Parties in the European Council during 2012

The member-states of the European Union by the European party affiliations of their leaders, as of 1 January 2012.

This article describes the party affiliations of leaders of each member-state represented in the European Council during the year 2012. 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.

Summary

Party 1 January 2012 10 February 2012 4 April 2012 15 May 2012 20 June 2012 10 July 2012 27 August 2012
# QMV # QMV # QMV # QMV # QMV # QMV # QMV
European People's Party 15 202 16 206 15 199 14 170 15 182 14 168 15 182
Independent 3 48 3 48 3 48 3 48 2 36 2 36 2 36
Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists 2 41 2 41 2 41 2 41 2 41 2 41 2 41
Party of European Socialists 4 33 3 29 4 36 5 65 5 65 5 65 5 65
European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party[1] 2 17 2 17 2 17 2 17 2 17 3 31 2 17
Party of the European Left 1 4 1 4 1 4 1 4 1 4 1 4 1 4

List of leaders (1 January 2012)

Member-state Votes Leader National party European party
Germany 29 Angela Merkel CDU EPP
France 29 Nicolas Sarkozy UMP EPP
United Kingdom 29 David Cameron Con AECR
Italy 29 Mario Monti Independent
Spain 27 Mariano Rajoy PP EPP
Poland 27 Donald Tusk PO EPP
Romania 14 Traian Băsescu Independent[2] EPP
Netherlands 13 Mark Rutte VVD ELDR[3]
Greece 12 Lucas Papademos Independent
Belgium 12 Elio Di Rupo PS PES
Portugal 12 Pedro Passos Coelho PPD/PSD EPP
Czech Republic 12 Petr Nečas ODS AECR
Hungary 12 Viktor Orbán Fidesz EPP
Sweden 10 Fredrik Reinfeldt M EPP
Austria 10 Werner Faymann SPÖ PES
Bulgaria 10 Boyko Borisov GERB EPP
Denmark 7 Helle Thorning-Schmidt A PES
Slovakia 7 Iveta Radičová SDKÚ–DS EPP
Finland 7 Jyrki Katainen Kok. EPP
Ireland 7 Enda Kenny FG EPP
Lithuania 7 Dalia Grybauskaitė Independent
Latvia 4 Valdis Dombrovskis V EPP
Slovenia 4 Borut Pahor SD PES
Estonia 4 Andrus Ansip RE ELDR[4]
Cyprus 4 Demetris Christofias AKEL PEL[5]
Luxembourg 4 Jean-Claude Juncker CSV EPP
Malta 3 Lawrence Gonzi PN EPP

^ Supported by PD-L ^ AKEL holds only observer status with the Party of the European Left.

Changes

Affiliation

Date Member-state Leader National party European party
10 February Slovenia Janez Janša SDS EPP
4 April Slovakia Robert Fico SMER-SD PES
15 May France François Hollande PS PES
20 June Greece Antonis Samaras ND EPP
10 July Romania Crin Antonescu PNL ELDR[6]
27 August Romania Traian Băsescu Independent[7] EPP

^ The party's name was changed to Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE Party) on 10 November 2012.
^ Supported by PD-L

Office-holder only

Date Member-state Leader National party European party
16 May Greece Panagiotis Pikrammenos Independent

See also