Parties in the European Council between May and December 2004

On 1 May 2004 ten new member states joined the European Union. This article describes the party affiliations of the leaders of each member-state represented in the European Council from 1 May until the end of 2004. The list below gives the political party that each head of government, or head of state, belonged to at the national level, as well as the European political alliance to which that national party belonged. 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.

The member-states of the European Union by the European party affiliations of their leaders, as of 1 May 2004.

Summary

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Party 1 May 2004 12 July 2004 1 November 2004 2 December 2004 3 December 2004
# QMVa # QMVa # QMVb # QMVb # QMVb
Party of European Socialists 7 50 7 50 7 146 7 146 7 146
European People's Party 10 49 10 49 10 123 11 127 12 131
European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party 5 17 4 14 4 30 4 30 3 26
Alliance for Europe of the Nations 1 3 1 3 1 7 1 7 1 7
European Green Party 1 3 1 3 1 4 0 0 0 0
Independent 1 2 2 5 2 11 2 11 2 11

a – Transitional QMV system with 124 total votes and a qualified majority of 88 (70.97%), in use until 1 November 2004.
b – Final EU-25 QMV system with 321 total votes and a qualified majority of 232 (72.27%).

List of leaders (1 May 2004)

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Member-state Votes Leader National party European party
a b
Germany 10 29 Gerhard Schröder SPD PES
United Kingdom 10 29 Tony Blair Lab PES
France 10 29 Jacques Chirac UMP EPP
Italy 10 29 Silvio Berlusconi FI EPP
Spain 8 27 José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero PSOE PES
Poland 8 27 Leszek Miller SLD PES
Netherlands 5 13 Jan Peter Balkenende CDA EPP
Greece 5 12 Kostas Karamanlis ND EPP
Czech Republic 5 12 Vladimír Špidla ČSSD PES
Belgium 5 12 Guy Verhofstadt VLD ELDR
Hungary 5 12 Péter Medgyessy MSZP PES
Portugal 5 12 José Manuel Barroso PPD/PSD EPP
Sweden 4 10 Göran Persson SAP PES
Austria 4 10 Wolfgang Schüssel ÖVP EPP
Slovakia 3 7 Mikuláš Dzurinda SDKÚ EPP
Denmark 3 7 Anders Fogh Rasmussen V ELDR
Finland 3 7 Matti Vanhanen Kesk. ELDR
Ireland 3 7 Bertie Ahern FF AEN
Lithuania 3 7 Artūras Paulauskas NS ELDR
Latvia 3 4 Indulis Emsis LZP EGP
Slovenia 3 4 Anton Rop LDS ELDR
Estonia 3 4 Juhan Parts RP EPP
Cyprus 2 4 Tassos Papadopoulos DIKO Independent[1]
Luxembourg 2 4 Jean-Claude Juncker CSV EPP
Malta 2 3 Lawrence Gonzi PN EPP

^ DIKO's MEP joined the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group in the European Parliament, but the party is not formally attached to any pan-European organization.

Changes

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Affiliation

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Date Member-state Leader National party European party
12 July Lithuania Valdas Adamkus Independent
2 December Latvia Aigars Kalvītis TP EPP
3 December Slovenia Janez Janša SDS EPP

Office-holder only

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Date Member-state Leader National party European party
2 May Poland Marek Belka SLD PES
17 July Portugal Pedro Santana Lopes PPD/PSD EPP
4 August Czech Republic Stanislav Gross ČSSD PES
29 September Hungary Ferenc Gyurcsány MSZP PES

See also

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