European Parliament election, 2009 (Belgium)

Belgium European Parliament election, 2009
Belgium
7 June 2009
22 seats to the European Parliament
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Jean-Luc Dehaene Guy Verhofstadt Jean-Claude Marcourt
Party CD&V Open Vld PS
Alliance EPP ALDE PES
Last election 4 seats, 17.43% 3 seats, 13.56% 4 seats, 13.54%
Seats won 3 3 2
Seat change Decrease 1 Steady Decrease 1
Popular vote 948,123 837,884 714,947
Percentage 14.43% 12.75% 10.88%
Swing Increase 3.00% Decrease 0.81% Decrease 2.66%
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Frank Vanhecke Louis Michel
Party Vlaams Belang MR
Alliance ALDE
Last election 3 seats, 14.43% 3 seats, 10.35%
Seats won 2 2
Seat change Decrease 1 Decrease 1
Popular vote 647,170 640,092
Percentage 9.85% 9.74%
Swing Decrease 4.49% Decrease 0.61%
Members of the
European Parliament
for Belgium
ECSC delegation (1952)
EP delegation (1958)
1st term (1979)
2nd term (1984)
3rd term (1989)
4th term (1994)
5th term (1999)
6th term (2004)
7th term (2009)
8th term (2014)

The European Parliament election of 2009 in Belgium was on Sunday 7 June 2009 and was the election of the delegation from Belgium to the European Parliament. The elections were on the same day as regional elections to the Flemish Parliament, Walloon Parliament, Brussels Parliament and the Parliament of the German-speaking Community.[1]

As a result of the Treaty of Nice - that became active in November 2004 - the number of Belgian delegates in the European Parliament decreased from 24 (in 2004) to 22 delegates: 13 delegates were elected by the Dutch-speaking Electoral College, 8 delegates by the Francophone Electoral College and 1 by the German-speaking Electoral College.

Results

Source: European Parliament Elections 2009 in Belgium

National

 Summary of the results of Belgium's 7 June 2009 election to the European Parliament
← 2004 • 2009 • 2014 →
Party European party Main candidate Electoral college (E.c.) Votes % +/– E.c. % Seats +/–
Christian Democratic & Flemish (CD&V) EPP Jean-Luc Dehaene Dutch-speaking 948,123 14.43 * 23.26 3 *
Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (OPEN VLD) ELDR Guy Verhofstadt Dutch-speaking 837,884 12.75 * 20.56 3 *
Socialist Party (PS) PES Jean-Claude Marcourt French-speaking 714,947 10.88 2.66 Decrease 29.10 3 1 Decrease
Flemish Interest (VB) None Frank Vanhecke Dutch-speaking 647,170 9.85 4.49 Decrease 15.88 2 1 Decrease
Reformist Movement (MR) ELDR Louis Michel French-speaking 640,092 9.74 0.61 Decrease 26.05 2 1 Decrease
Confederated Ecologists (ECOLO) EGP Isabelle Durant French-speaking 562,081 8.55 4.86 Increase 22.88 2 1 Increase
Socialist Party Different (SP.A) PES Kathleen Van Brempt Dutch-speaking 539,393 8.21 * 13.23 2 *
New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) EFA Frieda Brepoels Dutch-speaking 402,545 6.13 * 9.88 1 *
Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH) EPP Anne Delvaux French-speaking 327,824 4.99 0.69 Decrease 13.34 1 0 Steady
Green! (GROEN!) EGP Bart Staes Dutch-speaking 322,149 4.90 0.04 Decrease 7.90 1 0 Steady
List Dedecker (LDD) AECR Jean-Marie Dedecker Dutch-speaking 296,699 4.51 new 7.28 1 0 Steady
Christian Social Party (CSP) EPP Mathieu Grosch German-speaking 12,475 0.19 0.05 Decrease 32.25 1 0 Steady
National Front (FN) None Jean-Pierre Borbouse French-speaking 87,706 1.33 1.46 Decrease 3.57 0 0 Steady
Workers' Party+ (PVDA+/PTB+)


 None
Peter Mertens
Raoul Hedebouw		 Total
Dutch-speaking
French-speaking		 68,540
40,057
28,483 		1.04
0.61
0.43 		0.36 Increase
0.23 Increase
0.13 Increase 		—
0.98
1.16		 0
0
0		 0 Steady
0 Steady
0 Steady
Others (parties and candidates that won less than 1% of the vote and no seats) — — 0 —
Valid votes Dutch-speaking 4,075,944 13 1 Decrease
French-speaking 2,457,178 8 1 Decrease
German-speaking 38,680 1 0 Steady
Totals 6,571,802 93.69
Blank and invalid votes 442,613 6.31
Totals 7,014,415 100.00 — — 22 2 Decrease
Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout Dutch-speaking 7,711,894
French-speaking
German-speaking 48,542
Totals 7,760,436 90.39 0.42 Decrease
Source: Belgian Ministry of the Interior

