België en de Europese verkiezingen: feiten en cijfers (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European elections in Belgium will take place the 13 June alongside local elections.

24 MEPs, 15 from Flanders and 9 from Wallonia, are set to represent Belgium in the next term of the European Parliament.

After a long debate that has split the Belgian liberals, French and Flemish, non-EU citizens living in Belgium can only vote in the regional and local elections.

The Flemish

Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt will lead the Flemish liberal party (VLD) into the European Parliament elections. He will be the first member of his party to be voted an MEP if the VLD wins any seats.

But Mr Verhofstadt will probably not take up his duties if elected and will leave the MEP seat to the VLD vice-president.

The vice president of the European Convention and former prime minister Jean-Luc Dehaene will be head of the list for the Flemish Christian Democrats CD&V.

Belgian members of the European Parliament will be elected by proportional representation using a 'party list' system.

The party lists are headed up by big political names who are used to promoting the party in the European elections. Mr Verhofstadt also wants to be evaluated on his European achivements of the past five years by standing in the elections.

The Flemish Socialists will draw up their list of candidates for European election on 28 May. La Libre Belgique reports that Johan Vande Lanotte (former interior minister and former vice Prime Minister) may be on the list. Former European Commissioner Karel Van Miert has said he will not take part.

The French

On the French side, the Liberal Party Mouvement Reformateur (MR) has already replaced its MEP Frederique Ries who was recently been appointed Secretary of State for European Affairs.

For the Green Party, MEP Pierre Jonckheer is to be head of the list for the Parti Ecolo.

Belgian Greens took part last month into the forming of a continent-wide party for the strengthening of their stance in June's European elections.

Voting is compulsory in European elections in Belgium.

Number of MEPs to be elected: 24

Election day: 13 June 2004

Turnout in latest national election 18 May 2003: 91.9 %

Distribution of current MEPs in the European Parliament:

5 PPE-ED CD&V (2) - Mouvement des Citoyens pour le Changement

(1) - Christliche Soziale Partei: Europäische Volkspartei (1) - Centre Démocrate Humaniste (1)

6 PSE Parti socialiste (3) - Socialistische Partij (2) - Sociaal Progressief Alternatief (1)

5 ELDR Vlaamse liberalen en democraten (3) - Mouvement Reformateur (2)

3 NI Vlaamse liberalen en democraten (1) - Vlaams Blok (2)

6 Verts/ALE Ecolo (3) - België Spirit (1) - Independent (1) - Groen! (1)

- GUE/NGL

- EDD

- UEN

25 total (to be reduced to 24 MEPs due to enlargement of the European Union)