# 1999 European Parliament election in Portugal

An election of MEP representing Portugal constituency for the 1999–2004 term of the European Parliament was held on 13 June. It was part of the wider 1999 European election.
In the runner up for the 1999 general elections, the Socialist Party (PS) won the EU elections by a landslide. The party, headed by its founder and former President of the Republic and Prime Minister Mário Soares, scored a convincing victory over the Social Democrats. The PS increased its share of vote more than 8 percent and won 2 more seats compared with 1994. The Social Democratic Party (PSD) had a bad performance, but was able to hold on to its 9 seats, but, at the same time, the party saw their share of vote drop to 31 percent, around 3 points lower than in 1994.
The Democratic Unity Coalition (CDU) performed quite well, although it dropped compared with 1994. The Communist/Green alliance won more than 10 percent of the votes, a drop of around 1 point, and lost one seat but was able to reclaim the title of 3rd largest party. The People's Party (CDS–PP), was the party that suffered the most. The People's Party dropped to fourth place and had the biggest fall in terms of share of the vote, winning just 8 percent of the vote, a fall of more than 4 points. They also lost one seat compared to 1994.
Turnout increased compared with 1994, with 39.9 percent of voters casting a ballot.

## Electoral system

The voting method used, for the election of European members of parliament, is by proportional representation using the d'Hondt method, which is known to benefit leading parties. In the 1999 EU elections, Portugal had 25 seats to be filled. Deputies are elected in a single constituency, corresponding to the entire national territory.

## Parties and candidates

The major parties that partook in the election, and their EP list leaders, were:
* Left Bloc (BE), Miguel Portas
* Democratic Unity Coalition (CDU), Ilda Figueiredo
* Socialist Party (PS), Mário Soares
* Social Democratic Party (PSD), José Pacheco Pereira
* People's Party (CDS–PP), Paulo Portas

## Opinion polling

The following table shows the opinion polls of voting intention of the Portuguese voters before the election. Those parties that are listed were represented in the EU parliament (1994-1999). Included is also the result of the Portuguese EP elections in 1994 and 1999 for reference.
Note, until 2000, the publication of opinion polls in the last week of the campaign was forbidden.
| Date Released | Polling Firm | PS | | | | Others | Lead |
| 13 Jun 1994 | 1999 EP election | 43.1 12 seats | 31.1 9 seats | 8.2 2 seats | 10.3 2 seats | 7.3 0 seats | 12.0 |
| 6 Jun 1999 | Público | 48.3 | 31.4 | — | — | 20.3 | 16.9 |
| 4 Jun 1999 | Euroexpansão | 54.6 | 30.8 | — | — | 14.6 | 23.8 |
| 2 Jun 1999 | Diário de Notícias | 52.2 | 35.9 | — | — | 11.9 | 16.3 |
| 2 Jun 1999 | Semanário | 49.7 | 33.6 | — | — | 16.7 | 16.1 |
| 2 Jun 1999 | Visão | 44.0 | 33.0 | — | — | 23.0 | 11.0 |
| 20 May 1999 | Visão | 45.0 | 40.0 | — | — | 15.0 | 5.0 |
| 12 Jun 1994 | 1994 EP election | 34.9 10 seats | 34.4 9 seats | 12.5 3 seats | 11.2 3 seats | 7.1 0 seats | 0.5 |

## National summary of votes and seats

Summary of the results of Portugal's 13 June 1999 election to the European Parliament :
| National party | National party | European party | Main candidate | Votes | % | +/– | Seats | +/– |
| | Socialist Party (PS) | PES | Mário Soares | 1,493,146 | 43.07 | 8.20 | 12 | 2 |
| | Social Democratic Party (PSD) | EPP | José Pacheco Pereira | 1,078,528 | 31.11 | 3.28 | 9 | 0 |
| | Democratic Unitarian Coalition (CDU) • Communist Party (PCP) • Ecologist Party (PEV) | GUE/NGL | Ilda Figueiredo | 357,671 | 10.32 | 0.87 | 2 2 0 | 1 0 |
| | People's Party (CDS–PP) | UFE | Paulo Portas | 283,067 | 8.16 | 4.29 | 2 | 1 |
| | Left Bloc (BE) | None | Miguel Portas | 61,920 | 1.79 | new | 0 | new |
| | Workers' Communist Party (PCTP/MRPP) | None | António Garcia Pereira | 30,446 | 0.88 | 0.09 | 0 | 0 |
| | People's Monarchist Party (PPM) | None | - | 16,182 | 0.45 | 0.20 | 0 | 0 |
| | Earth Party (MPT) | ELDR | Paulo Trancoso | 13,924 | 0.40 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 |
| | National Solidarity Party (PSN) | None | - | 8,413 | 0.24 | 0.13 | 0 | 0 |
| | Workers Party of Socialist Unity (POUS) | None | Carmelinda Pereira | 5,565 | 0.16 | 0.06 | 0 | 0 |
| | Democratic Party of the Atlantic (PDA) | None | - | 5,089 | 0.15 | 0.08 | 0 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 3,353,951 | 96.74 | | | |
| Blank and invalid votes | Blank and invalid votes | Blank and invalid votes | Blank and invalid votes | 113,134 | 3.26 | | | |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 3,467,085 | 100.00 | — | 25 | 0 |
| Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout | Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout | Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout | Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout | 8,681,854 | 39.93 | 4.39 | | |
| Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições Archived 2005-04-08 at the Wayback Machine |||||||||
Vote share
PS
43.07%
PSD
31.11%
CDU
10.32%
CDS-PP
8.16%
BE
1.79%
PCTP/MRPP
0.88%
Others
1.43%
Blank/Invalid
3.27% :
Seats
PS
48.00%
PSD
36.00%
CDU
8.00%
CDS-PP
8.00% :

### Distribution by European group

Summary of political group distribution in the 5th European Parliament (1999–2004) :
| Groups | Groups | Parties | Seats | Total | % |
| | Party of European Socialists (PES) | Socialist Party (PS) | 12 | 12 | 48.00 |
| | European People's Party–European Democrats (EPP–ED) | Social Democratic Party (PSD) | 9 | 9 | 36.00 |
| | European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) | Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) | 2 | 2 | 8.00 |
| | Union for Europe (UFE) | People's Party (CDS–PP) | 2 | 2 | 8.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | 25 | 25 | 100.00 |

### Maps

* Most voted political force by district. (Azores and Madeira not shown)
* Strongest party by municipality.