1999 European Parliament election in France

Last updated

1999 European Parliament election in France
Flag of France.svg
  1994 13 June 1999 2004  

All 87 French seats in the European Parliament
Turnout46.76
PartyLeaderVote %Seats+/–
PSMDCPRG François Hollande 21.9522−6
The Alliance Charles Pasqua 13.06130
RPRDL Nicolas Sarkozy 12.8212−2
LV Daniel Cohn-Bendit 9.729+9
UDF François Bayrou 9.299−5
PCF Robert Hue 6.786−1
CPNT Jean Saint-Josse 6.786+6
FN Jean-Marie Le Pen 5.705−6
LOLCR Arlette Laguiller
Alain Krivine
5.185+5
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
1999 European Election in France.svg

European Parliament elections were held in France on 13 June 1999. Once again, abstention was very high for this type of election- only 47% of eligible voters voted. The election was also the first French European election to be won by the Socialist Party (PS).

In a major surprise and historical upset for the government, Charles Pasqua's and Philippe de Villiers' list uniting Pasqua's new Gaullist Rally for France (RPF) and de Villiers' eurosceptic Movement for France (MPF) list surpassed the list of President Jacques Chirac's RPR-Liberal Democracy, led by Nicolas Sarkozy. The election ended Sarkozy's immediate political future, including a run for the presidency of the Rally for the Republic – Michèle Alliot-Marie, a close supporter of Chirac, succeeded him. However, the alliance between Pasqua and de Villiers proved to be ephemeral. de Villiers broke with Pasqua later 2000 and thus ended the RPF's chance to become a large common party for all eurosceptic Gaullists from within the RPR.

The New Union for French Democracy (Nouvelle UDF), led by François Bayrou ran independently of the RPR, contrary to Chirac's wishes, for the first time since 1984. Bayrou won a relatively good result, 9.28%, allowing him to pursue his more independent political strategy (slowly distancing the party from the RPR) within the New UDF.

The other winner of the election were The Greens led by Franco-German green politician Daniel Cohn-Bendit, whose list won 9.72%, the party's second-best result after 1989.

Minor parties, including the agrarian populist Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Traditions and the far-left Workers' Struggle obtained very good results and elected 6 and 5 MEP's respectively.

The far-right FN was penalized by Bruno Megret's dissident MNR list and obtained a low result. The French Communist Party also did poorly.

Results

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
PSMDCPRG 3,874,23121.9522–6
Rally for FranceMovement for France 2,304,54413.06130
Rally for the RepublicLiberal Democracy 2,263,20112.8212–2
The Greens 1,715,7299.729+9
Union for French Democracy 1,638,9999.299–5
French Communist Party 1,196,4916.786–1
Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Traditions 1,195,8636.786+6
National Front 1,005,2855.705–6
Lutte OuvrièreRevolutionary Communist League 914,8115.185+5
National Republican Movement 578,8373.280New
Less Taxes Now!312,4501.770New
Independent Ecological Movement 268,0381.520New
Fight for Jobs178,0641.010New
Living Energy–France124,5610.710New
Natural Law Party 71,4090.4000
Humanist Party 1,9950.010New
Martiniquean Liberal Movement1,7070.010New
Nationalist League6830.000New
Life Policy for Europe2740.0000
Federalist Party 00.000New
Total17,647,172100.00870
Valid votes17,647,17294.04
Invalid/blank votes1,118,9835.96
Total votes18,766,155100.00
Registered voters/turnout40,132,51746.76
Source: France Politique

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Nationale Inter-universitaire</span> French University organization

Union Nationale Interuniversitaire (UNI) or "Inter-University Union" is the largest French right union of university students, created in February 1969 to promote freedom of expression in reaction to the student crisis of May 68 and to support the political action of General de Gaulle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaullism</span> French political stance

Gaullism is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle withdrew French forces from the NATO Command Structure, forced the removal of Allied bases from France, as well as initiated France's own independent nuclear deterrent programme. His actions were predicated on the view that France would not be subordinate to other nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rally for the Republic</span> Political party in France

The Rally for the Republic was a Gaullist and conservative political party in France. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR), it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 and presented itself as the heir of Gaullist politics. It was one of the two major parties in French politics, alongside the Socialist Party. On 21 September 2002, the RPR was merged into the Union for the Presidential Majority, later renamed the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union for a Popular Movement</span> 2002–2015 political party in France

The Union for a Popular Movement was a liberal-conservative political party in France, largely inspired by the Gaullist tradition. During its existence, the UMP was one of the two major parties in French politics along with the Socialist Party (PS). In May 2015, the party was succeeded by The Republicans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberal Democracy (France)</span> Former French political party

