European Parliament election, 2004 (Germany)
- PDS: 7
- SPD: 23
- Green: 13
- FDP: 7
- CDU: 40
- CSU: 9
The European elections in Germany in 2004 took place on 13 June 2004. It was conducted as part of the EU-wide European elections held in 2004, with 99 of the 785 seats were awarded in the European Parliament in Germany. In addition to the six parties represented in parliament ( SPD, CDU, CSU, Greens, FDP and PDS) occurred in the election 18 other parties and other political associations to. Polling stations were open 8-18 clock.
Electioneering
During the election campaign was the question of whether Turkey should be a member of the European Union or not, an important election issue. The Union parties (especially the CSU), were opposed to membership, and instead of the so -called " privileged partnership" from. SPD, PDS and Green advocated a speedy full membership of Turkey. The FDP referred to the Copenhagen criteria as the sole conditions of accession.
Electoral system
The election took place depending on the party on a federal list or regional lists; from the CDU / CSU, there were nationwide state lists, the Bayern party occurred only in Bavaria, while the remaining 21 campaigning parties (SPD, Greens, PDS, FDP, etc. ) competed with federal lists.
Election result
Overall, the 2004 European elections brought nationwide heavy losses for the SPD at a low voter turnout of 43.0 %. Could most improve the Greens, the FDP made the re-entry into the European Parliament and the PDS has been strengthened. The Union lost less than the SPD and remained the strongest force, while the Republicans increased slightly, but remain well below the 5 % threshold. Relatively strong inflow also had the other parties, but none of which received a meaning.
Regional characteristics
In Munich, the Greens were up 23.3 % (1999: 11.9%) of the votes cast for the first time ahead of the SPD, the (1999: 29.1 %), only 18.8% received. The CSU lost with 41.7 % (1999: 48.4 %) as well, but remained the strongest force. Also in other big cities such as Frankfurt or Berlin overtook the Greens, the SPD with 25 % and 22.8% respectively. In Freiburg, the Greens achieved 36.8 % of the vote and were the strongest party.