This website provides the following information on the 2009 European election:
Representative electoral statistics were compiled for the seventh election to the European Parliament on 7 June 2009 as for former European elections. Voter turnout and the casting of votes by age, sex and Länder were determined in well above 2,900 polling districts selected at random. The secrecy of the ballot was ensured for the individual voters in these polling districts, too. You will find the results of the representative electoral statistics for the 2009 European Election on this website.
More information on the representative electoral statistics for the 2009 European election is provided in this leaflet - only available in German.
If you are a citizen of the Union, i.e. if you hold the nationality of a Member State of the European Union, you may as well exercise your right to vote in Germany and vote for the german members of the European Parliament.
Application forms and instructions are available in German on this website under “Service for EU citizens” (see navigation bar on the left).
On the website of the Federal Ministry for the Interior, you will also find more information in 21 EU languages.
Below you will find an overview concerning EU citizens aged 18 years and above living in Germany who are entitled to vote here, by citizenship as of 31 December 2008:
| Citizenship | Citizens entitled to vote | Citizenship | Citizens entitled to vote |
| Austria | 166,388 | Latvia | 8,842 |
| Belgium | 21,038 | Lithuania | 17,637 |
| Bulgaria | 49,949 | Luxembourg | 9,859 |
| Cyprus | 837 | Malta | 402 |
| Czech Republic | 31,500 | Netherlands | 119,933 |
| Denmark | 17,553 | Poland | 361,192 |
| Estonia | 3,554 | Portugal | 99,569 |
| Finland | 12,341 | Rumania | 86,851 |
| France | 99,292 | Sweden | 15,661 |
| Greece | 252,589 | Slovakia | 22,410 |
| Hungary | 57,107 | Slovenia | 19,584 |
| Ireland | 9,552 | Spain | 99,048 |
| Italy | 459,917 | United Kingdom | 90,883 |
Source: Federal Statistical Office, statistical evaluation of the Central Register of Foreigners as of 31 December 2008.
Until the 2009 European election, Germany was represented - as from 1990 - by 99 members of the European Parliament, according to the Nice Treaty. This treaty was signed on 26 February 2001 and entered into force on 1 February 2003. From 732 members of the European Parliament elected in 2004, the number of seats increased in 2007 to 785 as 53 new members joined the European Parliament after the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Rumania to the European Union. The EU and EC Treaties as amended by the Nice Treaty contained the basic provisions concerning the European Parliament as well as the Citizenship of the European Union which provides the right to vote and to stand for European elections in any Member State.
Nice Treaty, consolidated version - Extract (PDF, 130 KB)
These Treaties were intended to be replaced by the Treaty of Lisbon signed on 13 December 2007 before the 2009 European election. According to the Treaty of Lisbon, Germany would have had only 96 seats in the European Parliament. However, as the the ratification process was only concluded after the 2009 European election, a different set of rules concerning the distribution of seats was in force for the election. While the total number of seats was reduced to 736, Germany will still be represented by 99 members of the European Parliament.
