2019 European Parliament election in Romania, Background, National Union for the Progress of Romania
The National Union for the Progress of Romania ran with the Conservative Party on a common list headed by the Social Democratic Party at the previous election. This electoral alliance was supposed to be called "Social Democratic Union" ("Uniunea Social Democrată"), but, due to the Romanian legislation (this name was taken by a 1990s alliance between the Democratic Party and Romanian Social Democratic Party), they ran as "PSD-UNPR-PC". In 2016, the National Union for the Progress of Romania merged with (was absorbed by) the People's Movement Party, but the former's MEPs did not join the People's Movement Party.


2019 European Parliament election in Romania, Background, National Union for the Progress of Romania
Both its two candidates continue to stand with the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats: Damian Drăghici (first National Union for the Progress of Romania candidate and sixth on the "PSD-UNPR-PC" list) as an independent member, and Doru Frunzulică (second National Union for the Progress of Romania candidate and thirteenth on the "PSD-UNPR-PC" list) joined the Social Democratic Party.


2019 European Parliament election in Romania, Candidates and Elected MEPs
The Central Electoral Bureau publishes the lists the latest in 24 hours after they have been registered by the parties.


2019 European Parliament election in Romania, Notes
The Social Democratic Party (PSD) ran in 2014 as part of the a three-party alliance that also included the Conservative Party (Romania) (PC, a founding member of the ALDE party in 2015) and the National Union for the Progress of Romania (UNPR). Initially it intended to run as "Social Democratic Union", but, as the same name was used by an alliance in the 1990s by the now defunct Democratic Party (PD) and Social Democratic Party of Romania (PSDR), they ran as "PSD-UNPR-PC Alliance", Save Romania Union and Freedom, Unity and Solidarity Party are running together under the 2020 USR-PLUS Alliance. Includes the Civic Force (2,6% in 2014), which merged into the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) in July 2014, which itself merged into the PNL in November 2014.


2019 European Parliament election in Sardinia
The European Parliament election of 2019 took place in Italy on 26 May 2019.


2019 European Parliament election in Sardinia
In Sardinia the League, which included the Sardinian Action Party, came first with 27.7% of the vote (country-level result 34.3%), slightly ahead of the Five Star Movement (25.7%) and the Democratic Party (24.3%). Forza Italia came a distant fourth (7.8%), ahead of Brothers of Italy (6.2%), The Left (2.2%), More Europe (2.1%) and Green Europe (1.6%). No Sardinian candidate was elected to the European Parliament, due to the strength of Sicilians in the Islands constituency.


2019 European Parliament election in Sicily
The European Parliament election of 2019 took place in Italy on 26 May 2019.


2019 European Parliament election in Sicily
In Sicily the Five Star Movement came first with 31.2% of the vote (+14.1pp than at country-level), ahead of the League (20.8%; –13.5pp), Forza Italia (17.0%; +8.2pp), the Democratic Party (16.6; –6.1pp), Brothers of Italy (7.6%; +1.1pp), More Europe (1.9%), Green Europe (1.5%) and The Left (1.2%).


2019 European Parliament election in Slovakia
Elections in Slovakia for the 2019 European Parliament election took place on 25 May 2019. Thirty-one parties featured on the electoral list. The election was won by alliance of Progressive Slovakia and TOGETHER - Civic Democracy. It was the first election since 2006 that was won by some other party than Direction – Social Democracy.


2019 European Parliament election in Slovakia, Results, Post-election changes of Europarties
On 5 June, Peter Pollák announced that he is switching from AECR to EPP.


2019 European Parliament election in Slovenia
European Parliament elections were held in Slovenia on 26 May 2019. This was the most recent in the series of four elections held over the period of two years.


2019 European Parliament election in Slovenia, Opinion polls
Poll results are listed in the table below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed in bold, and the background shaded in the leading party's colour. The projected numbers of MP's per party, if available, are listed in brackets. In the instance that there is a tie, then no figure is shaded. The lead column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the two parties with the highest figures. Poll results use the date the survey's fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. However, if such date is unknown, the date of publication will be given instead.


2019 European Parliament election in Slovenia, Inaccessible polling places dispute
Before the 2015 same-sex marriage referendum, two voters with disabilities requested that the authorities make their polling places accessible. Their requests were denied, and the courts rejected their lawsuits and appeals. Before the 2019 European Parliament elections, they extended their requests to these elections. When the authorities rejected their requests, they submitted, together with the Slovenian Disability Rights Association (Drupis), applications to the European Court of Human Rights. In January 2020, the Court communicated the cases with the government of Slovenia. As of January 2020, the cases, called Toplak v. Slovenia and Mrak v. Slovenia, are ongoing.


2019 European Parliament election in Slovenia, The Right to Vote by Persons with Intellectual Disabilities
Before the 2019 European Parliament elections, disability groups Sonček and Slovenian Disability Rights Association, and a law professor Jurij Toplak, called for legislative amendments for the recognition of the right to vote for persons with disabilities, in line with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. They also initiated proceedings with the Constitutional Court of Slovenia, which rejected three of their appeals. They filed a complaint with the European Commission and asked for an infringement procedure. As of September 2020, the procedure is ongoing.


2019 European Parliament election in Spain
The 2019 European Parliament election in Spain was held on Sunday, 26 May 2019, as part of the EU-wide election to elect the 9th European Parliament. All 54 seats allocated to Spain as per the Treaty of Lisbon were up for election. Once the United Kingdom is effectively out of the European Union in a legal basis as a result of Brexit, 5 additional seats would be allocated to Spain. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.


2019 European Parliament election in Spain
Held one month after the 2019 Spanish general election, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez scored a landslide victory—as well as the first win for the party in a European Parliament election in 15 years, also with Josep Borrell as its main candidate—by achieving 32.9% of the share and 20 seats, a result which allowed it to become the largest national delegation within the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.


2019 European Parliament election in Spain
Concurrently, the opposition People's Party (PP) suffered a severe setback and scored its worst result ever in a European Parliament election, but slightly improved on its general election results by achieving 20.2% of the vote and 12 seats. Citizens (Cs), which had integrated UPyD within its lists ahead of the election, became the third most-voted party of the country, but at 12.2% and 7 seats it only slightly improved on the combined Cs–UPyD results in 2014.


2019 European Parliament election in Spain
Unidas Podemos Cambiar Europa (English: "United We Can Change Europe"), the alliance of Podemos and United Left (IU) suffered a considerable drop from both parties' past results, being reduced to 10.1% and 6 seats. Far-right Vox performed well below expectations after disappointing results for the party in the 2019 general election, scoring 6.2% of the share and 3 seats.


2019 European Parliament election in Spain
Afterwards, and as a result of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union coming into effect on 31 January 2020, five additional seats were allocated to Spain's MEP delegation, which were re-distributed by granting one each to PSOE, PP, Cs, Vox and Junts according to their May 2019 election results.


2019 European Parliament election in Spain, Electoral system
The 54 members of the European Parliament allocated to Spain as per the Treaty of Lisbon were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with no electoral threshold being applied in order to be entitled to enter seat distribution. Seats were allocated to a single multi-member constituency comprising the entire national territory. Voting was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals and resident non-national European citizens over eighteen and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Additionally, Spaniards abroad were required to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote (Spanish: Voto rogado). The use of the D'Hondt method might result in an effective threshold depending on the district magnitude.


2019 European Parliament election in Spain, Parties and candidates
The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call.


2019 European Parliament election in Spain, Parties and candidates
In order to be entitled to run, parties, federations, coalitions and groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least 15,000 registered electors; this requirement could be lifted and replaced through the signature of at least 50 elected officials—deputies, senators, MEPs or members from the legislative assemblies of autonomous communities or from local city councils. Electors and elected officials were disallowed from signing for more than one list of candidates.


2019 European Parliament election in Spain, Parties and candidates
Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:


2019 European Parliament election in Spain, Opinion polls
The table below lists voting intention estimates in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a given poll. When available, seat projections are also displayed below the voting estimates in a smaller font.


2019 European Parliament election in Sweden
European Parliament elections were held in Sweden in May 2019 to elect the country's twenty members of the European Parliament.


2019 European Parliament election in Sweden, Voter demographics
Voter demographics of the 2019 European Parliament election in Sweden, according to the Swedish Television's exit polls.


2019 European Parliament election in Sweden, Referendums
In connection with the 2019 European Parliament elections, two local referendums were held in Sweden. In Svedala municipality, citizens took a stand on whether a prison should be established there, with 67.5% voting no. In the municipalities of Borgholm and Mörbylånga, residents voted on a proposal for a merger to the municipality of Öland, which gave no in both municipalities.


2019 European Parliament election in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol
The European Parliament election of 2019 took place in Italy on 26 May 2019.


2019 European Parliament election in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol
Lega Nord (PD), which came first also at the country-level, was by far the most voted list in Trentino (37.7%), while the South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP) was by far the largest party in South Tyrol (46.5%). SVP's Herbert Dorfmann, the outgoing two-term MEP, was largely the most voted candidate in the region (95,753 preference votes), followed by Matteo Salvini (Lega Nord, 43,321), Roberto Battiston (PD, 23,788), Remate Holzeisen (Team K–More Europe, 22,930) and Norbert Lantschner (Greens–Green Europe, 9,825). Dorfmann was the only candidate from the region to be elected (in his case, re-elected) to the European Parliament.


