, Wales and Scotland, while in Northern Ireland 3 proportional seats were allocated. Belgium, Ireland and Italy used a proportional system with subdivision of the territory into constituencies. Denmark, France, West Germany, Greece, Luxembourg and the Netherlands used a single national proportional system, although in the case of Denmark Greenland had its own constituency with the allocation of one seat and in the case of West Germany the three seats for the West Berlin area were not directly elected but were chosen by the Berlin House of Representatives, given the particular status of the city.

Pre-election

Seat changes

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.

National distribution of seats
StateSeatsStateSeats
Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 81Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 24
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 81Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 24
Flag of France.svg  France 81Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 16
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 81Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 15
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 25Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg 6

Campaign

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

1984 European Parliament election - final results at 23–26 July 1984
Group DescriptionChaired by MEPs
  SOC Social Democrats Rudi Arndt 130 European Parliament Composition 1984.svg
  EPP Christian Democrats Egon Klepsch 110
  ED Conservatives Henry Plumb 50
  COM Communists and the Far Left Gianni Cervetti 41
  LD Liberals and Liberal Democrats Simone Veil 31
  EDA National Conservatives Christian de La Malène 29
  RBW Greens and Regionalists Else Hammerich
Jaak Vandemeulebroucke
Bram van der Lek
Paul Staes
20
  ER Far Right Nationalists Jean-Marie Le Pen 16
  NI Independentsnone7Total: 434Sources: Archived 27 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
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%

Results by country

Group
Nation
SOC EPP ED COM LD EDA RBW ER NI Total
Belgium 4 PS
3 SP
4 CVP
2 PSC
3 PRL
2 PVV
2 VU
1 Agalev
1 Ecolo
2 Ind. 24
Denmark 3 A
1 Siu
1 D 4 C 1 SF 2 V 4 N 16
France 20 PS 7 UDF
2 UDF (CDS)
10 PCF 6 UDF (PR)
5 UDF
1 UDF (PRV)
20 RPR UPC 10 FN 81
Greece 10 PASOK 9 ND 3 KKE
1 KKE–E
1 EPEN 24
Ireland 6 FG 1 Ind. 8 FF 15
Italy 9 PSI
3 PSDI
26 DC
1 SVP
26 PCI 3 PLI
2 PRI
1 PdUP
1 DP
1 PSd'Az
5 MSI 3 PR 81
Luxembourg 2 LSAP 3 CSV 1 DP 6
Netherlands 9 PvdA 8 CDA 5 VVD 1 PSP
1 PPR
1 SGP 25
United Kingdom 32 LAB
1 SDLP
45 CON
1 UUP
1 SNP 1 DUP 81
West Germany 33 SPD 34 CDU
7 CSU
7 Grünen 81
Total1301105041312920167434

Statistics

European Parliament election, 1984 - statistics
AreaDatesSeatsElectorateTurnoutPreviousNextElection methodsSources
European Community
(EC-10)
14, 17 June
1984
434200,505,75261% 1979 1989 All PR, except UK (not NI)
which used FPTP
Archived 25 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine Archived 11 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
European Parliament election, 1984 - timeline
First Parliament1984 election and regroupingSecond Parliament
GroupsPre-elections
January 1
ChangeResults
July 23
New
groups
First session
July 23
 SOC124+6130 SOC130
 EPP117-7110 EPP110
 ED63-1350 ED50
 COM48-741 COM41
 LD38-731 LD31
 EPD22+729 EDA29
 CDI12+820 RBW20
 NI10+137 NI7
16 ER16
Total434+0434Total434
Sources: Archived 11 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine Archived 27 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
European Parliament election, 1984 - Delegation at 23 July 1984
GroupDescriptionDetails%MEPs
  SOC Social Democrats West Germany 33, Belgium 7, Denmark 4, France 20, Italy 12, Luxembourg 2, Netherlands 9, UK 33, Greece 1030%130
  EPP Christian Democrats West Germany 41, Belgium 6, Denmark 1, France 9, Ireland 6, Italy 27, Luxembourg 3, Netherlands 8, Greece 925%110
  ED Conservatives Denmark 4, UK 4612%50
  COM Communists and the Far Left Denmark 1, France 10, Italy 26, Greece 49%41
  LD Liberals and Liberal DemocratsBelgium 5, Denmark 2, France 12, Ireland 1, Italy 5, Luxembourg 1, Netherlands 57%31
  EDA National Conservatives France 20, Ireland 8, UK 17%29
  RBW Greens and Regionalists West Germany 7, Belgium 4, Denmark 4, Italy 3, Netherlands 25%20
  ER Far-Right NationalistsFrance 10, Italy 5, Greece 14%16
  NI IndependentsBelgium 2, Italy 3, Netherlands 1, UK 12%7
Sources: Archived 27 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine 100%434

Post-election

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