Details

Results by party (percentage by constituency)
Region Electoral college Percentage of the vote won per party
CD&V OPEN VLD VB SP.A N-VA GROEN! LDD
Flanders Dutch-speaking Antwerp (province) Antwerp 21.90 17.47 19.81 13.66 10.75 8.86 5.27
Brussels Brussels-H.-V. 8.55 11.08 6.95 3.96 4.90 3.62 2.50
East Flanders East Flanders 21.17 24.87 15.34 12.11 8.81 8.23 7.40
Belgium Leuven 21.68 21.88 12.38 14.51 9.91 10.31 7.15
Limburg (Belgium) Limburg 25.60 18.05 15.59 16.89 10.79 5.08 6.10
West Flanders West Flanders 28.10 18.26 12.33 12.69 8.53 6.83 11.42
23.26 / 100
20.56 / 100
15.88 / 100
13.23 / 100
9.88 / 100
7.90 / 100
7.28 / 100
PS MR ECOLO CDH
Wallonia French-speaking Brussels Brussels-H.-V. 13.51 18.07 15.30 7.53
Hainaut (province) Hainaut 36.20 21.06 18.67 12.53
Liège (province) Liège 33.62 22.67 23.19 11.94
Luxembourg (Belgium) Luxembourg 22.77 26.75 22.83 21.72
Namur (province) Namur 25.28 26.55 23.81 15.36
Walloon Brabant Walloon Brabant 16.22 38.54 26.82 11.80
29.10 / 100
26.05 / 100
22.88 / 100
13.34 / 100
CSP
German-speaking 32.25
32.25 / 100

Dutch-speaking electoral college

Party Affiliation Votes % Change Seats Change
  Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V) EPP 948,123 23.26 Decrease 4.89 3 0
  Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open VLD) ELDR 837,884 20.56 Decrease 1.35 3 0
  Flemish Interest (VB) None 647,170 15.88 Decrease 7.28 2 Decrease 1
  Socialist Party Different (SP.A) PES 539,393 13.23 Decrease 4.60 2 Decrease 1
  New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) EPP-ED* 402,545 9.88 Increase 9.88 1 0
  Green! EGP 322,149 7.90 Decrease 0.08 1 0
  List Dedecker (LDD) ECR 296,699 7.28 Increase 7.28 1 Increase 1
  Workers Party of Belgium+ (PVDA+) None 40,057 0.98 Increase 0.37 0 0
  Social Liberal Party (SLP) EFA 26,541 0.65 Increase 0.65 0 0
  Left Socialist Party (LSP) None 8,985 0.22 Decrease 0.13 0 0
  Committee for Another Policy (CAP) None 6,398 0.16 – 0 0
Total 4,075,944 100 – 13 Decrease 1

French-speaking electoral college

Party Affiliation Votes % Change Seats Change
  Socialist Party (PS) PES 714,947 29.10 Decrease 6.99 3 Decrease 1
  Reformist Movement (MR) ELDR 640,092 26.05 Decrease 1.53 2 Decrease 1
  Ecolo EGP 562,081 22.88 Increase 13.03 2 Increase 1
  Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH) EPP 327,824 13.34 Decrease 1.80 1 0
  National Front (FN) None 87,706 3.57 Decrease 3.88 0 0
  Workers Party of Belgium+ (PTB) None 28,483 1.16 Increase 0.35 0 0
  Others 96,045 3.91 – 0 –
Total 2,457,178 100 – 8 Decrease 1

German-speaking electoral college

Party Affiliation Votes % Change Seats Change
  Christian Social Party (CSP) EPP 12,475 32.25 Decrease 10.23 1 0
  Party for Freedom and Progress (PFF) ELDR 7,878 20.37 Decrease 2.42 0 0
  Ecolo EGP 6,025 15.58 Increase 5.09 0 0
  Socialist Party (PS) PES 5,658 14.63 Decrease 0.31 0 0
  Others 6,644 17.18 – 0 –
Total 38,680 100 – 1 –

