1984 European Parliament election

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.

1984 European Parliament election

← 197914–17 June 19841989 →

All 434 seats to the European Parliament
218 seats needed for a majority
Turnout61% Decrease 2.0 pp
 First partySecond partyThird party
 
LeaderRudi ArndtEgon KlepschHenry Plumb
PartySOCEPPED
Leader's seatGermanyGermanyCotswolds
Last election113, 27.6%107, 26.1%64, 15.6%
Seats won130*110*50*
Seat changeIncrease17Increase3Decrease14
Percentage30%25.3%11.5%
SwingIncrease2.4%Decrease0.8%Decrease4.1%

 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
 
LeaderGianni CervettiSimone VeilChristian de La Malène
PartyCOMELDREPD
Leader's seatNorth-West ItalyFranceFrance
Last election44, 10.7%40, 9.8%22, 5.4%
Seats won413129
Seat changeDecrease3Decrease9Increase7
Percentage9.4%7.1%6.7%
SwingDecrease1.3%Decrease2.7%Increase1.3%

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

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

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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

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Seat changes

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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
 West Germany81  Belgium24
 United Kingdom81  Greece24
 France81  Denmark16
 Italy81  Ireland15
 Netherlands25  Luxembourg6

Campaign

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Election and regrouping

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Overview

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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

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1984 European Parliament election - final results at 23–26 July 1984
GroupDescriptionChaired byMEPs
 SOCSocial DemocratsRudi Arndt130
 EPPChristian DemocratsEgon Klepsch110
 EDConservativesHenry Plumb50
 COMCommunists and the Far LeftGianni Cervetti41
 LDLiberals and Liberal DemocratsSimone Veil31
 EDANational ConservativesChristian de La Malène29
 RBWGreens and RegionalistsElse Hammerich
Jaak Vandemeulebroucke
Bram van der Lek
Paul Staes
20
 ERFar Right NationalistsJean-Marie Le Pen16
 NIIndependentsnone7Total: 434Sources: [1][2] 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

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Group
Nation
SOCEPPEDCOMLDEDARBWERNITotal
Belgium4 PS
3 SP
4 CVP
2 PSC
3 PRL
2 PVV
2 VU
1 Agalev
1 Ecolo
2 Ind.24
Denmark3 A
1 Siu
1 D4 C1 SF2 V4 N16
France20 PS7 UDF
2 UDF (CDS)
10 PCF6 UDF (PR)
5 UDF
1 UDF (PRV)
20 RPR UPC10 FN81
Greece10 PASOK9 ND3 KKE
1 KKE–E
1 EPEN24
Ireland6 FG1 Ind.8 FF15
Italy9 PSI
3 PSDI
26 DC
1 SVP
26 PCI3 PLI
2 PRI
1 PdUP
1 DP
1 PSd'Az
5 MSI3 PR81
Luxembourg2 LSAP3 CSV1 DP6
Netherlands9 PvdA8 CDA5 VVD1 PSP
1 PPR
1 SGP25
United Kingdom32 LAB
1 SDLP
45 CON
1 UUP
1 SNP1 DUP81
West Germany33 SPD34 CDU
7 CSU
7 Grünen81
Total1301105041312920167434

Statistics

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European Parliament election, 1984 - statistics
AreaDatesSeatsElectorateTurnoutPreviousNextElection methodsSources
European Community
(EC-10)
14, 17 June
1984
434200,505,75261%19791989All PR, except UK (not NI)
which used FPTP
[3] Archived 25 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine [4] Archived 11 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine [5]
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: [6] Archived 11 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine [7] Archived 27 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine [8]
European Parliament election, 1984 - Delegation at 23 July 1984
GroupDescriptionDetails%MEPs
 SOCSocial DemocratsWest Germany 33, Belgium 7, Denmark 4, France 20, Italy 12, Luxembourg 2, Netherlands 9, UK 33, Greece 1030%130
 EPPChristian DemocratsWest Germany 41, Belgium 6, Denmark 1, France 9, Ireland 6, Italy 27, Luxembourg 3, Netherlands 8, Greece 925%110
 EDConservativesDenmark 4, UK 4612%50
 COMCommunists and the Far LeftDenmark 1, France 10, Italy 26, Greece 49%41
 LDLiberals and Liberal DemocratsBelgium 5, Denmark 2, France 12, Ireland 1, Italy 5, Luxembourg 1, Netherlands 57%31
 EDANational ConservativesFrance 20, Ireland 8, UK 17%29
 RBWGreens and RegionalistsWest Germany 7, Belgium 4, Denmark 4, Italy 3, Netherlands 25%20
 ERFar-Right NationalistsFrance 10, Italy 5, Greece 14%16
 NIIndependentsBelgium 2, Italy 3, Netherlands 1, UK 12%7
Sources: [9] [10] Archived 27 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine100%434

Post-election

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