European Parliament election, 2019 (Belgium)

European Parliament election in Belgium, 2019

26 May 2019
All 21 Belgian seats to the European Parliament
First party Second party Third party   Party N-VA Open Vld PS Alliance EFA ALDE PES Last election 4 seats 3 seats 3 seats   Fourth party Fifth party   Party MR CD&V Alliance ALDE EPP Last election 3 seats 2 seats

The European Parliament election of 2019 in Belgium is an election scheduled for 26 May 2019 in the three Belgian constituencies: the Dutch-speaking electoral college, the French-speaking electoral college and the German-speaking electoral college. The election will be held on the same day alongside the Belgian regional elections and, unless a snap election occurs, the Belgian federal election.

Marianne Thyssen, who was re-elected Member of the European Parliament in 2014 as lijsttrekker for CD&V and who subsequently became European Commissioner, announced in 2018 she will quit politics in 2019.^[1]

Electoral system

  Dutch-speaking electoral college (12 MEPs)

  French-speaking electoral college (8 MEPs)

  German-speaking electoral college (1 MEP)

As the reapportionment after Brexit did not impact the number of seats allocated to Belgium, 21 MEPs will be elected in Belgium, as in the 2014 election. Twelve of them are elected by the Dutch-speaking electoral college, eight of them by the French-speaking electoral college and one of them by the German-speaking electoral college. Voters can only vote on the lists depending on the language area they live in. This means that in the bilingual arrondissement of Brussels-Capital, voters can choose whether to vote for the Dutch-speaking or for the French-speaking electoral college. There is an exception to this rule for the six municipalities with language facilities in the Brussels Periphery, whose inhabitants can also opt to vote for French-speaking lists despite being in the Dutch language area.

Seats are allocated according to the D'Hondt method in each of the three electoral colleges; however, the German-speaking electoral college de facto uses a first-past-the-post system, since it elects only one MEP. The electoral threshold is 5%, although it is de facto higher.

All Belgian citizens aged 18 or over and residing in Belgium are obligated to participate in the election.

Other EU citizens residing in Belgium as well as Belgians living in another EU member state have the right to vote on Belgian lists in European Parliament elections. The law of 17 November 2016 extended this right to Belgians living in a non-EU member state, which was already possible for federal elections.

Outgoing delegation

References