# 2009 European Parliament election in France

European Parliament elections were held in France on Sunday 7 June 2009 to elect the 72 French Members of the European Parliament.
Due to the entry of Romania and Bulgaria in the European Union in 2007, the number of seats allocated to France was revised from 78 to 72 seats, a loss of 6 seats. France now represents only 9.8% of all European MEPs compared to 12.5% in 2004 and 19.8% in 1979, following the first European election.
The turnout in European elections in France has almost always declined, with the sole exception of an increase in 1994, falling from 60.7% turnout in the 1979 election to 43.1% in the latest election in 2004.

## Candidates for parliamentary parties

Top Candidates by Constituency :
| Region | | | | | | | | |
| Region | UMP-NC-LGM | PS | MoDem | Europe Ecology | Left Front (PCF-PG-GU) | FN | MPF-CPNT | PDF |
| East | Joseph Daul | Catherine Trautmann | Jean-François Kahn | Sandrine Bélier | Hélène Franco | Bruno Gollnisch | Christophe Beaudouin | — |
| Île-de-France | Michel Barnier | Harlem Désir | Marielle de Sarnez | Daniel Cohn-Bendit | Patrick Le Hyaric | Jean-Michel Dubois | Jérôme Rivière | — |
| Massif central-Centre | Jean-Pierre Audy | Henri Weber | Jean-Marie Beaupuy | Jean-Paul Besset | Marie-France Beaufils | Patrick Bourson | Véronique Goncalvès | Jean Verdon |
| North-West | Dominique Riquet | Gilles Pargneaux | Corinne Lepage | Hélène Flautre | Jacky Hénin | Marine Le Pen | Frédéric Nihous | Carl Lang |
| Overseas | Marie-Luce Penchard | Ericka Bareigts | | Harry Durimel | Alliance of the Overseas | — | Erika Kuttner-Perreau | — |
| South-East | Françoise Grossetête | Vincent Peillon | Jean-Luc Bennahmias | Michèle Rivasi | Marie-Christine Vergiat | Jean-Marie Le Pen | Patrick Louis | — |
| South-West | Dominique Baudis | Kader Arif | Robert Rochefort | José Bové | Jean-Luc Mélenchon | Louis Aliot | Eddie Puyjalon | Jean-Claude Martinez |
| West | Christophe Béchu | Bernadette Vergnaud | Sylvie Goulard | Yannick Jadot | Jacques Généreux | Brigitte Neveux | Philippe de Villiers | — |

## Results

Nicolas Sarkozy's governing Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) won a pleasing result, the first time the presidential party had won since the first European elections in 1979. Compared to the party's disastrous 2004 result, it gained 12 seats and over 11% in the popular vote. However, many have said that the UMP is the only governing party in France, making its position very weak compared to the combined opposition.
Led since the tumultuous Reims Congress by Martine Aubry, the main opposition party, the Socialists, won a very bad result: only 16.48% and suffering a loss of 17 seats. Prominent Socialist MEPs, including defeated leadership candidate Benoît Hamon, lost their seats. The Socialists lost most votes in middle-class urban areas, while holding their ground better in their rural strongholds.
The Europe Ecology was the surprise of these elections, with a remarkable 16.28% and the same number of MEPs as the Socialist Party. The green coalition's result was the best result ever for any French Green party, beating out the previous record set by Antoine Waechter in the 1989 European elections – 10.59%. The gains made by the Greens also came from the centrist MoDem led by François Bayrou. The MoDem won only 8.45%, a surprisingly low result for the centrist party, thought to be France's third party.
The far-right FN suffered loses, being reduced to only 3 MEPs. The conservative nationalist Libertas coalition formed around Philippe de Villiers's Movement for France, but also including the smaller agrarian Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition, suffered losses compared to the two parties' combined 8% showing in 2004. De Villiers was re-elected, becoming the only Libertas.eu MEP elected in the European Union.
On the left of the PS, the new Left Front formed around the French Communist Party and the smaller Left Party surpassed Olivier Besancenot's New Anticapitalist Party. The Left Front and an ally overseas won 6.47% and 5 seats, while Besancenot's NPA won only 4.88% and no seats (despite polling better on aggregate than Libertas, which did win a seat).
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | Seats | Seats | Seats |
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Won | +/– | Post-Lisbon | +/– |
| | UMP–NC–GM | 4,799,908 | 27.88 | 29 | +12 | 30 | +1 |
| | Socialist Party | 2,838,160 | 16.48 | 14 | –17 | 14 | 0 |
| | Europe Ecology | 2,803,759 | 16.28 | 14 | +8 | 15 | +1 |
| | Democratic Movement | 1,455,841 | 8.46 | 6 | New | 6 | 0 |
| | Left Front–Alliance of the Overseas | 1,115,021 | 6.48 | 5 | +2 | 5 | 0 |
| | National Front | 1,091,691 | 6.34 | 3 | –4 | 3 | 0 |
| | New Anticapitalist Party | 840,833 | 4.88 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Libertas France (MPF–CPNT) | 826,357 | 4.80 | 1 | –2 | 1 | 0 |
| | Independent Ecological Alliance | 625,375 | 3.63 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Debout la République | 304,585 | 1.77 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Lutte Ouvrière | 205,975 | 1.20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Party of France–House of Life and Freedoms | 87,053 | 0.51 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Anti-Zionist Party | 36,374 | 0.21 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Breton Party | 32,805 | 0.19 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Europe–Democracy–Esperanto | 28,945 | 0.17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Earth Otherwise Nothing | 28,768 | 0.17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Liberal Alternative | 16,944 | 0.10 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Resistors | 14,521 | 0.08 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | National Centre of Independents and Peasants | 12,750 | 0.07 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Solidarity–AMEN | 8,656 | 0.05 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | For a More Fraternal France and Europe | 6,529 | 0.04 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Europe – Degrowth | 5,859 | 0.03 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | For the Basque Country | 5,771 | 0.03 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Basque Nationalist Party | 4,201 | 0.02 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Cannabis Without Borders | 4,015 | 0.02 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Alliance Royale | 3,994 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Communists | 3,208 | 0.02 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | People's Union | 2,748 | 0.02 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Newropeans | 2,323 | 0.01 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Citizenship European Culture | 1,758 | 0.01 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Rally for the Citizen's Initiative | 1,401 | 0.01 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Europe of Gibraltar to Jerusalem | 1,197 | 0.01 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Humanist Party | 999 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Stop | 266 | 0.00 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | Program against Precariousness and Sexism | 24 | 0.00 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 17,218,614 | 100.00 | 72 | –6 | 74 | +2 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 17,218,614 | 95.70 | | | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 773,547 | 4.30 | | | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 17,992,161 | 100.00 | | | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 44,282,823 | 40.63 | | | | |
| Source: France Politique ||||||||