Majority for the stable centre despite a strong right wing

The democratic party families continue to form Europe's stable centre ground despite minor losses. At the same time, the right wing of the party spectrum has made strong gains. The success of right-wing parties in parliaments comes mainly from Germany, France, and Italy.

• The Christian-democratic CDU/CSU (the ‘Union’) made slight gains in the European elections and held its ground as the strongest force.
• The parties making up the ‘traffic light’ coalition were hit by disillusionment with the government and lost overall, with the Greens especially shedding a lot of votes compared to 2019.
• The Social Democratic Party (SPD) came third and recorded its worst-ever European election outcome.
• Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is establishing itself as a permanent feature in the German party landscape. It is no longer merely a protest and disillusion choice, either, with voters also endorsing its far-right positions.
• The Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW, the ‘Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance’) achieved an impressive outcome from scratch and also has the potential to displace the left-wing Die Linke in the German Bundestag.
• Smaller parties once again benefited from the lack of the five per cent threshold that applies in German national elections and gained more seats than in 2019.

To read the full analysis head to: Analysis of the 2024 European elections in Germany