Parties in the European Council between May and December 2004

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The member-states of the European Union by the European party affiliations of their leaders, as of 1 May 2004. Party affiliations in the Council of the EU (1 May 2004).png
The member-states of the European Union by the European party affiliations of their leaders, as of 1 May 2004.

On 1 May 2004 ten new member states joined the European Union. This article describes the party affiliations of the leaders of each member-state represented in the European Council from 1 May until the end of 2004. The list below gives the political party that each head of government, or head of state, belonged to at the national level, as well as the European political alliance to which that national party belonged. The states are listed from most to least populous. More populous states have greater influence in the council, in accordance with the system of Qualified Majority Voting.

Contents

Summary

Party1 May 200412 July 20041 November 20042 December 20043 December 2004
#QMVa#QMVa#QMVb#QMVb#QMVb
Party of European Socialists 750750714671467146
European People's Party 10491049101231112712131
European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party 517414430430326
Alliance for Europe of the Nations 1313171717
European Green Party 1313140000
Independent 1225211211211

a – Transitional QMV system with 124 total votes and a qualified majority of 88 (70.97%), in use until 1 November 2004.
b – Final EU-25 QMV system with 321 total votes and a qualified majority of 232 (72.27%).

List of leaders (1 May 2004)

Member-stateVotesLeaderNational partyEuropean party
ab
Germany1029 Gerhard Schröder SPD PES
United Kingdom1029 Tony Blair Lab PES
France1029 Jacques Chirac UMP EPP
Italy1029 Silvio Berlusconi FI EPP
Spain827 José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero PSOE PES
Poland827 Leszek Miller SLD PES
Netherlands513 Jan Peter Balkenende CDA EPP
Greece512 Kostas Karamanlis ND EPP
Czech Republic512 Vladimír Špidla ČSSD PES
Belgium512 Guy Verhofstadt VLD ELDR
Hungary512 Péter Medgyessy MSZP PES
Portugal512 José Manuel Barroso PPD/PSD EPP
Sweden410 Göran Persson SAP PES
Austria410 Wolfgang Schüssel ÖVP EPP
Slovakia37 Mikuláš Dzurinda SDKÚ EPP
Denmark37 Anders Fogh Rasmussen V ELDR
Finland37 Matti Vanhanen Kesk. ELDR
Ireland37 Bertie Ahern FF AEN
Lithuania37 Artūras Paulauskas NS ELDR
Latvia34 Indulis Emsis LZP EGP
Slovenia34 Anton Rop LDS ELDR
Estonia34 Juhan Parts RP EPP
Cyprus24 Tassos Papadopoulos DIKO Independent
Luxembourg24 Jean-Claude Juncker CSV EPP
Malta23 Lawrence Gonzi PN EPP

^ DIKO's MEP joined the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group in the European Parliament, but the party is not formally attached to any pan-European organization.

Changes

Affiliation

DateMember-stateLeaderNational partyEuropean party
12 JulyLithuania Valdas Adamkus Independent
2 DecemberLatvia Aigars Kalvītis TP EPP
3 DecemberSlovenia Janez Janša SDS EPP

Office-holder only

DateMember-stateLeaderNational partyEuropean party
2 MayPoland Marek Belka SLD PES
17 JulyPortugal Pedro Santana Lopes PPD/PSD EPP
4 AugustCzech Republic Stanislav Gross ČSSD PES
29 SeptemberHungary Ferenc Gyurcsány MSZP PES

See also