The 2019 European Parliament election for the election of the delegation from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

is an election that was held on 23 May 2019. It is the ninth time the elections have been held for the European elections in the Netherlands. The number of Dutch seats was to increase from 26 to 29 following

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

, but due to the extension of the Article 50 process in the United Kingdom, the number of seats to be elected will remain at 26.

Background

Voting and election organisation

Election Planning

Right to vote

In order to vote, a person must: * have either the Dutch nationality or the nationality of a European Union member state, * be 18 years or older, and * not be otherwise disqualified from voting. Additionally, nationals of other member states of the European Union must: * be resident in the Netherlands on the day the candidates are nominated, * not be disqualified from voting either in the Netherlands or in the Member State in which they are a national, and * have registered in a municipality declaring that they want to vote in the Netherlands instead of in the home country (by filling out the Y-32 form). Dutch nationals abroad, as well as in

Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

and

Sint Maarten Sint Maarten () is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the north ...

have to register to vote for the elections to the European Parliament. When they register, they must say whether they will vote by post, by proxy, or in person at a polling station in the Netherlands. Dutch nationals living in another EU member state must make a statement that they have not voted in the member state in which they reside, if they want to vote in the Netherlands. Dutch residents on

Bonaire Bonaire (; , ; pap, Boneiru, , almost pronounced ) is a Dutch island in the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. Its capital is the port of Kralendijk, on the west ( leeward) coast of the island. Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao form the ABC i ...

St. Eustatius Sint Eustatius (, ), also known locally as Statia (), is an island in the Caribbean. It is a special municipality (officially " public body") of the Netherlands. The island lies in the northern Leeward Islands portion of the West Indies, s ...

, and

Saba Saba may refer to: Places * Saba (island), an island of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean Sea * Şaba (Romanian for Shabo), a town of the Odesa Oblast, Ukraine * Sabá, a municipality in the department of Colón, Honduras * Saba (river), ...

have no need to register, because these islands are part of the Netherlands. They are able to vote in person at polling stations on the islands.

Right to stand as a candidate

In order to stand in the European Parliament election, a candidate must: * hold either Dutch nationality or the nationality of a Member State of the European Union, * be at least 18 years of age on the day they would be sworn into the European Parliament, and * have the right to vote. Additionally, candidates from other member states of the European Union must: * be resident in the Netherlands, and * be able to stand as a candidate in the member state of which they are a national.

Organisation of elections

In elections for the European Parliament, the national electoral districts play no role in the nomination. The Netherlands consists of a single electoral district. Political parties, therefore, take part in the elections with only a single candidate list. However, the national electoral districts do play an important role in processing the election results. The principal polling station of each constituency determines the vote total of the constituency. The results of the vote are recorded in an official document and transferred to the Electoral Council. The Electoral Council, in its role as the central electoral committee, then determines the result of the Netherlands' distribution of seats.

Casting a vote

A voter could cast their vote at a polling station of their choice within their own district. At the casting their vote, they could identify themselves with an identity document which is considered valid even if it has expired within the last five years.

Participation of political groups

Numbering of the candidates list

The parties which had obtained one or more seats in 2014 at the last election to the European Parliament were given a number based on the number of votes they had received in the previous election. These totalled nine candidate lists. The party with the most votes got number 1 and the rest were listed accordingly. The list numbers for the remaining candidate lists were decided by a lottery. Goudriaan Europese verkiezingen 2019

Common lists

Parties can form common lists, which means that two or more parties create a single list and stand in the elections as though they were one party. There are two for this election:

Election day

Traditionally, all elections are held on Wednesday in the Netherlands. However, the European Parliament elections run from Thursday to Sunday across the entire European Union so Thursday was chosen. This is because it is the only day that the Dutch Government believes is appropriate for an election day due to it not being a rest day for any religion. Sunday is not an option because it is a rest day for Christians, while it is the

Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as G ...

on Friday and Saturday.