2019 European Parliament election in Veneto
The European Parliament election of 2019 took place in Italy on 26 May 2019.


2019 European Parliament election in Veneto
In Veneto Lega Nord came first with 49.9% of the vote (country-level result 34.3%) and more than 20pp than the Democratic Party, which came second with 18.9%. The Five Star Movement came third with 8.9%, ahead of Brothers of Italy (6.8%), Forza Italia (6.1%), Green Europe (2.7%), More Europe (2.7%) and The Left (1.1%).


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic
The 2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic was held on 24 and 25 May 2019, electing the 21 members of the Czech delegation to the European Parliament as part of the European elections held across the European Union.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic
The result was a victory of the populist ruling party ANO (ALDE), with 21.18 per cent and 6 seats, 2 more seats than in 2014 election. Followed by conservative ODS (ECR), with 14.54 per cent and 4 seats, marking a notable growth in the election. The Pirate Party also made major gains. SPD (ENF) gained seats in its first European election, while KDU-ČSL (EPP), TOP 09/STAN (EPP) and KSČM (GUE/NGL) lost seats. ČSSD (S&D) did not cross 5% threshold for the first time, as well as Svobodní (EFDD).


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Background
Previous election was held in 2014. ANO 2011 has won the previous election followed by TOP 09. Civic Democratic Party has suffered losses and Czech Social Democratic Party had disappointing result.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Background
Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party announced on 19 May 2018 that it will be led by MEP Pavel Svoboda during 2019 election. Christian Democrats admitted to consider joint list with TOP 09 and Mayors and Independents. Christian Democrats announced on 28 November 2018 the will run independently.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Background
Jan Zahradil became Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe candidate for the President of the European Commission and thus the election leader of Civic Democratic Party. Zahradil launched pan-European campaign of Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe on 28 November 2018. Zahradil stated that his Zahradil was confirmed as party's election leader on 10 December 2018. In national election polls, which use similar system (the only difference being national candidate list compared to regional for national elections), ODS polls at second place with 14-16%, which would give them 4 MEP's.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Background
Czech Social Democratic Party announced Pavel Poc as the leading candidate of the party on 30 November 2018. Josef Středula was reportedly offered the position but refused it. Poc was confirmed as electoral leader on 27 January 2019.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Background
Mayors and Independents announced on 7 December 2018 that Stanislav Polčák will be party's election leader. The party stated they negotiate with TOP 09, SNK European Democrats and Liberal-Environmental Party about joint list for the election.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Background
Czech Pirate Party launched its primaries for the election on 10 December 2018. Mikuláš Peksa expressed his intention to become electoral leader of the party and entered the primaries. He was eventually defeated by Marcel Kolaja who became party's electoral leader on 19 January 2019.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Background
Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia chose Kateřina Konečná as the electoral leader on 15 December 2018.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Background
TOP 09 announced its leader Jiří Pospíšil as the electoral leader on 25 January 2019.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, ANO 2011
Dita Charanzová was introduced as the electoral leader of ANO 2011 on 17 February 2019.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, ANO 2011
The party launched its campaign on 2 May 2019. It uses the slogan "We will protect Czech strongly and without compromises." The party introduced baseball caps with the slogan "Strong Czechia" which is inspired by Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Charanzová promised strong Czechia in a strong Europe, fighting against illegal migration and fighting against low quality grocery.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, ANO 2011
ANO 2011 used Gamekeepers's exhibition Natura Viva. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and Minister of Environment attended party's meeting there along with Dita Charanzová


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, ANO 2011
ANO 2011 concluded itc campaign on 23 May when Dita CHaranzová was doing contact campaign and handing out Doughnut to potential voters.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, Christian and Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU-ČSL)
KDU-ČSL concluded campaign on 23 May when its candidates met with party's supporters at Anděl to sing Ode to Joy.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, Civic Democratic Party (ODS)
The Civic Democratic Party is led by Jan Zahradil. The list of candidates was announced on 21 January 2018. It includes, besides Zahradil, MEP Evžen Tošenovský, former Minister of Defense Alexandr Vondra, MP Veronika Vrecionová and others. The party is a member of the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe. Zahradil is a leading candidate of the European Conservatives and Reformists group. The party focuses on reform of the European Union.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, Civic Democratic Party (ODS)
The party introduced its election slogan "We are the Heart of Europe and we want to be heard" on 16 March 2019.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, Civic Democratic Party (ODS)
ODS launched its campaign during a meeting on 2 May 2019. Zahradil stated that the party aims for a less bureaucratic and more flexible Europe. Petr Fiala, leader of ODS, stated that the party plans to support safe outer borders of the European Union, open borders within the European Union and free trade without "useless regulations". He also promised large-scale legal cleaning of European law.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, Civic Democratic Party (ODS)
Zahradil reacted to the campaign of ANO 2011 that was launched on 2 May 2019. He noted that ODS previously used the slogan "Strong Czechia" during the campaign for the 2017 legislative election. He also stated that ANO 2011 copied the election program of ODS.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, Civic Democratic Party (ODS)
ODS released a campaign advertisement on 12 May 2019. It reminds voters of previous and current scandals of Andrej Babiš.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, Civic Democratic Party (ODS)
Civic Democratic Party concluded campaign on 24 May when Jan Zahradil was doing contact campaign along with supporters of the party and was handing out leaflets to voters.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD)
Social Democrats chose Pavel Poc as the electoral leader. The party launched its campaign on 23 April 2019. It focuses on the fight against poor-quality grocery.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, Czech Pirate Party
The Pirates are led by Marcel Kolaja. The party is not currently represented in the European Parliament. Kolaja stated that it could join Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group or Greens–European Free Alliance group after the election. The party launched its campaign on 3 March 2019.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, Czech Pirate Party
Pirates launched their campaign on 29 April 2019 with a petition against Andrej Babiš. The party's campaign utilises the slogan "Europe needs Pirates."


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, Czech Pirate Party
Pirate Party used a virtual reality workshop during its campaign. Printed Pirate Newspapers included a hologram of Ivan Bartoš, visible when someone aims their mobile phone camera at title page of Pirate Newspapers. The Pirate Party also published so-called Peksaso (named after Mikuláš Peksa) which is a pexeso whose pictures are based on the election program of the Pirates.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, Czech Pirate Party
Pirates held a meeting with voters at Havlíčkův Brod square on 19 May 2019 where they build an Election Town. There were attractions for people such as Musical performance or bouncy castle for children. Marcel Kolaja called people to vote as the election is important. Pirates also decided to hold a meeting in Olomouc. One of main planned attractions were ponies as a ride for children. Electoral leader Marcel Kolaja disagreed with ponies as he viewed it as an animal abuse which resulted in a party's election whether party members want the pony even at the cost of not having Kolaja at the meeting. Pirates eventually voted they prefer Ponies.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, Czech Pirate Party
Pirates concluded campaign on 24 May when party's leader Ivan Bartoš was driving through the Prague by a bus with DJ Music.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD)
The Freedom and Direct Democracy is running for the first time in a European parliament election. They are with Movement for a Europe of Nations and Freedom. The party launched its campaign on 25 April 2019.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, Svobodní
Svobodní launched campaign on 20 April 2019. Vít Jedlička was announced as its leader. The party is running with support of Joyful Czech Republic. The party's campaign is somewhat less Eurosceptic than in previous years. The party wants to focus on the reform of the European Union. Jedlička stated that Svobodní wants the Czech Republic to remain in the European Union and would support exit from the European Union only if reform does not occur.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, Svobodní
On 11 May 2016 Svobodní began its election campaign. Its party members and supporters started printing electoral newspapers.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, Svobodní
Svobodní decided to finance its campaign through crowdfunding on the website HitHit. Their target is 350,000 CZK.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, STAN and TOP 09
On 25 January 2019 was Jiří Pospíšil, leader of the TOP 09 party, announced as the electoral leader of the coalition. In addition to Jiří Pospíšil (TOP 09), the candidate list includes Stanislav Polčák (STAN), MEP Luděk Niedermayer (TOP 09), Marek Ženíšek (TOP 09) and others. All elected members of the European Parliament would be in the European People's Party group.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, STAN and TOP 09
In January 2019 TOP 09 had announced its desire to negotiate with the political movement Mayors and Independents (STAN) about a joint candidate list for the European Parliament election in 2019. Mayors and Independents party itself had previously announced an agreement of a cooperation with the Green party and numerous regional subjects in the European Parliament election. On 18 February 2019 both party leaders, Petr Gazdík (STAN) and Jiří Pospíšil (TOP 09), signed an agreement on cooperation in the European Parliament election. The assembled coalition was targeting European Union supporters.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, STAN and TOP 09
The party's MEP Luděk Niedermayer launched a website called  to support European Union by retelling real experiences and stories of Bohemian, Moravian and Silesian citizens, who feel like European citizens at the same time. The campaign aims to inform civil society about the European Union without a political context.


