The biggest winner was the National Rally party of Marine Le Pen, which dominated the French polls, causing President Macron to call a snap national election.
After polls closed in all EU countries, the center-right group in the European Parliament that currently holds the most seats gained the most, while the centrist Renew Europe group and the Greens group lost the most seats in the union’s parliament.
Right-wing parties didn’t quite make the substantial gains that were predicted.
The largest political group in the European Parliament, the center-right European People’s Party, gained 10 seats, according to the early counts released by the European Parliament as of 4:20 p.m. on June 10. The preliminary counts also identified the biggest losers as Renew Europe, losing 23 seats, and the Greens/European Free Alliance, losing 18 seats.
The number of members of the European Parliament (MEPs) not affiliated with any political group decreased by 17.
Voters also elected 55 new MEPs who were not allied to any of the political groups of the outgoing Parliament, according to early counts. They will have an opportunity to join any existing political group, form new groups, or stay unaffiliated, an EU spokesperson said.
The EU requires that at least 23 MEPs representing one-quarter of EU nations must come together to form a political group.
Two right-wing groups, European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and Identity and Democracy parties, gained four and nine seats, respectively.
The left-wing group called The Left in the European Parliament lost one seat.
The total voter turnout in all EU countries, estimated at about 11 p.m. local time, was 51 percent, according to a European Parliament spokesperson.
The elections began on June 6 and ended late on June 9. The last polling stations closed in Italy at 11 p.m. local time.
New European Parliament
The new parliament will consist of 720 seats because of demographic changes in EU member countries, while the outgoing European Parliament, elected in 2019, was made up of 705 members.
“Following the elections, France, Spain, and The Netherlands will each get two additional seats, while Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Poland, Finland, Slovakia, Ireland, Slovenia, and Latvia are attributed one extra seat each,” the EU Parliament said in a statement.
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