The popular parties collapse, but remain the most represented alignment in the EU. After yesterday's vote, the first estimates on the distribution of the 751 seats in the European Parliament speak of a EPP to 212 seats (from 274 five years ago), followed by pes to 186 (-7 seats), from the Liberals of the Alde with 70 seats (-13) and from the Greens, to 55. Within the European Socialist Party, the Italian Pd surpasses the German SPD in number of seats (31 to 27), becoming the first national group.
In the light of these first numbers, the candidate for the presidency of the EU Commission for the EPP, Jean-Claude Juncker, is already claiming his seat, saying he is ready to "negotiate with the PSE", but "without kneeling".
As for individual countries, the most sensational result is that recorded in France, where the Eurosceptics of Marine Le Pen's National Front established themselves as the first party with over 25% of the votes (a percentage quadrupled compared to the previous European ones), followed by the Gaullists of the UMP with 21%. A defeat for President François Hollande's socialists, who remained just over 14%, the worst result in history.
In Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel's Union wins once again, with the Cdu/Csu which, according to EU estimates, should reach around 36%. The social democrats of the SPD also did well, rising by more than 27% (+6% compared to previous consultations). Followed by the Greens at 10% and the Linke at almost 8%, stable. On the anti-system front, the Eurosceptics of the AfD (Alternative fuer Duetschland) would be 7% and the neo-Nazis of the NPD would be 1%, who could enter Strasbourg for the first time.
Another significant result is the one recorded in Greece, where Syriza, the left-wing party led by Alexis Tsipras, became the first party with 26% of the preferences. The Greek leader spoke of results that "disavow" the Samaras government and its austerity policies, calling for early general elections. The neo-Nazis of Golden Dawn are also growing, rising to around 9%.
In SpainFinally, both the Partido Popular and the PSOE are retreating: Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's party has 26%, against 23% for the Socialists. Surprise for the new "Podemos" formation, a left-wing movement born in recent months and led by 36-year-old Pablo Iglesias, professor of political science at the University of Madrid, who would have won 5 MEPs with 1,2 million votes in his debut.
