German-speaking electoral college

The German-speaking electoral college is one of three constituencies of the European Parliament in Belgium. It elects just one MEP for East Belgium,[1] making it the only such constituency, effectively making it first past the post between parties (the party with the most votes gets the seat).

German-speaking electoral college
European Parliament constituency
Map of the European Parliament constituencies with German-speaking electoral college highlighted in red
Location among the current constituencies
Shown within Belgium
Member stateBelgium
Created1994
MEPs1
Sources
[1]

However, the electoral system in Belgium uses semi-open lists, therefore the winning candidate is theoretically not necessarily the first candidate on the winning party list. The semi-open list uses a 50% threshold for preference votes (due to having only one MEP), making it the highest in European Parliament elections.

This is the European Parliament's smallest constituency, with an electorate at the 2004 election of just 46,914.

Boundaries

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The constituency corresponds to the German-speaking Community of Belgium.

Member of the European Parliament

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Term Member Party
1994–2014 Mathieu Grosch Christian Social Party (EPP)
2014–present Pascal Arimont Christian Social Party (EPP)

Election results

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Results over time

2019

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Party EP Group Votes % Change
  Christian Social Party (CSP) EPP 14,247 34.90   4.54
  Ecolo G-EFA 6,675 16.40   0.26
  ProDG None 5,360 13.10   0.12
  Partei für Freiheit und Fortschritt (PFF) ALDE 4,684 11.50   4.55
  Socialist Party (SP) S&D 4,655 11.40   3.71
  Vivant None 4,550 11.16   2.55
  DierAnimal GUE/NGL 606 1.49   1.49
Total 40,777

2014

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Party EP Group Votes % Change
  Christian Social Party (CSP) EPP 11,739 30.36   1.89
  Ecolo G-EFA 6,440 16.66   1.08
  Partei für Freiheit und Fortschritt (PFF) ALDE 6,204 16.05   4.32
  Socialist Party (SP) S&D 5,841 15.11   0.48
  ProDG None 5,113 13.22   3.15
  Vivant None 3,328 8.61   2.36
Total 38,665

2009

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Party EP Group Votes % Change
  Christian Social Party (CSP) EPP 12,475 32.25   10.23
  Partei für Freiheit und Fortschritt (PFF) ALDE 7,878 20.37   2.42
  Ecolo G-EFA 6,025 15.58   5.09
  Socialist Party (SP) PES 5,658 14.63   0.31
  ProDG None 3,895 10.07   0.77
  Vivant None 2,417 6.25 New
  Europa de Weirte None 328 0.85 New
Total 38,680

2004

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Party EP Group Votes % Change
  Christian Social Party (CSP) EPP 15,722 42.49   6.02
  Partei für Freiheit und Fortschritt (PFF) ELDR 8,434 22.79   3.19
  Socialist Party (SP) PES 5,527 14.94   3.52
  Ecolo G-EFA 3,880 10.49   6.52
  Party of German-speaking Belgians (PDB) None 3,442 9.3   0.62
Total 37,005

1999

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Party EP Group Votes % Change
  Christian Social Party (CSP) EPP 13,456 36.47   5.18
  Partei für Freiheit und Fortschritt (PFF) ELDR 7,234 19.60   0.46
  Ecolo G-EFA 6,276 17.01   2.11
  Socialist Party (SP) PES 4,215 11.42   1.15
  Party of German-speaking Belgians (PDB) None 3,661 9.92   5.59
  Vivant None 1,198 3.25 New
  All Others 860 2.16
Total

1994

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Party EP Group Votes %
  Christian Social Party (CSP) EPP 11,999 31.29
  Partei für Freiheit und Fortschritt (PFF) ELDR 7,690 20.06
  Party of German-speaking Belgians (PDB) None 5,945 15.51
  Ecolo G 5,714 14.90
  Socialist Party (SP) PES 4,820 12.57
  Juropa None 1,969 5.14
  Workers' Party of Belgium (PAB) None 205 0.53
Total

References

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  1. ^ Realfonzo, Ugo; Chini, Maïthé (6 June 2024). "European elections guide: Which Belgian MEPs can you vote for?". The Brussels Times. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
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