2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, Campaign, STAN and TOP 09
TOP 09 and Mayors and Independents coalition made a campaign commercial inspired by the iconic film Cosy Dens. The commercial quickly went viral on social networks. The campaign was aimed at pro-European voters.


2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands
The 2019 European Parliament election for the election of the delegation from the Netherlands is an election that was held on 23 May 2019. It is the ninth time the elections have been held for the European elections in the Netherlands. The number of Dutch seats was to increase from 26 to 29 following Brexit, but due to the extension of the Article 50 process in the United Kingdom, the number of seats to be elected will remain at 26.


2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, Background, Voting and election organisation, Right to vote
Additionally, nationals of other member states of the European Union must:


2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, Background, Voting and election organisation, Right to vote
Dutch nationals abroad, as well as in Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten have to register to vote for the elections to the European Parliament. When they register, they must say whether they will vote by post, by proxy, or in person at a polling station in the Netherlands.


2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, Background, Voting and election organisation, Right to vote
Dutch nationals living in another EU member state must make a statement that they have not voted in the member state in which they reside, if they want to vote in the Netherlands.


2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, Background, Voting and election organisation, Right to vote
Dutch residents on Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba have no need to register, because these islands are part of the Netherlands. They are able to vote in person at polling stations on the islands.


2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, Background, Voting and election organisation, Right to stand as a candidate
In order to stand in the European Parliament election, a candidate must:


2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, Background, Voting and election organisation, Right to stand as a candidate
Additionally, candidates from other member states of the European Union must:


2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, Background, Voting and election organisation, Organisation of elections
In elections for the European Parliament, the national electoral districts play no role in the nomination. The Netherlands consists of a single electoral district. Political parties, therefore, take part in the elections with only a single candidate list.


2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, Background, Voting and election organisation, Organisation of elections
However, the national electoral districts do play an important role in processing the election results. The principal polling station of each constituency determines the vote total of the constituency. The results of the vote are recorded in an official document and transferred to the Electoral Council. The Electoral Council, in its role as the central electoral committee, then determines the result of the Netherlands' distribution of seats.


2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, Background, Voting and election organisation, Casting a vote
A voter could cast their vote at a polling station of their choice within their own district. At the casting their vote, they could identify themselves with an identity document which is considered valid even if it has expired within the last five years.


2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, Background, Voting and election organisation, Numbering of the candidates list
The parties which had obtained one or more seats in 2014 at the last election to the European Parliament were given a number based on the number of votes they had received in the previous election. These totalled nine candidate lists. The party with the most votes got number 1 and the rest were listed accordingly. The list numbers for the remaining candidate lists were decided by a lottery.


2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, Background, Voting and election organisation, Common lists
Parties can form common lists, which means that two or more parties create a single list and stand in the elections as though they were one party. There are two for this election:


2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, Background, Voting and election organisation, Election day
Traditionally, all elections are held on Wednesday in the Netherlands. However, the European Parliament elections run from Thursday to Sunday across the entire European Union so Thursday was chosen. This is because it is the only day that the Dutch Government believes is appropriate for an election day due to it not being a rest day for any religion. Sunday is not an option because it is a rest day for Christians, while it is the Sabbath on Friday and Saturday.


2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, Polls, Exit Poll
An exit poll carried out by Ipsos, as well as a forecast of the result produced by GeenPeil and Maurice de Hond based on a part of results collected, indicated that the Labour Party (PvdA) emerged with the most seats, followed by the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) with four seats each, Forum for Democracy (FvD) and GroenLinks (GL) with three seats and the Democrats 66 (D66) and the Christian Union – Reformed Political Party (CU-SGP) lists with two seats each, with all others on zero or one seat. The result marked the first time the Labour Party had won the most seats of the EU Parliament in the Netherlands since 1984, and the first time it has won the popular vote in a Dutch election since 1998.


2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, Results, Turnout
A total of 13,164,688 people were entitled to vote. Of these 5,519,776 participated in the election. This amounts to a turnout of 41.93%, which is higher than in 2014 (37.32%), and higher than any European Parliament election in the past twenty years.


2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, Results, Seat assignment, Electoral quota
The electoral quota is the number of votes needed for one seat. It is the total valid number of votes divided by the number of seats. For this election it was 5,497,813 valid votes, divided by 26 seats. The electoral quota was established as 211,454.


2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, Results, Seat assignment, Assigning full seats
Full seats are assigned by number of votes divided by the electoral quota. Electoral alliances are marked as a letter, instead of a number. Any seats left over are not yet assigned to a specific party.


2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, Results, Seat assignment, Remainder seats
The remaining, or left over, seats are awarded sequentially to the lists with the highest average number of votes per seat. Only lists that reached the electoral quota are eligible.


2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, Results, Elected members
To be elected by preference votes, 10% of the electoral quota is needed. The electoral quota was 211,454. 10% of 211,454 = 21,145 votes.


2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, Results, Elected members
36 members were directly elected by preference votes. Not all candidates could be appointed because either the party did not get enough seats, or it got no seats.


2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, Results, Elected members
Below are all the elected members of European parliament for the Netherlands. The following 26 MEPs were officially announced by the Central Electoral Commission. Members elected by preference votes are in bold.


2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, MEPs in 2019–2024
Below is a list of members of the European Parliament for the period 2019–2024 as a result of this election.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom's component of the 2019 European Parliament election was held on Thursday 23 May 2019 and the results were announced on Sunday 26 and Monday 27 May 2019, after all the other EU countries had voted. This was the United Kingdom's final participation in a European Parliament election before leaving the European Union on 31 January 2020, and was also the last election to be held under the provisions of the European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 before its repeal under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom
Initially no election was planned in the United Kingdom, as Brexit (following the 2016 referendum) was set for 29 March 2019. However, at the European summit on 11 April 2019 the British government and the European Council agreed to delay British withdrawal until 31 October 2019. While it was then the default position in UK and EU law for the election to take place, the UK Government continued attempts to avoid participation by agreeing on withdrawal before 23 May. On 7 May 2019, the UK government conceded that the election would go ahead.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom
The election was the ninth time the United Kingdom had elected MEPs to the European Parliament (and the fourth for Gibraltar). Candidate nominations were submitted by 16:00 on 25 April 2019, and voter registration was completed on 7 May 2019. The MEPs sat until 31 January 2020.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom
Brexit was the central issue of the election campaign; arguments were made that it was a proxy for a second Brexit referendum. The Brexit Party won the most votes and became the largest single national party in the European Parliament, being the dominant choice of those who had voted to leave the European Union.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom
The votes of those who had voted to remain were more fragmented: the Liberal Democrats made substantial gains, finishing second nationally, while the Green Party of England and Wales and Scottish National Party also improved on their 2014 result; however, Change UK failed to win any seats. Compared to the 2014 result, the Labour Party suffered heavy losses, while the Conservative Party lost all but four of its MEPs. The previously dominant UK Independence Party failed to elect any MEPs.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom
In Northern Ireland, the Republican pro-Remain Sinn Féin and the Unionist pro-Leave Democratic Unionist Party both held their seats, while the Ulster Unionist Party lost its seat to the pro-Remain non-sectarian Alliance Party. In Scotland, the Scottish National Party elected three MEPs, while Labour lost both its MEPs and failed to win a seat in Scotland at a European election for the first time in its history. In Wales, the Brexit Party became the largest party, while the nationalist Plaid Cymru came second. The Liberal Democrats became the largest party in London.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom
The election was the first national poll in the United Kingdom since December 1910 in which a successor party to the Liberal Party reached higher than third place in the number of votes or seats, and the first ever national election in which the Conservative Party received less than 10% of the votes cast.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Voting eligibility
Individuals had to be registered to vote by midnight on 7 May 2019. A person with two homes, such as a university student with a term-time address but living at home during holidays, could be registered to vote at both addresses as long as they are not in the same electoral area, but could vote in only one constituency at the election.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Voting eligibility
European Union citizens (except for British, Irish, Cypriot and Maltese citizens) also had to submit a European Parliament voter registration form (also known as Form UC1 or Form EC6) by midnight on 7 May 2019 to confirm that they would vote in the European Parliament election only in the UK, and not in their home country. However, in the top 10 local authorities with EU citizens, only 21% of EU citizens who were on the Electoral Register returned this form by the deadline. EU citizens who did not submit this form were unable to vote in the election.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Constituencies
The United Kingdom was divided into 12 multi-member constituencies: the nine regions of England, plus Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Gibraltar was assigned to the South West England constituency. As had been the case since 1999, the English electoral constituencies were based on the government's nine English regions. The seat allocation was the same as in 2014.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Constituencies
The breakdown of seats just prior to the election was:


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Electoral method
In Great Britain, candidates stood on either a party list, known as a closed list, in a set order of priority decided by that party, or as an independent. Voters chose a party (not an individual party candidate) or an independent candidate. Seats would then be allocated proportionally to the share of votes cast for each party or individual candidate in the electoral region using the D'Hondt method of calculation. The first seat was allocated to the party or individual with the highest number of votes.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Electoral method
After each seat was allocated to a party, for the purpose of allocating further seats that party's total votes would then be divided by one plus the number of seats already allocated to that party, to give the party's quotient. The second and subsequent seats were allocated in turn to the party or independent candidate with the greatest quotient.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Electoral method
The Northern Ireland constituency used the single transferable vote (STV) system to allocate its three MEPs. Voters ranked the candidates sequentially, in the order of their choice.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Background, Expected cancellation and contingency planning
The United Kingdom invoked Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union on 29 March 2017 following a referendum on 23 June 2016 to leave the European Union. As a result, the country was due to leave the EU on 29 March 2019, before the European Parliament elections took place. Nonetheless, on 27 May 2018, it was reported that the UK's Electoral Commission had set aside £829,000 for its "activities relating to a European Parliamentary election in 2019". The Commission described the money as a "precautionary measure, so that we have the necessary funds to deliver our functions at a European Parliamentary election, in the unlikely event that they do go ahead".


