EPP to succeed Socialists as main party in assembly

The centre-right European People's Party was claiming jubilantly yesterday that the elections and the forthcoming defection to them of the French Gaullists will give the party a near-50-seat lead over the Socialists. With most of the votes counted, the EPP, the umbrella organisation that groups Christian Democrat and Conservative parties from across the EU, was on track to claim 230 of the parliament's 626 seats, 50 more than the traditionally dominant Socialists.

The centrist Liberal Democrats under Mr Pat Cox MEP were on course to strengthen their position as the parliament's third force, with gains set to lift their numbers from 42 to around 50.

The Greens were poised to gain 10 deputies. Austria - The Social Democrats, the dominant party in the ruling coalition, tightened their grip on power ahead of a general election in October with a two percentage point increase to 32 per cent. The conservative People's Party, the junior coalition partner, came second with 30.64 per cent.

Belgium - Counting was delayed by a general election, but the overall picture is similar, with losses for both Flemish and Walloon Socialists and Christian Social parties, gains for the Liberals and Greens and a strengthening of the far-right Vlaams Blok in Flanders. Denmark - Turnout was down a little at 49.9 per cent and Denmark's Liberal Party came out on top, winning five seats - one up on 1994 - as pro-European parties took 10 of the traditionally Eurosceptic country's 16 seats.

Finland - Finnish political analysts attribute the success of the Conservative Party - up by 5 per cent from the 1996 elections - in part to a local celebrity, the former racing-car champion Ari Vatanen. The CP garnered 26.1 per cent of the vote and the governing Social Democrats took 17.8 per cent.

France - The ruling Socialists held up well, taking around 22 per cent of the vote, despite the losses incurred by the left in other countries. The performance of their partners in government was mixed, however, with gains by the Greens and losses by the Communists.

The dissident Gaullist nationalist and Eurosceptic, Mr Charles Pasqua, said he could found a new party after taking more votes than the mainstream Gaullist RPR party headed by Mr Nicolas Sarkozy.

Greece - Turnout was down slightly at 70.14 per cent. A fall in support for the Greek Socialists (PASOK) saw them lose one seat (now nine) to the Communists (three). New Democrcy, the conservative opposition, held its own (nine). The centrists of Political Spring lost both their seats, while the Democratic Social Movement gained two.

Luxembourg - The outgoing president of the European Commission, Mr Jacques Santer, was one of two members of the Christian Democrat Chreschtlech Sozial Vollekspartei party elected. Its coalition partner, the Parti Ouvrier Socialiste Luxembourgeois, also retained two seats despite a crushing defeat in national elections on the same day.

Netherlands - The opposition Christian Democrats (nine), and governing Socialists PvdA (seven) and D66 liberals (three) all lost one seat each, while the Greens gained three seats (four). The turnout was at a record low of 30 per cent. Portugal - Turnout was up five points to 40 per cent and Portugal also bucked the trend with gains for the Socialist government of two seats (now 12), while the Liberal opposition (PSD) lost one.

Spain - The ruling Popular Party came out on top but lost ground to the opposition Socialist Party. The PP was set to claim 27 of the 64 Spanish seats, a loss of one. The Socialist Party cornered 35.3 per cent of the vote, up from 30.8 per cent five years ago and enough to give it 24 seats, two more than it currently holds.

The more radical United Left party was the biggest loser, its vote plunging to 5.8 from 13.4 per cent. Several small regional and nationalist parties claimed seats for the first time, including one for Euskal Herritarrok, the political wing of ETA, and one for the Greens.

Sweden - The Social Democrats lost one seat (six) but remained the country's largest party, while the Liberals, led by a charismatic ex-cleaning lady, tripled their 1995 tally.