User:Anameofmyveryown/Sandbox10

1994 Results by group

See also Political groups of the European Parliament

Communists and the Far Left

Following the collapse of the original EUL in 1993 when the Italian Communist Party changed its name to Democrats of the Left and joined PES, the only organised far-left Group before the elections was Left Unity (LU). It did well in the elections and subsequent regrouping, increasing its size to 28 MEPs. The group renamed itself for the first sitting, calling itself the "Confederal Group of the European United Left", also abbreviated to "EUL".

Socialists and Social Democrats

The Socialist Group, which had renamed itself to "PES" in the previous year after the formation of the Party of European Socialists and the absorption of the original EUL, did very well in the elections and regrouping. It maintained its position as the largest Group, with virtually the same number of MEPs at the start of the Fourth Parliament (198) as it had at the end of the Third (197).

Liberals and Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Group maintained a steady posture, with 44 MEPs before the election and 43 at the start of the Fourth. The only significant change was a change of name, from the "Liberal, Democratic and Reformist Group" to "European Liberal, Democratic and Reform Party Group".

Conservatives and Christian Democrats

Two years previously, the Conservative Group had merged with the Christian Democrat Group called "EPP" and this was the first election they had fought as one coherent entity. They slipped, losing 5 MEPs between the end of the Third (162) and the start of the Fourth (157), and failed to become the biggest Group, trailing the Socialists by 41 MEPs.

National Conservatives

The respectable but unspectacular success of the European Democratic Alliance (increasing its size from 20 to 26 MEPs) was overshadowed by the entry into the Parliament of MEPs from the Italian "Forza Italia", who promptly created their own 27-strong Group called "Forza Europa" (FE). The two Groups would merge one year later.

Fascists and the Far Right

One of the two significant changes in the elections and regrouping was the collapse of the far-right European Right. The Group lost all of the 12 MEPs it had before the elections, ending its 10-year occupancy of the Parliament.

Greens and Regionalists

Previously the Greens and Regionalists had united under the banner of the Rainbow Group, but the Greens left in 1989 to form their own Group, which left the now-Regionalist Rainbow to fight the 1994 elections as a separate entity. The Green Group slipped, losing 5 of its 28 MEPs at the end of the Third and starting the Fourth with 23 MEPs. Rainbow (ARC) did better, increasing its share from 16 to 19 MEPs and changing its name to the "European Radical Alliance" (ERA) after being joined by French MEPs from the Left Radical Party.

Eurosceptics

The second significant change of the elections and regrouping was the creation of the first Eurosceptic Group. It was called the "European Nations Group" (EN), and it had 19 MEPs at the start of the Fourth.

Non-Inscrits

The number of Independent MEPs not affiliated with a specific Group at the start of the Fourth was 27, up from 26 at the end of the Third.

1999 Results by group

Communists and the Far Left

The EUL/NGL group picked up one seat in the election and seven in the subsequent regrouping, raising its total from 34 to 42.

Socialists and Social Democrats

The PES group did badly, losing 34 of its seats in the election and slipping to the second-biggest group.

Liberals and Liberal Democrats

The ELDR group did moderately well, picking up one seat in the election and seven in the regrouping, giving a total of 50 seats and retaining its place as the third biggest group.

Conservatives and Christian Democrats

The EPP group did well, picking up 23 seats in the election and nine in the regrouping, giving a total of 233 seats and overtaking the left to become the biggest group. To placate the increasingly eurosceptic British Conservatives, the group was renamed "EPP-ED" for the new Parliament, partly resurrecting the name of the former European Democrat group which was merged with the EPP in 1992.

National Conservatives

The Union for Europe (UFE) group slipped during the election and lost 17 seats. The group split during the regrouping, with Ireland's Fianna Fáil and Portugal's CDS/PP forming a new group called "Union for Europe of the Nations". UEN started the Fifth Parliament with 31 MEPs.

Fascists and the Far Right

No explicitly far-right group per se was in existence immediately before or after the election. All far-right MEPs that were elected sat as Independents (see below).

Greens and Regionalists

The Green Group solidified its position, picking up 11 seats in the election to give it 38 MEPs. The European Radical Alliance (ERA, the Regionalist group) were not so fortunate and slipped badly, losing eight of its 21 members in the election. The European Free Alliance members of the ERA joined with the Green Group to create the Greens/EFA group, which started the Fifth Parliament with 48 MEPs.

Eurosceptics

The I-EN group trod water, gaining six members in the election but losing five in the regrouping, leaving it with 16 members. The group was renamed "Europe of Democracies and Diversities" (EDD) for the new Parliament.

Independents

The Non-Inscrits did badly, losing 20 MEPs to the election. Disparate members (two from Belgium, five from France and eleven from Italy) tried to gain Group privilege by creating a group called the "Technical Group of Independent Members" (full title "Group for the technical co-ordination of groups and the defence of independent members", abbreviated to "TGI" or "TDI"). The attempt initially succeeded, with the group allowed to start the Fifth Parliament until the legal position could be checked. In September, the Constitutional Affairs Committee ruled that they lacked a coherent position ("political complexion") and were disbanded - the only group ever to be forcibly dissolved. The TGI members returned to the Non-Inscrits, increasing their number to 27.

2004 Results by group

Liberals and Liberal Democrats

The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party created a new grouping by allying with MEPs from the French party Union for French Democracy (previously part of the EPP-ED), the Margherita Party (Italy) (previously part of the EPP-ED), other Italian members, the Lithuanian Labour Party and the Belgian MR-MCC (previously EPP-ED). The new allies formed the EDP and a new combined group, between the ELDR and the EDP, was formed with the name ALDE: the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.

Eurosceptics

Sweden's Junilistan, the pro-life League of Polish Families, and the French Combats Souverainistes joined the existing Europe of Democracies and Diversities group, which already includes the United Kingdom Independence Party. The group renamed itself Independence and Democracy (ID).