2009 European Parliament election in Belgium

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2009 European Parliament election in Belgium
← 2004 7 June 2009 2014 →
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
VB
 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)
9th term (2019)

An election of the

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

PartyVotes%Seats
Partei für Freiheit und Fortschritt
7,87820.370
Ecolo6,02515.580
Socialist Party5,65814.630
ProDG3,89710.070
Vivant2,4176.250
Europe of Values3300.850
Total38,680100.001
Valid votes6,571,80293.69
Invalid/blank votes442,6136.31
Total votes7,014,415100.00
Registered voters/turnout7,760,43690.39
Source: Belgian Elections

Candidates

Further information: List of candidates in the 2009 European Parliament election in Belgium

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

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[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ a b "Language rift in Belgian election". BBC News. 6 May 2009. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
  3. ^ a b "Belgian linguistic feud intensifies as elections draw near". EurActiv.com. 5 May 2009. Retrieved 12 May 2009.

External links

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