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Background, Expected cancellation and contingency planning
The European Parliament resolution of 7 February 2018 on the composition of the European Parliament (2017/2054(INL) – 2017/0900(NLE)) included these clauses:


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Background, Expected cancellation and contingency planning
The European Council also drew up contingency plans allowing the UK to retain its MEPs were Brexit to be postponed:


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Background, Official preparations
After Brexit was delayed beyond its initial planned date of 29 March 2019, the possibility of a sufficiently long delay so as to require the election to take place became more apparent. The period for withdrawal under Article 50 was first extended, with the unanimous approval of the European Council, until 12 April 2019 – the deadline for informing the EU of the intention to hold an election. By early April, the House of Commons had voted again to extend the withdrawal period, and a deadline of 31 October 2019 was agreed between the UK and the Council. The UK Government therefore ordered preparations for the election, with the deadline for candidate nominations on 24 April for the South West England region and 25 April for all other regions.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Background, Official preparations
Nevertheless, ratification of a withdrawal agreement by the UK and European parliaments would still have permitted the UK to leave before October. Had this occurred before 23 May, the United Kingdom and Gibraltar would not have taken part in the 2019 European Parliament elections scheduled for that day. On 7 May, the UK Government announced that it would not be able to obtain ratification in time to prevent the elections, although it still aimed to ratify the withdrawal agreement before October. Later in May, it also acknowledged that the MEPs elected would take up their seats, with Brexit not due to happen until after 2 July.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Background, Campaign background
The two major UK political parties, the Conservatives and Labour, saw the prospect of elections for the European Parliament (while the UK was due to leave the European Union) as problematic, with both having been keen to avoid this scenario. The backdrop of ongoing debate around Brexit was expected to be a very significant factor in how people voted, with the election seen by many as a "proxy referendum" on whether the country should leave the EU or not. Commentators suggested that the vote share for the Conservatives and Labour could fall, with voters moving towards a number of pro-Leave or pro-Remain parties, and this did indeed happen.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Background, Campaign background
The Conservative government had made several attempts to get the Withdrawal Agreement that it had negotiated with the EU approved by the House of Commons, which would have allowed for Brexit before the election. All these having failed, the Conservatives entered into cross-party talks with the Labour Party to see whether they could agree a withdrawal plan. These talks were still ongoing as of 10 May 2019, but eventually failed.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Background, Campaign background
The election was seen as being significant for two new single-issue parties: the Brexit Party (supporting Brexit), and Change UK (supporting the UK remaining in the EU).


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Background, Campaign background
Between the 2014 and 2019 elections, there were many changes to the breakdown of UK members due to defections and changes in affiliation. This table shows the number of MEPs in each party at both ends of the term:


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Candidates
Nomination papers had to be submitted by 16:00 on the 19th working day before election day (25 April 2019). To stand as a candidate, individuals had to be aged 18 or over on the date of nomination and a British or European Union citizen, or a Commonwealth citizen possessing indefinite leave to remain or not requiring leave to enter or remain in the UK.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Candidates
In April 2019, Labour said it had started its process for choosing candidates. 16 out of the 20 MEPs elected last time applied to stand again. The party's candidates were announced on 18 April, and included former Cabinet minister Andrew Adonis, former MP Katy Clark and the national co-ordinator of campaigning group Momentum Laura Parker.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Candidates
Following the prospect of a delay to Brexit, Conservative Party MEPs were asked by their delegation leader if they would consider standing again if there were a delay that would mean the UK staying in the EU beyond the date of the next European Parliament election. Fifteen of the party's 18 MEPs stood again as lead candidates for their respective regions.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Candidates
The Brexit Party ran candidates for all 70 seats in Great Britain, with leader Nigel Farage, himself a former UKIP leader, standing in the South East England region, and former Conservative candidate Annunziata Rees-Mogg standing in the East Midlands region. Writer Claire Fox, formerly of the Revolutionary Communist Party, and former Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe both also stood.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Candidates
The UK Independence Party selected its three remaining MEPs as candidates, along with social media activist Carl Benjamin and YouTuber Mark Meechan.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Candidates
The Green Party of England and Wales and the corresponding party in Scotland, the Scottish Greens, began their candidate selection processes in March. The Green Party of England and Wales announced a full slate of candidates for England and Wales on 24 April 2019, including one of its three outgoing MEPs, Molly Scott Cato. Other candidates included Catherine Rowett, Rupert Read and former Lord Mayor of Sheffield, Magid Magid.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Candidates
The Liberal Democrats announced their selected candidates for England and Wales on 17 April 2019 following a membership vote. The party's sole incumbent MEP, Catherine Bearder, was re-selected as its lead candidate for South East England, while former MEPs Chris Davies, Fiona Hall, Bill Newton Dunn and Phil Bennion were selected as lead candidates for their respective regions. Other candidates included in London the entrepreneur Dinesh Dhamija and the former leader of the People's Alliance of Tower Hamlets, Rabina Khan, and former MPs Martin Horwood and Stephen Williams in the South West. The party also stood a full slate in Scotland.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Candidates
Change UK said it had had 3,700 applicants to be candidates, including former MPs from both the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. Their candidates included writer Rachel Johnson (sister of Conservative MP Boris Johnson and formerly of the Liberal Democrats), former BBC journalist Gavin Esler, former Conservative MPs Stephen Dorrell and Neil Carmichael, former Labour MEP Carole Tongue, former Labour MPs Roger Casale and Jon Owen Jones, former Liberal Democrat MEP Diana Wallis, and former deputy Prime Minister of Poland Jacek Rostowski. It stood 70 candidates (all of Great Britain, but not Northern Ireland). Two of its candidates subsequently withdrew from the ballot due to reports that they had made misogynistic and racist remarks.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Candidates
Jill Evans, Plaid Cymru's sole MEP, stood as the party's lead candidate as part of a full slate for the Wales constituency.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Candidates
The Women's Equality Party stood in the London constituency, with the party's co-founder Catherine Mayer as the lead candidate.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Candidates
Far-right activist Tommy Robinson stood as an independent for the North West England constituency.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Candidates
Further parties and independent candidates also stood, including the English Democrats and the Yorkshire Party.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Candidates
Nine candidates, seven in London and two in South West England, were part of the new Climate Emergency Independents group. They took part in and were inspired by the Extinction Rebellion protests. However, as they were not a registered political party, they were all listed as separate independents on the ballot paper.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Candidates
Patrick O'Flynn, the Social Democratic Party's sole MEP, who defected to the SDP after originally being elected for UKIP, stated in April 2019 that the party would not be standing candidates at the election.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Candidates, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland has a different party system to Great Britain, dominated by regional parties, and using single transferable vote rather than the party list system.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Candidates, Northern Ireland
Two of the three sitting MEPs contested the election: Martina Anderson for Sinn Féin and Diane Dodds for the Democratic Unionist Party. Jim Nicholson, who had represented the Ulster Unionist Party since 1989, retired, with Danny Kennedy instead running for the party.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Candidates, Northern Ireland
Three parties selected their leaders as candidates: Colum Eastwood for the SDLP, Naomi Long for the Alliance Party, and Clare Bailey for the Green Party.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Candidates, Northern Ireland
UKIP nominated Robert Hill as their candidate. The Conservative Party also nominated a candidate, making the Conservatives and UKIP the only two parties to stand candidates in all regions across the UK.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Candidates, Northern Ireland
In April 2019, Jane Morrice, co-founder of the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition and a former deputy speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, announced she was standing as an independent on a pro-Remain platform.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Labour
In early 2019 there was an ongoing debate within Labour as to what its policy should be with respect to Brexit. On 20 April, the party's deputy leader Tom Watson argued the party needed to back a second referendum on Brexit in order to present a clear alternative to and beat the Brexit Party, but that was not Labour's preferred option. A draft of a Labour leaflet that made no reference to a second referendum provoked a public row, including more than 90 Labour MPs and MEPs writing to the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) in protest. On 27 April, Labour announced that the original leaflet draft was to be redrafted to include details of the party's preparations for a general election, with a referendum if necessary to avoid what it called a "bad Tory deal".