| Member State | Seats 2004-2009 |
Seats after 2009 election according to the Nice Treaty |
Difference | Seats after 2009 election according to the Treaty of Lisbon |
Difference |
| Austria | 18 | 17 | -1 | 19 | +1 |
| Belgium | 24 | 22 | -2 | 22 | -2 |
| Bulgaria | 18 | 17 | -1 | 18 | 0 |
| Czech Republic | 24 | 22 | -2 | 22 | -2 |
| Cyprus | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Denmark | 14 | 13 | -1 | 13 | -1 |
| Estonia | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Finland | 14 | 13 | -1 | 13 | -1 |
| France | 78 | 72 | -6 | 74 | -4 |
| Germany | 99 | 99 | 0 | 96 | -3 |
| Greece | 24 | 22 | -2 | 22 | -2 |
| Hungary | 24 | 22 | -2 | 22 | -2 |
| Ireland | 13 | 12 | -1 | 12 | -1 |
| Italy | 78 | 72 | -6 | 73 | -5 |
| Latvia | 9 | 8 | -1 | 9 | 0 |
| Lithuania | 13 | 12 | -1 | 12 | -1 |
| Luxembourg | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Malta | 5 | 5 | 0 | 6 | +1 |
| Netherlands | 27 | 25 | -2 | 26 | -1 |
| Poland | 54 | 50 | -4 | 51 | -3 |
| Portugal | 24 | 22 | -2 | 22 | -2 |
| Romania | 35 | 33 | -2 | 33 | -2 |
| Slovakia | 14 | 13 | -1 | 13 | -1 |
| Slovenia | 7 | 7 | 0 | 8 | +1 |
| Spain | 54 | 50 | -4 | 54 | 0 |
| Sweden | 19 | 18 | -1 | 20 | +1 |
| United Kingdom | 78 | 72 | -6 | 73 | -5 |
| Total | 785 | 736 | -49 | 751 | -34 |
On 1 December 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force. According to the treaty, twelve of the 27 Member States may send 18 more members to the European Parliament. Consequently, the total number of seats increases to 754. According to the Treaty of Lisbon, Germany is the only Member State losing three seats. However, this regulation only applies after the next European election in 2014. Hence, Germany will be represented by 99 members of the European Parliament for the whole legislative period.
On 10 December 2008, the Federal Cabinet determined the date of the European election for 7 June 2009.
The date for a European election is determined by the electoral term and, more detailed, by the period prescribed by law.
Elections to the European Parliament are held every five years. Approximately six months before the election, the Federal Government (Section 7 of the European Elections Act) determines the exact date for election day within a period scheduled by the Council of the European Union (Articles 10 and 11 of the Decision and Act concerning the election of the representatives of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage of 20 September 1976, the so-called Direct Elections Act).
As a rule, the date falls within the same period from a Thursday to the following Sunday in all members states to guarantee that the various election traditions of the member states can be maintained. In most member states, elections are held on a Sunday or a public holiday like in Germany, while in Great Britain and the Netherlands, for example, the polling stations are opened on Thursdays.
The electoral period in the last year of the electoral term shall correspond to the time span during which the first European election of 1979 took place (Article 11 paragraph 2 sentence 1 of the Direct Elections Act). The first European election was held between 7 and 10 June 1979. A glance at the calendar of June 2009 reveals that the electoral period from Thursday to Sunday would have to be fixed at 4 to 7 June to ensure that at least one of the election dates in the member states would be within the above time span.
However, if it proves impossible to hold the elections during that period, the electoral period may be brought forward or postponed through a unanimous Council decision taken after consulting the European Parliament (Article 11 paragraph 2 sentence 2 of the Direct Elections Act). Such a decision should be taken at least one year before the end of the electoral term, for the next European election that would be mid-2008. A new electoral period may at most begin two months before or one month after the original period. So far there have been only two such decisions, one for the second and one for the third European election, postponing the electoral period by one week each time.
On 4 June 2008, the Council of the European Union took note that – in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Direct Elections Act of 20 September 1976 – the next elections tot the European Parliament would be held at the dates normally applicable according to Article 11 paragraph 1 sentence 1 of the Direct Elections Act, i.e. from 4 to 7 June 2009. According to Section 7 European Election Act, the Federal Government subsequently determines the date of the election which has to be held on a Sunday or a public holiday according to Section 4 of the European Elections Act in conjunction with Section 16 of the Federal Elections Act.
Irrespective of the final date of the poll, elections to the assemblies of party delegates may be held at the earliest 12 months and elections of candidates nine months before the beginning of the year for which the elections to the European Parliament have been scheduled (Article 10 paragraph 3 sentence 4 of the European Elections Act). This means that intra-party elections to the assemblies of party delegates may start on 1 January 2008 and elections of candidates on 1 April 2008 at the earliest for the next European election.
The lists for a Land have to be submitted in written form to the respective Land returning officer on the 66th day and joint lists for all Länder to the Federal Returning Officer on the 68th day before the election by 6 p.m. at the latest (Article 11 (1) of the European Elections Act). The exact dates will be known once the election date has finally been set.