Polls

Exit Poll

An exit poll carried out by Ipsos, as well as a forecast of the result produced by

GeenPeil GeenPeil (Dutch "no poll") is a political initiative by GeenStijl ("no style" or "without style"), a Dutch weblog and political party known for its provocative content and its past hoaxes. The name refers to polling results. First initiative 20 ...

and

Maurice de Hond Maurice de Hond (born 8 October 1947) is a Dutch pollster, accused of defamation and entrepreneur. He is the founder of the Steve JobsSchool, an elementary school which gives each student an iPad to encourage individualized learning. As of 2016, ...

based on a part of results collected, indicated that the Labour Party (PvdA) emerged with the most seats, followed by the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary ...

(CDA) and

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...

(VVD) with four seats each,

Forum for Democracy Forum for Democracy ( nl, Forum voor Democratie, FvD) is a right-wing populist Eurosceptic political party in the Netherlands that was founded as a think tank by Thierry Baudet and Henk Otten in 2016. The party first participated in elections i ...

(FvD) and

GroenLinks GroenLinks (, ) is a green political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and t ...

(GL) with three seats and the

Democrats 66 Democrats 66 (; abbreviated D66, ) is a Social liberalism, social liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands, which positions itself in the Centrism, centre of the Left–right political spectrum, p ...

(D66) and the

Christian Union – Reformed Political Party Christian Union – Reformed Political Party ( nl, ChristenUnie – Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij) is a parliamentary common list for the European Parliament formed by two Dutch orthodox Protestant parties: the Christian Union and the Reforme ...

(CU-SGP) lists with two seats each, with all others on zero or one seat. The result marked the first time the Labour Party had won the most seats of the EU Parliament in the Netherlands since

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

, and the first time it has won the popular vote in a Dutch election since 1998.

Poll

Seats

Vote share

Results

Voter turnout was 41.93%, higher than in 2014 (37.32%), and higher than any European Parliament election in the past twenty years.

Seat assignment

Electoral quota

The electoral quota is the number of votes needed for one seat. It is the total valid number of votes divided by the number of seats. For this election it was 5,497,813 valid votes, divided by 26 seats. The electoral quota was established as 211,454.

Assigning full seats

Full seats are assigned by number of votes divided by the electoral quota. Electoral alliances are marked as a letter, instead of a number. Any seats left over are not yet assigned to a specific party.

Remainder seats

The remaining, or left over, seats are awarded sequentially to the lists with the highest average number of votes per seat. Only lists that reached the electoral quota are eligible. * P.v.d.A./European Social Democrats is awarded 2 seats *

VVD The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberalRudy Andeweg, Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingsto ...

is awarded 1 seat *

GreenLeft GroenLinks (, ) is a green political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and t ...

is awarded 1 seat * Democrats 66 (D66) - ALDE is awarded 1 seat * Christian Union-SGP is awarded 1 seat * CDA - European People's Party is awarded 1 seat

European groups

, style="text-align:center;" colspan="11" , , - , style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" colspan="3", European group !style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , Seats 2014 !style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , Seats 2019 !style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , Change !style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , Seats
(after Brexit) !style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , Change
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Renew Europe Renew Europe (Renew) is a liberal, pro-European political group of the European Parliament founded for the ninth European Parliament term. The group is the successor to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group which exist ...

, style="text-align:left;" , RE , style="text-align:right;" , 7 , style="text-align:right;" , 6 , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , style="text-align:right;" , 7 , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , - , , style="text-align:left;" ,

Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) is the political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists (PES). The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats was officially founded as a Socialist ...

, style="text-align:left;" , S&D , style="text-align:right;" , 3 , style="text-align:right;" , 6 , style="text-align:right;" , 3 , style="text-align:right;" , 6 , style="text-align:right;" , 0 , - , , style="text-align:left;" ,

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...

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European Conservatives and Reformists The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a soft Eurosceptic, anti- federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party) European pol ...

, style="text-align:left;" , ECR , style="text-align:right;" , 2 , style="text-align:right;" , 4 , style="text-align:right;" , 2 , style="text-align:right;" , 5 , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , - , , style="text-align:left;" ,

The Greens–European Free Alliance ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, style="text-align:left;" , Greens-EFA , style="text-align:right;" , 2 , style="text-align:right;" , 3 , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , style="text-align:right;" , 3 , style="text-align:right;" , 0 , - , , style="text-align:left;" ,

European United Left–Nordic Green Left European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe a ...