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Labour
Labour's manifesto for the elections was agreed at an NEC meeting on 30 April, re-affirming its 2018 policy that it will first seek a Brexit deal on its terms (including a Customs Union), but if that is not possible, it will seek a general election, and, if that is not possible, a second referendum. Only one vote was held at the meeting, on an amendment from the TSSA union that sought to commit Labour to a referendum on any Brexit deal, but this was rejected by a what NEC sources called a "clear" margin.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Labour
Retiring Labour MEP Mary Honeyball criticised this as "Not good enough" and some Labour Party members destroyed their membership cards in protest. However, some Remain-supporting Labour MPs, and Labour MPs sceptical of a second referendum, welcomed the decision. Watson had walked out of the Shadow Cabinet meeting earlier on 30 April in protest at Shadow Cabinet members not being shown the draft manifesto.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Labour
Labour's 9 May campaign launch stressed bringing the country together. Jeremy Corbyn talked of a "healing process" between those who supported Leave and Remain. By mid-May, Watson and Labour's Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer were arguing for a second referendum, yet their shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner stated "Labour is not a Remain party now".


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Labour
In most voting areas, e.g. Scotland and South West England, all Labour candidates stated their support for a second referendum, with the UK's longest-serving MEP, David Martin (Labour) and the Labour Leader in the European Parliament Richard Corbett MEP among those calling for the country to stay in the EU. Polling in mid-May suggested both Labour supporters and the electorate in general were split as to whether Labour supported remaining or leaving the EU.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Conservative
The Conservative government was hopeful of agreeing a withdrawal deal with the EU soon enough that UK MEPs would not take up their seats. The party did not spend any central money on candidate campaigning, did not publish a manifesto and did not hold a campaign launch. One Conservative MEP said that the deficit of campaigning would be used as an excuse if the party does poorly in the elections. Many party activists were demotivated given the failure of the government to deliver Brexit. Conservative councillors in Derbyshire boycotted the European elections and refused to campaign in protest. A survey of 781 Conservative councillors found that 40% plan to vote for the Brexit Party. Conservative MPs, including Lucy Allan, tweeted positive comments about the Brexit Party. In response, the Conservative Party issued a warning that individuals campaigning for or endorsing other parties will be expelled from the party.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Conservative
The Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party, Theresa May, had announced her intention to resign before the next general election, but further pressure mounted on her to be clear about her timetable for departure, with May meeting the party's 1922 Committee on the matter on 16 May 2019. This resulted in May agreeing to stand down by 30 June 2019. Campaigning by possible successors accelerated after the local elections.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, UKIP
UKIP argued it was "the authentic party of Brexit, the true party of Leave", to quote party leader Gerard Batten. Alongside the Conservatives, UKIP was one of two Brexit-supporting parties fielding a candidate in every region of the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland. Batten criticised the rival Brexit Party as having no policies. UKIP launched its campaign on 18 April. There was renewed criticism surrounding its candidate Carl Benjamin for telling Labour MP Jess Phillips "I wouldn't even rape you" on Twitter in 2016, and producing a satirical video. Further controversy came as one of UKIP's sitting MEPs Stuart Agnew addressed a pro-apartheid club of expat South Africans in London that reportedly had links to the far-right.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Brexit Party
Nigel Farage, the Brexit Party and former UKIP leader, said that there was "no difference between the Brexit party and UKIP in terms of policy, [but] in terms of personnel, there's a vast difference", criticising UKIP's connections to the far right. On 15 April 2019, three more sitting female UKIP MEPs defected to the Brexit Party, criticising UKIP's nomination of Benjamin as a candidate. In particular, Collins noted UKIP leader Gerard Batten's defence of Benjamin's "use of a non-rape threat as 'satire'" to be an especially compelling factor. Two further UKIP MEPs moved to the Brexit Party on 17 April.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Brexit Party
On 23 April, Farage said that the Brexit Party was not "here just to get a process vote on 23 May – far from it, 23 May for us is just the beginning". He also argued that the better the performance of the Brexit Party, the lower the chance of a second referendum on Brexit. Farage argued that should the Brexit Party get most votes in the elections, his party should get a seat at the UK/EU negotiations.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Liberal Democrats, Green Party and Change UK
The three main nationwide pro-European Union parties standing in the election, Liberal Democrats, Greens and Change UK, wished to treat this election as a "soft referendum" on Europe. Commentators, such as Marina Hyde, raised the concern of a split vote among pro-Remain parties reducing the number of pro-Remain MEPs being elected. Vince Cable, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, proposed standing joint candidates with the Greens and Change UK on a common policy of seeking a second referendum on Brexit, but the other parties rejected the idea.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Liberal Democrats, Green Party and Change UK
Change UK's co-founder Chuka Umunna confirmed the Lib Dem approach, but he and Change UK interim leader Heidi Allen dismissed concerns of a split Remain vote. Independent MEP Julie Girling, then supporting Change UK, said she had decided not to stand for re-election as a Change UK candidate because of the concern about maximising the Remain vote. On 10 May, she endorsed the Liberal Democrats. Change UK and Girling clarified that she had not been and was not a Change UK MEP, with Girling saying she sat as an independent MEP.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Liberal Democrats, Green Party and Change UK
On 15 May, David Macdonald, the lead candidate for Change UK in Scotland, switched to endorsing the Liberal Democrats in order not to split the pro-Remain vote. On 22 May, Allen said that she and another Change UK MP, Sarah Wollaston, wanted to advise Remain supporters to vote Liberal Democrat outside of London and South East England, but they were overruled by other party members.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Liberal Democrats, Green Party and Change UK
The Greens said that joint lists were not "desirable" and that there were "fundamental ideological differences" on other issues between the parties that wanted a second referendum. The Green Party campaigned on a platform calling for action on climate change as well as an anti-Brexit platform.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Liberal Democrats, Green Party and Change UK
The Liberal Democrats ran with a "stop Brexit" message, seeking the support of those who wish the UK to remain in the EU. At his party's campaign launch on 26 April, Cable lamented that it was not standing on a common platform with other parties opposed to Brexit. It launched its manifesto on 9 May, unveiling its campaign slogan "Bollocks to Brexit" which attracted considerable media debate. Polling in the final fortnight put the Liberal Democrats ahead of the other pro-Remain parties and overtaking Labour in some polls.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Liberal Democrats, Green Party and Change UK
Change UK (which in early April was still known as the Independent Group) saw the election as an important launchpad for its new party, seeking to turn the ballot into a "proxy referendum" on Brexit. On 16 April 2019, two former Conservative MEPs, who had left the party to sit as independents within the European People's Party grouping, announced their support for Change UK. The Renew Party agreed to support Change UK at the elections, and the latter included candidates from Renew's approved list. Molly Scott Cato, a sitting MEP for the Green Party of England and Wales, criticised Change UK as "a single-issue party with no coherent policy platform beyond opposing Brexit".


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Other parties
The SNP campaign launch was marred by tens of thousands of personalised letters being sent to the wrong people. The mistake was reported to be in the data supplied by SNP HQ, run by Peter Murrell, husband of SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon. The party apologised for the error: the party referred itself to the Information Commissioner's Office and may be fined.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Other parties
The DUP campaigned on sending a message to "get on with Brexit".


