Parties in the European Council during 2006

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The member-states of the European Union by the European parliamentary affiliations of their leaders, as of 1 January 2006. Party affiliations in the Council of the EU Nov 2005 1.PNG
The member-states of the European Union by the European parliamentary affiliations of their leaders, as of 1 January 2006.

This article describes the party affiliations of the leaders of each member-state represented in the European Council during the year 2006. The list below gives the political party that each head of government, or head of state, belongs to at the national level, as well as the European political alliance to which that national party belongs. 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 January 200617 May 20064 July 20064 September 20066 October 2006
#QMV#QMV#QMV#QMV#QMV
European People's Party 11144101159108910810118
Party of European Socialists 610261027109697587
Alliance for Europe of the Nations 234234234234234
European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party 430430430430430
Independent 211211211211211
European Democratic Party 00129129129129
Movement for European Reform 000000112112

List of leaders (1 January 2006)

Member-stateVotesLeaderNational partyEuropean party
Germany29 Angela Merkel CDU EPP
United Kingdom29 Tony Blair Lab PES
France29 Jacques Chirac UMP EPP
Italy29 Silvio Berlusconi FI EPP
Spain27 José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero PSOE PES
Poland27 Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz PiS AEN
Netherlands13 Jan Peter Balkenende CDA EPP
Greece12 Kostas Karamanlis ND EPP
Czech Republic12 Jiří Paroubek ČSSD PES
Belgium12 Guy Verhofstadt VLD ELDR
Hungary12 Ferenc Gyurcsány MSZP PES
Portugal12 José Sócrates PS PES
Sweden10 Göran Persson SAP PES
Austria10 Wolfgang Schüssel ÖVP EPP
Slovakia7 Mikuláš Dzurinda SDKÚ EPP
Denmark7 Anders Fogh Rasmussen V ELDR
Finland7 Matti Vanhanen Kesk. ELDR
Ireland7 Bertie Ahern FF AEN
Lithuania7 Valdas Adamkus Independent
Latvia4 Aigars Kalvītis TP EPP
Slovenia4 Janez Janša SDS EPP
Estonia4 Andrus Ansip RE ELDR
Cyprus4 Tassos Papadopoulos DIKO Independent
Luxembourg4 Jean-Claude Juncker CSV EPP
Malta3 Lawrence Gonzi PN EPP

^ DIKO's MEP is a member of 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 during the year

Affiliation

DateMember-stateLeaderNational partyEuropean party
17 MayItaly Romano Prodi Independent EDP
4 JulySlovakia Robert Fico SMER-SD PES
4 SeptemberCzech Republic Mirek Topolánek ODS MER
6 OctoberSweden Fredrik Reinfeldt M EPP

^ Prodi officially aligns himself only with his The Olive Tree coalition rather than any member-party, but he was previously a member of Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy's ancestor-party and is honorary president of its European parent, the EDP.

Office-holder only

DateMember-stateLeaderNational partyEuropean party
14 JulyPoland Jarosław Kaczyński PiS AEN

See also