1979 European Parliament Election
The first international election7–10 June 1979 · The Community years · 410 seats, 206 for a majority · 9 member states
The first direct election to any transnational assembly in history: 110 million voters in nine countries chose 410 MEPs, replacing the appointed delegates who had sat since 1958. The Socialists formed the largest group, but the chamber elected the liberal Simone Veil, Auschwitz survivor and French health minister, as its first president.
Before the election
—
First direct election
After · President of the European Parliament
Simone Veil
LD
Largest group
SOC
113 of 410 seats
Turnout
62.0%
across 9 member states
The Parliament it elected
| Share of chamber | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SOC | Socialist Group | Ernest Glinne | 113 | 26.6%29,530,418 votes | |
| EPP | European People's Party (Christian Democrats) | Egon Klepsch | 107 | 28.3%31,355,631 votes | |
| ED | European Democrats (Conservatives) | James Scott-Hopkins | 64 | 6.2%6,878,970 votes | |
| COM | Communists and Allies | Giorgio Amendola | 44 | 13.4%14,908,281 votes | |
| LD | Liberal and Democratic Group | Martin Bangemann | 40 | 10.4%11,520,616 votes | |
| EPD | European Progressive Democrats | Christian de La Malène | 22 | 3.7%4,114,969 votes | |
| CDI | Technical Co-ordination Group | — | 11 | — | |
| NI | Non-Inscrits | — | 9 | — |
Group composition at or immediately after the Parliament's constitutive session; groups form and dissolve between elections, so totals elsewhere may differ. Vote shares are EU-wide shares for the parties that formed each group, where the source reports them.
The result by member state
How each of the 9member states' MEPs divided among the political groups.
| Belgium | 7 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 24 | |||
| Denmark | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 16 | ||
| France | 22 | 8 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 81 | |||
| West Germany | 35 | 42 | 4 | 81 | |||||
| Ireland | 4 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 15 | |||
| Italy | 13 | 30 | 24 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 81 | ||
| Luxembourg | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | |||||
| Netherlands | 9 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 25 | ||||
| United Kingdom | 18 | 61 | 1 | 1 | 81 | ||||
| Total | 113 | 107 | 64 | 44 | 40 | 22 | 11 | 9 | 410 |