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Later events
Local elections were held in most of England and all of Northern Ireland on 2 May. The results saw both Conservatives and Labour losing seats in what The Guardian called a "Brexit backlash" while the Liberal Democrats, Greens and independents made gains. The Liberal Democrats made the biggest gains which the Lib Dem leader Vince Cable put down to a rejection of the Conservatives and Labour over their Brexit approaches.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Later events
Stephen Bush, writing in the New Statesman, argued that the Lib Dem success in the local elections make it the most likely party for Remain voters to rally around at the European elections while James Moore in The Independent described them as having the "momentum" leading into the European elections. Alliance (the Lib Dems' sister party in Northern Ireland), other smaller parties and independents also made significant gains in the local elections in Northern Ireland.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Later events
On 18 May, former Conservative Deputy Prime Minister and sitting Conservative peer Michael Heseltine said he would vote for the Liberal Democrats instead of the Conservatives because of his own party's support for Brexit. Heseltine subsequently had the Conservative whip suspended, owing to his comments.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Later events
Polling after the local elections saw the Brexit Party in front, followed by Labour, with the Liberal Democrats taking third from the Conservatives. Conservative sources predicted the party could come even lower than fourth. By the weekend before the vote, the Labour Party was concerned at the increased polling for the Liberal Democrats, which came above Labour in London and in some national polls.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Later events
On 17 May, Labour left talks that had been held to find a Brexit deal with the Conservative government. May then proposed to bring a new deal to the House of Commons for a vote in early June, which she described as an "improved package of measures", after which she was expected to step down as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Later events
The campaign saw multiple cases of milkshakes being thrown at controversial MEP candidates on the right. The protests began against Carl Benjamin, the anti-feminist social media activist who had attracted controversy for jokes about rape, and activist Tommy Robinson. They later extended to Nigel Farage, leader of the Brexit Party. Police asked a Scottish fast food outlet near where a Farage rally was taking place not to sell milkshakes on the night of the event.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Later events
On 21 May, the Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party, Theresa May made a speech outlining her plan to introduce an EU withdrawal agreement bill in June that would allow the Commons to make amendments, e.g. in favour of a Customs Union or a second referendum, but this was received badly by much of her own party as well as by other parties. There were growing calls for her to resign on 22 May, the day before the election. Andrea Leadsom, the Leader of the House of Commons, resigned on the evening of 22 May. May had planned to publish the bill on Friday 24 May, but on polling day, she abandoned that plan, with publication delayed until early June. On the day after the vote, May announced that she would resign as party leader on 7 June.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Later events
There were several reports on the day of problems encountered by non-UK UK-resident EU citizens not being able to vote because their paperwork had not been processed in time, with opposition politicians raising concerns as to whether there had been systemic failures. At least three councils admitted that the compressed timescale of the election meant that they had not been able to send postal ballots out in time for some voters overseas.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Later events
A report by The Guardian after the election found that there were low levels of completion of UC1 forms, required by UK-resident EU citizens in order for them to vote in the UK, in many parts of the country. After the election, the European Commission complained to the UK government about the "obstacles" faced by EU citizens in voting. A month later, the Dutch Interior Ministry stated that almost half the local UK registration officials had failed to send the UC1 data to the Dutch authorities, and that a portion of the data sent was unusable, despite complaints by the Dutch government about similar issues in 2014.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Between the vote and the count
Because results could not be announced until the last European Union member country's polls had closed, and most countries in the EU voted on Sunday, the counting of UK ballots started on Sunday 26 May 2019.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Between the vote and the count
Within a day of the polls closing, two party leaders and one deputy party leader announced their plans to resign. On 24 May, Theresa May announced her plan to resign as leader of the Conservative Party on 7 June, which would trigger a leadership contest. On the same day, Mike Hookem resigned as deputy leader of UKIP in order to challenge for the leadership. Vince Cable, leader of the Liberal Democrats, had previously stated his intention to stand down after the local elections and European Parliament elections. The party's leadership contest officially started on 24 May.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Between the vote and the count
Two Labour politicians announced their departures from the party after the vote: departing MEP Mary Honeyball and former Welsh AM Leighton Andrews; Andrews said he had voted Green. Both criticised Labour over alleged antisemitism and their failure to oppose Brexit. Alastair Campbell, formerly Director of Communications for the Labour Party, said he had voted for a pro-Remain party, the first time in his life he had not voted Labour. He later revealed that he voted for the Liberal Democrats and was expelled from the Labour Party.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Campaign, Party Brexit positions
Among other parties, the SDLP opposed Brexit and supported a second referendum, but it supported the withdrawal agreement if Brexit is to take place. The Alliance Party opposed Brexit, while TUV supported it.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Debates
A livestreamed debate was held by The Daily Telegraph between Nigel Farage, leader of the Brexit Party, and Vince Cable, leader of the Liberal Democrats.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Debates
A debate was held by the BBC in Northern Ireland, with candidates of the main regional parties represented. The BBC also held a debate between the lead candidates of all parties standing in Wales.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Opinion polls
The chart below depicts opinion polls conducted in Great Britain for the 2019 European Parliament elections in the UK; trendlines are local regressions (LOESS). There was regular polling from mid-March. The share for the Brexit Party rose rapidly, and it led the polls from late April. The share for the Labour Party declined over the period, but they came second in most polls. Polling for the Liberal Democrats started rising towards the end of April, with most polls predicting they would come third. Polling for the Conservative Party fell over the period, with most polls predicting it would come fourth.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Results
Results were declared for Wales and most of England on Sunday evening, with results for the rest of England and for Scotland coming on Monday. Results for Northern Ireland were clear by the end of Monday.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Results, Analysis
The Brexit Party was the largest party, gaining five more seats than UKIP achieved in 2014. Nigel Farage, as leader of UKIP in 2014 and the Brexit Party in 2019, became the first person to lead two different parties that topped a national election. The Brexit party came first in Wales and in eight of the nine English constituencies. It finished third in London. The Brexit Party polled highest in regions that voted Leave in the Brexit referendum.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Results, Analysis
The Liberal Democrats came second. This was its best performance in a national election since the 2010 general election and its best ever in a European Parliament election. This was the first time it or its predecessor parties had come second in a national election since before the Second World War. It was the largest party in the London constituency, the largest party in the second-highest number of English reporting areas, and the only party other than the SNP to top any Scottish reporting area.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Results, Analysis
The Labour Party was third overall. It did not come first in any constituency. This was its worst result in Wales for nearly a century; it did not come first in any reporting area in Wales or Scotland. Labour's vote fell in both Remain and Leave areas.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Results, Analysis
The Greens came fourth, with their best performance since the 1989 European elections. The Green Party of England and Wales was the largest party in three reporting areas.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Results, Analysis
The Conservative Party came fifth, and was not the largest party in any reporting area, polling below 10% for the first time in the party's history. It lost votes across the country, but did worst in Remain areas. The combined share for Labour and the Conservatives was 23%, well below their previous (post-Second World War) low of 43.5% in 2009.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Results, Analysis
The SNP came sixth overall but first in the single Scottish constituency, the only one in which it stood candidates. It was the largest party in 30 of the 32 Scottish council areas.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Results, Analysis
Plaid Cymru came second in Wales behind the Brexit Party, marking the first time it had beaten Labour in any Wales-wide election. The closest result across the UK was in Wales, where the Liberal Democrats were 13,948 votes (1.7%) behind Labour for the last MEP.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Results, Analysis
In Northern Ireland, the three MEPs elected were from the Democratic Unionist Party, which advocates the continuation of the union with Great Britain, Sinn Féin, which campaigns for a united Ireland, and the cross-community Alliance Party. The latter two were opposed to Brexit. It was the first time that unionists had won fewer than two of the three seats, and the first time that all three MEPs were women. The Alliance success was noted as an indicator for the rise of the "Others", who identify neither as Unionist nor Nationalist.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Results, Analysis
Various analyses sought to combine vote shares for different parties together to index a pro-Remain or pro-Leave vote. A Press Association report aggregated support for explicitly anti-Brexit parties, defined as the LibDems, Greens, SNP, Plaid Cymru and Change UK, totalling 40.4%, versus that for those supporting a no-deal Brexit, the Brexit Party and UKIP, on 34.9% (figures are for Great Britain only, excluding Northern Ireland where there was a majority for anti-Brexit parties). That analysis excludes Labour on 14% and the Conservatives on 9%.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Results, Analysis
Guardian journalist Dan Sabbagh noted how there were several possible comparisons one could make, e.g. the Brexit Party (5.2 million votes) against the Liberal Democrats and Greens combined (5.4 million votes); or the Brexit Party, UKIP and the DUP (5.9 million votes) against the Liberal Democrats, Greens, Change UK, SNP, Plaid Cymru, Sinn Féin and Alliance (6.8 million votes). In terms of seats, 34 were won by Leave-supporting parties and 39 by Remain-supporting parties (if Conservatives are counted for 'Leave').


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Results, Analysis
Sabbagh, later followed by fellow Guardian journalist Polly Toynbee, tackled how to account for Labour and Conservative votes by adding them in based on polling as to how their supporters split—assigning 80% of Conservatives voters to Leave and 60% of Labour voters to remain—in this way predicting a 50%-Remain-to-47%-Leave split in a second referendum. However, BBC political journalist Laura Kuenssberg critiqued the whole endeavour of adding up different vote shares. In terms of a comparison between Leave- and Remain-supporting parties, psephologist John Curtice simply described the result as a draw.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Results, Analysis
A large post-vote poll commissioned by Michael Ashcroft estimated that 53% of those who voted Conservative in the 2017 general election voted for the Brexit Party, while 21% voted Conservative and 12% voted Liberal Democrat. 38% of those who voted Labour in 2017 supported the party at this election, while 22% voted Liberal Democrat, 17% Green and 13% Brexit Party. 69% of 2017 LibDem voters stayed with the party, while 13% voted Green and 7% Brexit Party. 24% of 2017 UKIP voters stayed with their party, but 68% switched to the Brexit Party. Among all voters, 50% said they had voted to remain in the referendum and 45% to leave; and 50% stated they now wanted to leave, and 46% stated they now wanted to remain.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Results, Analysis
YouGov released polling suggesting 41% of Labour Party members voted for other parties at the European election (including 19% Green and 15% Liberal Democrat). Likewise, 67% of Conservative Party members voted for other parties (59% Brexit Party).


