1994 European Parliament election in France

Summary

European Parliament elections were held in France on 12 June 1994. Six lists were able to win seats: an alliance of the centre-right Union for French Democracy and the Gaullist Rally for the Republic, the Socialist Party, the Left Radical Party, the French Communist Party, the National Front and Philippe de Villiers' eurosceptic right-wing dissident UDF list, which formed the Majorité pour l'autre Europe. 53.5% of the French population turned out on election day, actually an improvement on the last election in 1989. The Greens, who were weakened by an Ecology Generation list led by Brice Lalonde (winning 2.01%) and also suffering from internal divisions between the party's left (who wanted an electoral alliance with the Soécialists and the left) and the right (rejecting all alliances), lost all 9 seats won in 1989. Arlette Laguiller's Trotskyst Workers' Struggle (2.27%), Jean-Pierre Chevènement's left-wing eurosceptic Citizens' Movement (2.54%), the L'Europe commence à Sarajevo List (1.57%) and the agrarian populist Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Traditions (3.96%) were among the notable lists which did not pass the 5% threshold.

1994 European Parliament election in France
France
← 1989 12 June 1994 1999 →

All 87 French seats in the European Parliament
Party Leader % Seats +/–
UDFRPR Dominique Baudis 25.58 28 +2
PS Michel Rocard 14.49 15 −5
MAE Philippe de Villiers 12.34 13 New
MRG Bernard Tapie 12.03 13 +11
FN Jean-Marie Le Pen 10.52 11 +1
PCF Francis Wurtz 6.89 7 0
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

With 14.49%, the Socialists, the party of President François Mitterrand, whose list was led by Michel Rocard suffered its worst result ever in a European election, losing votes mainly to the Radical list led by wealthy businessman and a protégé of Mitterrand, Bernard Tapie. Most analysts agreed that Mitterrand supported Tapie's list behind the scenes, since Rocard was a personal rival of Mitterrand and he wished to destroy Rocard's chances in the 1995 presidential election. In fact, Rocard resigned as First Secretary of the PS shortly thereafter and did not run in 1995 – Lionel Jospin was the Socialist candidate.

The other surprise was Philippe de Villiers success. Villiers, the President of the General Council of Vendée, was a eurosceptic member of the liberal component (PR) of the pro-European UDF. He won a surprisingly strong 12.34%, and his thirteen MEPs formed the nucleus of the Europe of Nations group. However, his success did not lead him to immediate political successes – he polled barely 4% in the 1995 presidential election.

Results edit

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Union for France4,985,57425.5828New
Socialist Party2,824,17314.4915–5
Majority for Another Europe2,404,10512.3413New
Movement of Radicals of the Left2,344,45712.0313+11
National Front2,050,08610.5211+1
French Communist Party1,342,2226.8970
Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Traditions771,0613.9600
The Greens574,8062.950–9
Citizens' Movement494,9862.540New
Lutte Ouvrière442,7232.2700
Ecology Generation392,2912.010New
Europe Begins in Sarajevo305,6331.570New
Jobs First!125,3400.640New
Natural Law Party103,2610.530New
Workers' Party84,5130.430New
Regionalist and Federalist List76,4360.390New
Democrats for a United States of Europe71,8140.370New
Life Policy for Europe56,6580.290New
PPDGPPMPCRPSG37,0410.190New
Europe for All2900.000New
Total19,487,470100.0087+6
Valid votes19,487,47094.67
Invalid/blank votes1,097,5105.33
Total votes20,584,980100.00
Registered voters/turnout39,019,79752.76
Source: France Politique

Members elected edit

UDF – RPR edit

PS edit

UDF dissidents edit

PRG edit

FN edit

PCF edit

References edit

  1. ^ Élections européennes 1994