This article describes the party affiliations of leaders of each member-state represented in the European Council during the year 2009. The list below gives the political party that each head of government, or head of state, belongs to at the national level, as well as the European political alliance to which that national party belongs. The states are listed from most to least populous. More populous states have greater influence in the council, in accordance with the system of Qualified Majority Voting.
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Summary Party1 January 200912 March 200914 April 200916 April 20098 May 200927 July 20096 October 2009#QMV#QMV#QMV#QMV#QMV#QMV#QMVEuropean People's Party11182121861218612186121861319612184Party of European Socialists811181117997997996897101European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party422318318425425425425Movement for European ReformThe Movement for European Reform never officially sought recognition as a European political party, and on 1 October 2009 the members instead founded an organization under the title Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists that did.112112112112000000Independent1717219219331331331Alliance for Europe of the Nations17171700000000Party of the European Left14141414141414
List of leaders (1 January 2009) Member-stateVotesLeaderNational partyEuropean partyGermany29Angela MerkelCDUEPPUnited Kingdom29Gordon BrownLabPESFrance29Nicolas SarkozyUMPEPPItaly29Silvio BerlusconiFIEPPSpain27José Luis Rodríguez ZapateroPSOEPESPoland27Donald TuskPOEPPRomania14Traian BăsescuIndependentEPPNetherlands13Jan Peter BalkenendeCDAEPPGreece12Kostas KaramanlisNDEPPCzech Republic12Mirek TopolánekODSMERBelgium12Herman Van RompuyCD&VEPPHungary12Ferenc GyurcsányMSZPPESPortugal12José SócratesPSPESSweden10Fredrik ReinfeldtMEPPAustria10Werner FaymannSPÖPESBulgaria10Sergei StanishevBSPPESSlovakia7Robert FicoSMER-SDPESDenmark7Anders Fogh RasmussenVELDRFinland7Matti VanhanenKesk.ELDRIreland7Brian CowenFFAENLithuania7Valdas AdamkusIndependentLatvia4Ivars GodmanisLPP/LCELDRSlovenia4Borut PahorSDPESEstonia4Andrus AnsipREELDRCyprus4Demetris ChristofiasAKELPELLuxembourg4Jean-Claude JunckerCSVEPPMalta3Lawrence GonziPNEPP
Supported by PD-L AKEL holds only observer status with the Party of the European Left.
Changes
Affiliation DateMember-stateLeaderNational partyEuropean party12 MarchLatviaValdis DombrovskisJLEPP14 AprilHungaryGordon BajnaiIndependent16 AprilIrelandBrian CowenFFELDR8 MayCzech RepublicJan FischerIndependent27 JulyBulgariaBoyko BorisovGERBEPP6 OctoberGreeceGeorge PapandreouPA.SO.K.PES
– Fianna Fáil, which held office under Brian Cowen, left the AEN and became an ELDR member.
Office-holder only DateMember-stateLeaderNational partyEuropean party5 AprilDenmarkLars Løkke RasmussenVELDR12 JulyLithuaniaDalia GrybauskaitėIndependent25 NovemberBelgiumYves LetermeCD&VEPP
National party changes On 27 March, Berlusconi's Forza Italia merged with other parties to form The People of Freedom. The successor party continued Forza Italia's EPP membership.
See also Presidency of the Council of the European Union
Footnotes
External links Council of the European Union (official website)