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Results, Electoral Commission report
The Electoral Commission released its report on the election on 8 October 2019. The report highlighted the difficulties for EU27 citizens and British citizens abroad to vote, despite concerns raised after the 2014 European elections.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Reaction to results
The results were expected to push the Conservative Party towards a more hardline position with respect to Brexit and to lean towards electing a Brexiteer in its leadership contest shortly afterward.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Reaction to results
Reacting to the results, the Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry and Deputy Leader Tom Watson called for the Labour Party to change its policy to supporting a second referendum and remaining in the EU. There was renewed debate within the Labour Party over their policy, but with a shift towards clearer support for a second referendum, including Jeremy Corbyn stating that although a general election would be Labour's preference, any Brexit deal "had to be put to a public vote", but there was continuing criticism over the party's clarity on and Corbyn's commitment to another referendum. A modified policy was announced in July. Meanwhile, Leave supporters in the party were critical of any support for a second referendum.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Reaction to results
Alastair Campbell, having revealed he voted for the Liberal Democrats, was expelled from the Labour Party, but this decision was criticised by some in the party. In response, former Labour Home Secretary Charles Clarke and former Labour MP (until 2017) Fiona Mactaggart announced that they had also voted Liberal Democrat, while former Labour Cabinet member Bob Ainsworth announced he had voted Green. A hashtag on Twitter in support, #expelmetoo, proved popular on social media. Watson and Harriet Harman criticised the expulsion.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Reaction to results
Labour MP Owen Smith, among others, noted the juxtaposition of Campbell's expulsion on the same day that the EHRC opened an enquiry into anti-Semitism in Labour and the slow response to complaints of anti-Semitism. It then emerged that Cherie Blair, wife of the former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair, had also voted Liberal Democrat. YouGov polling suggested 41% of Labour Party members voted for other parties (including 19% Green and 15% Liberal Democrat) at the election.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Reaction to results
General election polling shortly after the European elections showed continued support for the Brexit Party and the Liberal Democrats. A YouGov poll conducted on 28–29 May put the Liberal Democrats first and the Brexit Party second, with Labour and the Conservatives third. This was the first time a national poll had ever found that neither of the most popular two parties were Labour or the Conservatives.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, Reaction to results
On 4 June 2019, in response to their poor performance in the elections, six of the eleven MPs in Change UK left the group to return to sitting as independents. The party's former spokesperson, Chuka Umunna, announced on 13 June that he would be seeking to join the Liberal Democrats.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, MEPs not returning, MEPs not standing for re-election
Twenty-eight MEPs sitting at the end of the European Parliament's term did not seek re-election.


2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, MEPs not returning, MEPs not standing for re-election, Labour
Two additional Labour MEPs had already resigned ahead of the election, with their seats remaining vacant for the rest of the Parliament:


2019 European Pool Championship
The 2019 European Pool Championships (also known as the 2019 Dynamic Billiards European Pool Championships) was a series of professional pool championships that took place at the Best Western Premier in Treviso, Italy. The event was played between 26 April and 8 May 2019 and was the 39th edition of the European Pool Championships that were first held in 1980. The championships saw events for men, women, under 23s and wheelchairs across five disciplines; straight pool, eight-ball, nine-ball, ten-ball and a team event.


2019 European Pool Championship
Russian players won the most medals over the course of the series, with seven – winning three events. Russia's Kristina Tkach was the most successful female player, winning two events, losing only once in the final of the ten-ball event. Jasmin Ouschan won the nine-ball event, with a whitewash over Nataliya Seroshtan. Finland's Jouni Tähti was the most successful wheelchair player, winning two of the three handicapped events.


2019 European Pool Championship, Overview
The European Pool Championships are an annual series of pool tournaments for players in Europe which were first held in 1980. The 2019 event featured matches played over 24 tables, and was held between 26 April and 8 May 2019 at the Best Western Premier in Treviso, Italy. The event also set as a prelude to the 2019 Treviso Open event for the Euro Tour held in the same location. The series features events for four disciplines of pool – straight, eight-ball, nine-ball, and ten-ball – as well as a team event. Every event has a separate tournament for both men and women, with a wheelchair event in eight, nine and ten-ball. An event for junior players who are under 23 was also played for eight and nine-ball events.


2019 European Pool Championship, Overview
The tournaments were played as a double-elimination bracket, with players qualifying for a single elimination knockout. Each discipline was played to a different length, with matches in straight pool being played to 125 points in the men's event, and 75 in the women's competition. The eight and ten-ball events was played as a race–to–8 rack, with the women's and wheelchair events as race–to–6 racks. The nine-ball event was held as race–to–9 racks for the men's and juniors events, with women's and wheelchairs as race–to–7 racks. The series was sponsored by billiards and pool online store Dynamic Billiard.


2019 European Pool Championship, Tournament summary
The championships began 26 April 2019, with the straight pool event. Three Polish players reached the semi-finals of the men's event alongside Austria's Mario He. Karol Skowerski defeated He 125–32 and Tomas Kaplan defeated Mariusz Skoneczny 125–69 to complete an all-Polish final. Skowerski won his first individual European championship by defeating Skoneczny 125–45, with a run of 106. In the women's event, Russian player Kristina Tkach defeated Marharyta Fefilava in the semi-final, whilst the Netherlands' Tamara Peeters-Rademakers defeated Swiss player Claudia von Rorh. Rorh had previously defeated defending champion Jasmin Ouschan earlier in the tournament. Tkach won the final, defeating Peeters-Rademakers 75–23 to win the gold medal.


2019 European Pool Championship, Tournament summary
The ten-ball event began on 31 April, and featured 101 participants in the men's, and 43 for the women's division. Mieszko Fortunski met Casper Matikainen in the final of the men's event. Matikainen won the first three racks, but lost eight of the next nine racks for Fortunski to win the event 8–4. Having already won the straight pool event, Tkach reached the final of the ten-ball event. She met Christine Feldmann in the final, but lost her only match at the championships, with Feldmann winning 6–3. Sweden's Henrik Larsson won the wheelchair event, defeating Latvian player Kaspars Turks 6–1 in the final.


2019 European Pool Championship, Tournament summary
The eight-ball competition commenced on 2 May. Eklent Kaçi and Ralf Souquet meet in the final. Albanian Kaçi had never won a European championship title, with Souquet having won 22 previously. Kaçi took a 6–1 lead, but Souquet won five of the next six to trail by one rack. Kaçi won rack 14 to capture his first championship 8–6. Tkach contested the third final of the event in the women's eight-ball event, where she met Jasmin Ouschan. Ouschan won the first four racks of the final, before Tkach won three to trail 3–4.


2019 European Pool Championship, Tournament summary
On the verge of equalling the score, Tkach miscued allowing Ouschan to take a two rack lead. With the break to win the match, Ouschan missed her first shot, allowing Tkach to run the next two racks to tie the match at 5–5, and win the match 6–5. Finland's Jouni Tähti won the wheelchair event, defeating Roy Kimberley 5–2 to win his 25th European medal. In the Under 23s, Pijus Labutis played Vitaliy Patsura in the final, winning 8–4.


2019 European Pool Championship, Tournament summary
The team events began 5 May. The men's competition featured national teams consisting of three players, with a match of eight, nine and ten-ball in each tie. In the final, the Spanish team of Francisco Díaz-Pizarro, Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and David Alcaide played the Austrian side of Albin Ouschan, Maximilian Lechner, and Mario He. Díaz-Pizarro was the first player to win a match, winning his ten-ball match 8–3 against Ouschan. Sanchez-Ruiz defeated He 9–5 to win the tournament, that eventually finished as a 3–0 victory for the Spanish team.


2019 European Pool Championship, Tournament summary
The women's event was played with national teams consisting of two players. Ties consisted of one match of eight-ball and one of nine-ball. If a tie ended 1–1, a match of doubles in ten-ball was used as a tie-breaker. The Portuguese team of Vania Franco and Sara Rocha reached the final without losing a match, where they met the German pair of Tina Vogelmann and Veronika Ivanovskaia. Franco defeated Vogelmann 6–3 in eight-ball, whilst Rocha defeated Ivanovskaia 7–2 in nine-ball to win the final 2–0. In winning, the Portuguese team went undefeated.


2019 European Pool Championship, Tournament summary
The final event was the nine-ball championships, beginning on 6 May. Russian player Fedor Gorst played Joshua Filler in the final. Gorst took an early lead in the match, with Filler making a lot of dry breaks. Gorst took an 8–4 lead, before Filler won four straight racks to lead the match to hill/hill. Gorst had the break for the deciding rack, and run the rack to win 9–8. Jasmin Ouschan met Russian Nataliya Seroshtan in the final of the women's nine-ball event, where she won in a whitewash 7–0. Having already won the eight-ball under 23 event, Pijus Labutis met Oliver Szolnoki in the final of the junior nine-ball event. Labutis won the final 9–7. The final event of the championships was the wheelchair nine-ball event, where Jouni Tähti defeated Irishman Fred Dinsmore 7–1.


2019 European Pool Championship, Medals table
On the overall medals table, Russia were top, having won three events and seven medals. Poland were second, with seven titles, but only two event victories. Finland placed third, with two event wins by Jouni Tähti. The full table is shown below:


2019 European Race Walking Cup
The 2019 European Race Walking Cup took place on 19 May, 2019. The races were held on a 1 km lap around the city centre in Alytus, Lithuania. It was the last edition to be held under the name European Race Walking Cup before being renamed to European Race Walking Team Championships from 2021 on.


2019 European Race Walking Cup
For the first time European Race Walking Cup also included women's 50 km racewalking event.