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Identity and Democracy Identity and Democracy (french: link=no, Identité et démocratie, ID) is a right-wing to far-right political group of the European Parliament, launched on 13 June 2019 for the Ninth European Parliament term. It is composed of nationalist, ri ...

, style="text-align:left;" , ID , style="text-align:right;" , 4 , style="text-align:right;" , 0 , style="text-align:right;" , 4 , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , - , width="350" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan="3", , width="30" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 26 , width="30" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 26 , width="30" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 0 , width="30" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 29 , width="30" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 3

Elected members

To be elected by preference votes, 10% of the electoral quota is needed. The electoral quota was 211,454. 10% of 211,454 = 21,145 votes. 36 members were directly elected by preference votes. Not all candidates could be appointed because either the party did not get enough seats, or it got no seats. Below are all the elected members of European parliament for the Netherlands. The following 26 MEPs were officially announced by the Central Electoral Commission. Members elected by preference votes are in bold. P.v.d.A./European Social Democrats #

Frans Timmermans Frans is an Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish given name, sometimes as a short form of ''François''. One cognate of Frans in English is '' Francis''. Given name * Frans van Aarssens (1572–1641), Dutch diplo ...

, by 839,240 votes # Agnes Jongerius, by 109,987 votes #

Kati Piri Kati Piri (born 8 April 1979) is a Hungarian-born Dutch politician serving as a member of the House of Representatives since 2021. A member of the Labour Party (PvdA), she previously was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) within the Prog ...

, by 29,475 votes # Paul Tang, by 8,497 votes #

Vera Tax Vera Tax is a Dutch politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament for the Labour Party since 2019. Political career Tax has been a Member of the European Parliament since the 2019 European elections. In parliament, s ...

, by 12,760 votes #

Mohammed Chahim Mohammed Chahim is a Moroccan-born Dutch politician of the Labour Party who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019. Political career Chahim has been a Member of the European Parliament since the 2019 European elect ...

, by 2,825 votes

# Malik Azmani, by 365,155 votes # Caroline Nagtegaal-van Doorn, by 163,279 votes # Jan Huitema, by 115,738 votes #

Liesje Schreinemacher Elisabeth "Liesje" Schreinemacher (born 13 May 1983) is a Dutch lawyer and politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) who has served as Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation in the fourth Rutte cabinet sin ...

, by 37,519 votes CDA – European People's Party # Esther de Lange, by 402,975 votes #

Annie Schreijer-Pierik Annie Schreijer-Pierik (born 17 February 1953) is a Dutch politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the Netherlands. She is a member of the Christian Democratic Appeal, part of the European People's Party. She runs a pig far ...

, by 113,914 votes # Jeroen Lenaers, by 50,121 votes # Tom Berendsen, by 28,579 votes

Derk Jan Eppink Derk Jan Eppink (born 7 November 1958) is a Dutch journalist, politician in the Netherlands, and former cabinet secretary for European Commissioners Bolkestein (1999–2004) and Kallas (2004–2007). In 2009, he was elected to the Eu ...

, by 339,988 votes #

Thierry Baudet Thierry Henri Philippe Baudet (; born 28 January 1983) is a Dutch far-right politician, author and self-declared conspiracy theorist. He is the founder and leader of Forum for Democracy (FvD), and has been a member of the House of Representativ ...

, by 164,711 votes #

Rob Roos Robert "Rob" Roos (born 2 August 1966) is a Dutch politician and a current Member of the European Parliament (MEP). He is a member of the JA21 political party, since leaving the Forum for Democracy (FvD) in 2020. Roos worked in the telecoms indus ...

, by 41,323 votes

Bas Eickhout Bas Eickhout (born 8 October 1976) is a Dutch politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since the 2009 elections. He is a member of the GreenLeft, part of the European Green Party. Education and early career Eickhout a ...

, by 263,034 votes #

Tineke Strik Martina Hermina Antonia (Tineke) Strik (born 28 September 1961 in Alphen, Gelderland) is a Dutch politician. From 2007 to 2019 she was a member of the Senate for GreenLeft. Since 2019 she is a member of the European Parliament for the Greens. B ...

, by 149,628 votes #

Kim van Sparrentak Kim van Sparrentak (born Middelburg, 16 October 1989) is a Dutch politician who is serving as a Member of the European Parliament for the GroenLinks GroenLinks (, ) is a green political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1 ...