Candidates

Dutch-speaking electoral college

Flemish Interest
Place Name Party # of votes
1 Frank Vanhecke VB 161,371
2 Marijke Dillen VB 43,974
3 Philip Claeys VB 27,763
4 Linda Vissers VB 30,167
5 Francis Van den Eynde VB 25,598
6 Johan Demol VB 32,600
7 Alexandra Colen VB 27,686
8 Gerda Van Steenberge VB 22,751
9 Bart Laeremans VB 24,592
10 Bruno Valkeniers VB 33,322
11 Anke Van dermeersch VB 41,049
12 Filip Dewinter VB 150,584
13 Marie-Rose Morel VB 108,629
Green!
Place Name Party # of votes
1 Bart Staes GROEN! 97,036
2 Joke Van de Putte GROEN! 28,556
3 Meyrem Almaci GROEN! 28,806
4 Hugo van Dienderen GROEN! 10,049
5 Maarten Tavernier GROEN! 11,331
6 Rik Jellema GROEN! 7,442
7 Sara Matthieu GROEN! 18,248
8 Francine De Prins GROEN! 12,230
9 Inan Asliyüce GROEN! 11,763
10 Philippe Avijn GROEN! 6,870
11 Tom Kestens GROEN! 9,866
12 Tinne Van der Straeten GROEN! 19,116
13 Vera Dua GROEN! 39,725
List Dedecker
Place Name Party # of votes
1 Jean-Marie Dedecker LDD 149,768
2 Moniek Denhaen LDD 10,629
3 Derk Jan Eppink LDD 13,898
4 Kristof Van Der Cruysse LDD 7,405
5 Isabelle Van Laethem LDD 9,785
New Flemish Alliance
Place Name Party # of votes
1 Frieda Brepoels N-VA 67,717
2 Flor Van Noppen N-VA 27,788
3 Elke Sleurs N-VA 19,575
4 Louis Ide N-VA 16,382
5 Hil D'Haese N-VA 11,585
Socialist Party–Differently
Place Name Party # of votes
1 Kathleen Van Brempt SP.A 146,992
2 Saïd El Khadraoui SP.A 50,408
3 Anne Van Lancker SP.A 47,415
4 Selahattin Kocak SP.A 33,444
5 Tom Germonpré SP.A 19,173
6 Tom Balthazar SP.A 21,864
7 Laila El Abouzi SP.A 25,694
8 Myriam Vanlerberghe SP.A 25,683
9 Ludwig Vandenhove SP.A 22,781
10 Sener Ugurlu SP.A 23,333
11 Dalila Douifi SP.A 20,748
12 Christine Van Broeckhoven SP.A 28,490
13 Bert Anciaux SP.A 71,919

Linguistic controversy

Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde constituency

Generally in Belgium, residents of Flanders can only vote for a party list that runs in Flanders, and in Wallonia residents may only pick a Walloon list. In practice this means residents will only be able to vote for a party representing the official language group of the region. (French-speakers in Flanders have, however, joined up in the cross-party Union des Francophones with one seat in the Flemish Parliament).

In the capital Brussels, which is officially bilingual, people can choose either a French- or a Dutch-speaking party list. However, the area surrounding Brussels is part of Dutch-speaking Flanders, but is joined with the Brussels constituency in elections for the European Parliament and the Belgian Parliament. This bilingual constituency, Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde, has been declared unconstitional and has been a source of controversy for years. Flemings fear the bilingual constituency leads to increased francisation of the Dutch-speaking area surrounding Brussels, while French-speakers claim it is their basic right to vote for a French-speaking party. Some Dutch-speaking municipalities decided to boycott the EU Parliament election for reason of the unconstitutionality,[2] but elections were carried out anyway.

As in previous elections, Francophone parties campaigned outside of the Francophone area, leading to measures from Flemish authorities. Affligem and Halle are located in Dutch-speaking Flanders (although a substantial minority of Francophones also live there) but belong to the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde constituency. Politicians in Affligem and Halle have objected to French-speaking campaigners in Flanders, and billboard space has been denied by the municipal authorities. In Affligem, French-language posters that had already been put up were covered with white paper. The Francophone party Humanist Democratic Centre has condemned it as an attack on "the fundamental rights of French speakers on the periphery [of Brussels]".[2][3]

The municipalities of Merchtem, Beersel, Kapelle-op-den-Bos, Machelen, Ternat, Meise, and Grimbergen also said that they would not provide billboard space, in the hope of avoiding French-language posters. In Steenokkerzeel, Ternat, and Grimbergen stickers were distributed, to be placed on mailboxes, requesting that only Dutch flyers are accepted.[3]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.eurotopics.net/en/presseschau/aeltere/NEWSLETTER-2009-02-18-Belgian-state-reform-fails
  2. 1 2 "Language rift in Belgian election". BBC News. 2009-05-06. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  3. 1 2 "Belgian linguistic feud intensifies as elections draw near". EurActiv.com. 2009-05-05. Retrieved 2009-05-12.

External links

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