An election of the delegation from Belgium to the European Parliament was held on Sunday, 7 June 2009. The elections were on the same day as regional elections to the Flemish Parliament, Walloon Parliament, Brussels Parliament and the Parliament of the German-speaking Community.http://www.eurotopics.net/en/presseschau/aeltere/NEWSLETTER-2009-02-18-Belgian-state-reform-fails
As a result of the Treaty of Nice – that became active in November 2004 – the number of Belgian delegates in the European Parliament decreased from 24 (in 2004) to 22 delegates: 13 delegates were elected by the Dutch-speaking Electoral College, 8 delegates by the Francophone Electoral College and 1 by the German-speaking Electoral College.
Results
Candidates
Dutch-speaking electoral college Flemish InterestPlace Name Party # of votes1 Frank Vanhecke VB 161,3712 Marijke Dillen VB 43,9743 Philip Claeys VB 27,7634 Linda Vissers VB 30,1675 Francis Van den Eynde VB 25,5986 Johan Demol VB 32,6007 Alexandra Colen VB 27,6868 Gerda Van Steenberge VB 22,7519 Bart Laeremans VB 24,59210 Bruno Valkeniers VB 33,32211 Anke Van dermeersch VB 41,04912 Filip Dewinter VB 150,58413 Marie-Rose Morel VB 108,629
Green!Place Name Party # of votes1 Bart Staes GROEN! 97,0362 Joke Van de Putte GROEN! 28,5563 Meyrem Almaci GROEN! 28,8064 Hugo van Dienderen GROEN! 10,0495 Maarten Tavernier GROEN! 11,3316 Rik Jellema GROEN! 7,4427 Sara Matthieu GROEN! 18,2488 Francine De Prins GROEN! 12,2309 Inan Asliyüce GROEN! 11,76310 Philippe Avijn GROEN! 6,87011 Tom Kestens GROEN! 9,86612 Tinne Van der Straeten GROEN! 19,11613 Vera Dua GROEN! 39,725
List DedeckerPlace Name Party # of votes1 Jean-Marie Dedecker LDD 149,7682 Moniek Denhaen LDD 10,6293 Derk Jan Eppink LDD 13,8984 Kristof Van Der Cruysse LDD 7,4055 Isabelle Van Laethem LDD 9,785
New Flemish AlliancePlace Name Party # of votes1 Frieda Brepoels N-VA 67,7172 Flor Van Noppen N-VA 27,7883 Elke Sleurs N-VA 19,5754 Louis Ide N-VA 16,3825 Hil D'Haese N-VA 11,585
Socialist Party–DifferentlyPlace Name Party # of votes1 Kathleen Van Brempt SP.A 146,9922 Saïd El Khadraoui SP.A 50,4083 Anne Van Lancker SP.A 47,4154 Selahattin Kocak SP.A 33,444 5 Tom Germonpré SP.A 19,1736 Tom Balthazar SP.A 21,8647 Laila El Abouzi SP.A 25,6948 Myriam Vanlerberghe SP.A 25,6839 Ludwig Vandenhove SP.A 22,78110 Sener Ugurlu SP.A 23,33311 Dalila Douifi SP.A 20,74812 Christine Van Broeckhoven SP.A 28,49013 Bert Anciaux SP.A 71,919
Linguistic controversy
Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde constituency Generally in Belgium, residents of Flanders can only vote for a party list that runs in Flanders, and in Wallonia residents may only pick a Walloon list. In practice this means residents will only be able to vote for a party representing the official language group of the region. (French-speakers in Flanders have, however, joined up in the cross-party Union des Francophones with one seat in the Flemish Parliament).
In the capital Brussels, which is officially bilingual, people can choose either a French- or a Dutch-speaking party list. However, the area surrounding Brussels is part of Dutch-speaking Flanders, but is joined with the Brussels constituency in elections for the European Parliament and the Belgian Parliament. This bilingual constituency, Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde, has been declared unconstitutional and has been a source of controversy for years. Flemings fear the bilingual constituency leads to increased francisation of the Dutch-speaking area surrounding Brussels, while French-speakers claim it is their basic right to vote for a French-speaking party. Some Dutch-speaking municipalities decided to boycott the EU Parliament election for reason of the unconstitutionality, but elections were carried out anyway.
As in previous elections, Francophone parties campaigned outside of the Francophone area, leading to measures from Flemish authorities. Affligem and Halle are located in Dutch-speaking Flanders (although a substantial minority of Francophones also live there) but belong to the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde constituency. Politicians in Affligem and Halle have objected to French-speaking campaigners in Flanders, and billboard space has been denied by the municipal authorities. In Affligem, French-language posters that had already been put up were covered with white paper. The Francophone party Humanist Democratic Centre has condemned it as an attack on "the fundamental rights of French speakers on the periphery [of Brussels]".
The municipalities of Merchtem, Beersel, Kapelle-op-den-Bos, Machelen, Ternat, Meise, and Grimbergen also said that they would not provide billboard space, in the hope of avoiding French-language posters. In Steenokkerzeel, Ternat, and Grimbergen stickers were distributed, to be placed on mailboxes, requesting that only Dutch flyers are accepted.
References
External links European Parliament Elections 2009 in Belgium European Elections results shown on Belgian cartogram European Election Results 2009