Liberal Democracy was a conservative-liberal political party in France which existed from 1997 to 2002. Led by Alain Madelin, it replaced the Republican Party (PR), the classical liberal component of the Union for French Democracy (UDF). It merged into the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) between the two rounds of the 2002 presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union for French Democracy</span> Political party in France

The Union for French Democracy was a centre-right political party in France. The UDF was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over the political right in France. This name was chosen due to the title of Giscard d'Estaing's 1976 book, Démocratie française.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alain Juppé</span> French politician (born 1945)

Alain Marie Juppé is a French politician. A member of The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced major strikes that paralysed the country and became very unpopular. He left office after the victory of the left in the snap 1997 legislative elections. He had previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1993 to 1995, and as Minister of the Budget and Spokesman for the Government from 1986 to 1988. He was president of the political party Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) from 2002 to 2004 and mayor of Bordeaux from 2006 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Édouard Balladur</span> French politician (born 1929)

Édouard Balladur is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France under François Mitterrand from 29 March 1993 to 17 May 1995. He unsuccessfully ran for president in the 1995 French presidential election, coming in third place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Pasqua</span> French politician (1927–2015)

Charles Victor Pasqua was a French businessman and Gaullist politician. He was Interior Minister from 1986 to 1988, under Jacques Chirac's cohabitation government, and also from 1993 to 1995, under the government of Edouard Balladur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">François Bayrou</span> French politician (born 1951)

François René Jean Lucien Bayrou is a French politician who has presided over the Democratic Movement (MoDem) since he founded it in 2007. A centrist, he was a candidate in the 2002, 2007 and 2012 presidential elections. He has also presided over the European Democratic Party (EDP) since 2004.

The Movement for France was a conservative Eurosceptic French political party, founded on 20 November 1994, with a marked regional stronghold in the Vendée. It was led by Philippe de Villiers, once communications minister under Jacques Chirac.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marielle de Sarnez</span> French politician (1951–2021)

Marielle de Sarnez was a French politician who served as Secretary of State for European Affairs under Prime Minister Édouard Philippe.

The Rally for France was a right-wing political party in France. It was founded in 1999 by Gaullist former Interior Minister Charles Pasqua, then allied with Philippe de Villiers (ex-UDF). The RPF aimed to fight against globalisation and European federalism. The party was opposed to further European integration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Republican Party (France)</span> Former French political party

The Republican Party was a liberal-conservative political party in France which existed from 1977 to 1997. Created by the then-President of France, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, it replaced the National Federation of the Independent Republicans which was founded in 1966. It was known to be conservative in domestic, social and economic policies, pro-NATO, and pro-European.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1986 French legislative election</span>

Legislative elections were held in France on 16 March 1986 to elect the eighth National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. Contrary to other legislative elections of the Fifth Republic, the electoral system used was that of party-list proportional representation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1978 French legislative election</span>

Legislative elections were held in France on 12 and 19 March 1978 to elect the sixth National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. On 2 April 1974, President Georges Pompidou died. The non-Gaullist centre-right leader Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was elected to succeed him. Because the Gaullist Union of Democrats for the Republic was the largest party in the pro-Giscard majority in the Assembly, Giscard chose Jacques Chirac to lead the cabinet. This period was one of renovation for Gaullism.

The Centrists, known as The Centrists – New Centre since 2018, formerly known as New Centre and European Social Liberal Party, is a centre-right political party in France formed by the members of the Union for French Democracy (UDF) – including 18 of the 29 members of the UDF in the National Assembly) – who did not agree with François Bayrou's decision to found the Democratic Movement (MoDem) and wanted to support the newly-elected president Nicolas Sarkozy, continuing the UDF–Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) alliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1992 French Maastricht Treaty referendum</span>

A referendum on the Maastricht Treaty for the founding of the European Union was held in France on 20 September 1992. It was approved by 51% of the voters. The result of the referendum, known as the "petit oui", along with the Danish "No" vote (50,7%) are considered to be signals of a transition of public opinion on European integration, away from the "permissive consensus" which had existed in most member states until then. From this point forward issues relating to European integration were subject to more intensive discussions across much of Europe, and later overt euroscepticism gained prominence. Only France, Ireland and Denmark held referendums on the Maastricht Treaty ratification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Centre of Independents and Peasants</span> Political party in France

The National Centre of Independents and Peasants is a right-wing agrarian political party in France, founded in 1951 by the merger of the National Centre of Independents (CNI), the heir of the French Republican conservative-liberal tradition, with the Peasant Party and the Republican Party of Liberty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centrism in France</span> Political history

Centrism in France has played a major role in French politics over many decades. This page presents the parties, political movements and personalities linked to Centrism in France according to their political traditions or their background. The different families of centrism are presented in the different sections.