, by 32,505 votes Democrats 66 (D66) – ALDE #

Sophie in 't Veld Sophia Helena "Sophie" in 't Veld (born 13 September 1963) is a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 party. She was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 2004, and reelected in 2009, 2014 and 2019. She was her party's top candidate fo ...

, by 248,383 votes # Samira Rafaela, by 32,510 votes Christian Union-SGP #

Peter van Dalen Peter van Dalen (born 3 September 1958) is a Dutch politician serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2009. He is a member of the Christian Union, which used to be part of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), bu ...

, by 240,459 votes # Bert-Jan Ruissen, by 44,416 votes

Party for the Animals The Party for the Animals ( nl, Partij voor de Dieren; PvdD) is a List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. Among its main goals are animal rights and animal welfare. Since 2019, the PvdD's political lead ...

# Anja Hazekamp, by 136,224 votes 50PLUS #

Toine Manders Toine Manders (born 14 March 1956) is a Dutch lawyer and politician who has been serving as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 1999. He served for the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy from 20 July 1999 until 17 October 2013 as ...

, by 127,228 votes ''Members not elected, but enough preference votes:'' * D66 - Raoul Boucke, by 22,500 votes * VVD - Bart Groothuis, by 21,353 votes * Christian Union-SGP - Anja Haga, by 37,813 votes * GreenLeft - Sabine Klok, by 26,949 votes * GreenLeft - Eline van Nistelrooij, by 26,250 votes * 50PLUS - Emmy van der Kleij, by 24,723 votes * PVV -

Geert Wilders Geert Wilders (; born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch politician who has led the Party for Freedom (''Partij voor de Vrijheid'' – PVV) since he founded it in 2006. He is also the party's leader in the House of Representatives (''Tweede Kamer'' ...

, by 83,448 votes * PVV -

Marcel de Graaff M. J. R. L. "Marcel" de Graaff (; born 7 April 1962) is a Dutch politician. He has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Netherlands since February 2020, and previously served between 2014 and 2019. He represented the Party fo ...

, by 81,073 votes * SP - Arnout Hoekstra, by 93,809 votes * SP - Jannie Visscher, by 35,498 votes * DENK - Ayhan Tonca, by 25,302 votes * Volt Netherlands - Reinier van Lanschot, by 51,621 votes * Volt Netherlands - Nilüfer Vogels, by 21,951 votes

MEPs in 2019–2024

Below is a list of members of the European Parliament for the period 2019–2024 as a result of this election.

Mutations

2019

* 23 May: Election for the European Parliament in the Netherlands. * 6 June:

joins the ECR Group. * 11 June: The election committee elecs

Rob Rooken Rob Jan Rooken (born 5 October 1969) is a Dutch politician who has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2 July 2019. Rooken worked as a web designer before entering politics. He was also the founder of the IT company ''XOI ...

for the empty seat of

in the European Parliament, because

did not accept the seat. He has 28 days to accept or reject. * 12 June: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group (ALDE group) becomes

. * 12 June:

Europe of Nations and Freedom Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF; french: link=no, Europe des nations et des libertés, ENL) was a political group in the European Parliament launched on 15 June 2015. The group was the smallest within the European Parliament during the eighth ...

(ENF Group) becomes

. * 19 June: The Christen Union leaves the ECR group and wants to join the

EPP group The European People's Party Group (EPP Group) is a centre-right political group of the European Parliament consisting of deputies (MEPs) from the member parties of the European People's Party (EPP). Sometimes it also includes independent MEPs ...

. * 19 June: 50PLUS joins the

. * 2 July: Beginning of the 9th European Parliament session (2019–2024). * 2 July:

from the Labour Party did not accept his seat. * 8 July: The election committee elecs

Lara Wolters Lara Wolters is a Dutch politician of the Labour Party who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019. Early life and education After studying law and European social and political studies (ESPS) at the University Colle ...

for the empty seat of

in the European Parliament, because

did not accept the seat. She has 28 days to accept or reject. * 9 July:

is installed in the European Parliament as a replacement for

of the Labour Party.

References

{{Dutch elections

European Parliament elections in the Netherlands

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...