2019 European Race Walking Cup, Participation
256 athletes from 29 countries registered for competition of which 241 eventually started.


2019 European Racquetball Championships
The XX Racquetball European Championships were held in Hamburg, (Germany) from September 05 to 07 2019, with four men's national teams and two women's national teams in competition. One senior and junior competition could be held as well.


2019 European Racquetball Championships
The venue was the Sport & Spa Jenfeld Club in Hamburg, with 2 regulation racquetball courts. The 4 men's teams were Germany, Ireland, Italy and The Netherlands and the 3 women's teams were Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands. Team France dropped out to an injured player only a few days before the beginning of the competition. In total, 6 nations competed in the Individual competition with players from Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Poland and The Netherlands.


2019 European Rally Championship
The 2019 European Rally Championship was the 67th season of the FIA European Rally Championship, the European continental championship series in rallying. The season is also the seventh following the merge between the European Rally Championship and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Alexey Lukyanuk was the reigning champion and he returned to defend the title switching from a Ford Fiesta R5 to the Citroën C3 R5. On the final round at Rally Hungary, Chris Ingram became the first British driver in 52 years to win the title in a Skoda Fabia R5.


2019 European Rally Championship
In 2019 the two European Junior Championship tiers were renamed: ERC Junior U28 became ERC1 Junior and ERC Junior U27  is retitled ERC3 Junior.


2019 European Rally Championship, Calendar
The calendar for the 2019 season features eight rallies (four rallies on tarmac and four on gravel) like the previous season, albeit in a shaked-up order. The Acropolis Rally was discontinued in its entirety after 2018, and was replaced by a new event in Hungary, Nyíregyháza Rally, which will also be the season finale. The previous season finale, Rally Liepāja, was moved to the third round of the season in May. The Cyprus Rally and Rally Poland were switched to the seventh and fourth rounds, respectively.


2019 European Road Championships
The 2019 European Road Cycling Championships was the 25th running of the European Road Cycling Championships, that took place from 7 to 11 August 2019 in Alkmaar, the Netherlands. The event consisted of a total of 6 road races and 7 time trials, including the introduction of the new mixed team relay, regulated by the Union Européenne de Cyclisme (UEC).


2019 European Road Championships, Location
The organization was initially awarded to Annecy, France, but the organisers there wanted different dates due to the busy tourism season in August and eventually returned the assignment. The UEC then asked the Dutch province of Drenthe to organise the European Championships, after their bid to organize the World Championships was rejected. In January there were several Dutch cities in the running, of which one fell after the other. There was not enough support in Emmen, the national championships are being held in Ede this year and Den Bosch said it had never been an official candidate. In February Alkmaar was the only one left, after which the organization was definitively awarded on 25 March.


2019 European Rowing Championships
The 2019 European Rowing Championships was held in Lucerne, Switzerland from 31 May to 2 June 2019.


2019 European Rowing Junior Championships
The 2019 European Rowing Junior Championships took place in Essen, Germany, between 18 and 19 May 2019.


2019 European Rowing U23 Championships
The 3rd European Rowing U23 Championships was the 3rd edition and was held from 7 to 8 September 2019 at the Ioannina Rowing Course in Ioannina, Greece.


2019 European Rugby Champions Cup Final
The 2019 European Rugby Champions Cup Final was the final match in the 2018–19 European Rugby Champions Cup, and the twenty-fourth European club rugby final in general. The final was between defending champions and four-time winners Leinster, and two-time winners Saracens.


2019 European Rugby Champions Cup Final
Saracens defeated Leinster to claim their third title, overcoming a ten-point deficit to tie the score at half-time, before taking the lead in the second half to secure victory with a final result of 20–10.


2019 European Rugby Champions Cup Final, Background
Both Leinster and Saracens entered into the 2019 final with significant championship pedigree, having won six of the past ten top-tier European cup tournaments between them. Defending champions Leinster, who shared the accolade of most wins in tournament history (four) with Toulouse, had previously won the title in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2018, and were looking for a record fifth trophy. Meanwhile, Saracens, who had gone undefeated in Europe this season, were aiming to win the cup for the third time in four seasons, following successes in 2016 and 2017, as well as become the first English rugby team ever to be crowned as European champions three times.


2019 European Rugby Champions Cup Final, Background
Leinster and Saracens had met in European competition three times prior to this fixture. On all three of those occasions, Leinster were the victors, most recently in the quarter–finals of the 2017–18 tournament, when Leinster won 30–19 en route to winning the title.


2019 European Rugby Champions Cup Final, Background
French referee Jérôme Garcès was officiating a Champions Cup final for the first time.


2019 European Rugby Champions Cup Final, Route to the final
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).


2019 European Rugby Champions Cup Final, Match, Summary
Leinster kicked off the match, and opened the scoring soon after, with a penalty kick from their fly-half and captain, Jonathan Sexton, after three minutes. The game played out at a fierce intensity from then on, as both Leinster and Saracens enjoyed promising attacking spells in the first half-hour, which were repelled by solid defensive efforts from their opponents.


2019 European Rugby Champions Cup Final, Match, Summary
Following a sustained period of pressure from Leinster, loosehead prop Cian Healy went over the try line, but was ruled by the television match official (TMO) to have been held up. However, Saracens lock Maro Itoje was sent to the sin bin for multiple offside infringements in the build-up, while the side also lost both starting props, Mako Vunipola and Titi Lamositele, at the same time due to injury. Leinster took advantage from a scrum in the next phase of play to score the game's first try, with tight-head prop Tadhg Furlong driving over from a ruck. With the subsequent conversion from Sexton, the Irish side led 10–0.


2019 European Rugby Champions Cup Final, Match, Summary
From the restart, Saracens began to mount their comeback, and late in the half, a key tackle by lock George Kruis on Sexton forced a penalty, which fly-half Owen Farrell slotted to put his team on the board. A minute later, with the clock in the red, Saracens won another penalty, and kicked deep into Leinster's 22 for a line-out. After several phases among the forwards brought Saracens within inches of the try line, the ball was quickly distributed to the left wing for Sean Maitland to touch down. The try was successfully converted by Farrell, drawing the score level at 10–10 going into half-time.


2019 European Rugby Champions Cup Final, Match, Summary
The second half began in similar fashion to the opening 40 minutes, with both teams coming close to their second try, only for strong defence to hold them out. As the match approached the hour mark, Saracens played out a period of attacking play that mirrored Leinster in the first half. The English side's replacement prop Richard Barrington was ruled by the TMO to have been held up at the base of the left-hand post, but Leinster flanker Scott Fardy was given a yellow card because of repeat offences. Farrell kicked over the resulting penalty, giving Saracens the lead for the first time in the game.


2019 European Rugby Champions Cup Final, Match, Summary
Saracens continued to apply pressure with a one-man advantage, and on 66 minutes, with a scrum five metres from the Leinster try line, Number 8 Billy Vunipola picked up the ball and managed to charge his way through four defenders to score under the posts. A straightforward conversion followed from Farrell, which gave his team a ten-point lead. There were no further scores for the remainder of the match, as Leinster sought to break out from their own half, but the Saracens defence stood firm. Upon the final whistle, Saracens were crowned the champions, with the final score of 20–10.


2019 European Rugby Champions Cup Final, Match, Summary
In the aftermath of the game, Saracens skipper and inside centre Brad Barritt, who recorded a game-high 28 tackles without missing one, was chosen as the Man of the Match. He also became only the second player in the history of the tournament to lift the title three times as a team captain, after former Leinster lock – and current head coach – Leo Cullen.


2019 European Rugby Champions Cup Final, Match, Summary
In addition, full-back Alex Goode was named the European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) Player of the Year, making him the third Saracens player to receive the award, following on from Maro Itoje in 2016 and Owen Farrell in 2017. The victory also meant that Saracens had replicated their feat in the 2015–16 competition, achieving a 100 per cent win rate throughout.


2019 European Rugby Champions Cup Final, Match, Details
Touch judges:Pascal Gaüzère (FFR)Romain Poite (FFR)Television Match Official:Philippe Bonhoure (FFR)


2019 European Running Target Championships
The 2019 European Running Target Championships was the 14th edition of the running target competition, European Running Target Championships, organised for the first time by the European Shooting Confederation (ESC) and not by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF).


2019 European Senior Tour
The 2019 Staysure Tour was the 28th season of the European Senior Tour, the professional golf tour for men aged 50 and above operated by the PGA European Tour. The season was officially called the Staysure Tour after UK-based insurance company Staysure.


2019 European Senior Tour, Schedule
The numbers in brackets after the winners' names show the number of career wins they had on the European Senior Tour up to and including that event. This is only shown for players who are members of the tour.


2019 European Senior Tour, Schedule
For the tour schedule on the European Senior Tour's website, including links to full results, click .


2019 European Senior Tour, Qualifying school
The qualifying school was played in Portugal in late January 2019. There were two 36-hole "stage 1" events with the leading players in these events joining a number of exempt players in the 72-hole final stage. There were just five qualifying places available for the 2019 season. There was a cut after 54 holes with players more than eight shots away from the fifth qualifying place not playing the final round.