(AFP)
The first elections for a newly-enlarged European parliament left governments reeling as voters dealt ruling parties a string of stunning defeats and stayed away from the polls in record numbers.
Voters punished governments who supported the US-led invasion of Iraq and painful economic reforms, while the electorate in former communist eastern Europe showed no sympathy for leaders who had guided them into the European Union just over a month ago.
Turnout may have slumped to less than 45 percent of the 350 million eligible voters -- the lowest since the first elections to the assembly in 1979 -- in the landmark EU-wide polls, the first since the bloc expanded from 15 to 25 countries on May 1.
In a bitter disappointment for the EU's executive arm, projections showed barely one-in-four voters in the 10 new states cast their ballots, a worrying sign that the idealism of the historic enlargement is fast evaporating.
Eurosceptic parties opposed to the entire European project were making considerable gains in the polls, which climaxed on the fourth and final day Sunday with simultaneous voting in 19 EU states. Six countries had voted over the three previous days in the world's only pan-national polls.
In Britain, the anti-EU UK Independence Party made a dramatic breakthrough by taking 12 seats, according to partial results, marking its arrival as a serious political force and a new headache for beleaguered Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Combined with the 25 seats won by the opposition Conservatives, Britain is likely to send to Strasbourg a delegation dominated by eurosceptics.
German voters meanwhile handed Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats its worst-ever defeat in nationwide polls since its creation after World War II, in a stinging rebuke for his painful reform agenda that the party's own chairman admitted was a "bitter result".
In France, the opposition Socialist party emerged as clear winners over centre-right supporters of President Jacques Chirac, while Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party was heading for its worst-ever performance with around 20 percent of the vote.
In Sweden, a new eurosceptic party -- The June List -- made a surprisingly strong showing while the ruling Social Democrats fell well below expectations.
"It is clear that the European elections are used as a balance-sheet election," said Martin Schulz, head of the German Social Democrats' list competing for his country's 99 seats, the biggest chunk in the parliament.
Spain's new Socialist government were one of the few ruling parties to outscore their rivals, along with Greece's conservatives who repeated their recent general election success over the Socialists.
In the EU's largest new member, the Polish opposition Civic Platform crushed the ruling Democratic Alliance (SLD), and anti-EU parties appeared to have captured a quarter of the vote.
A similar patten emerged in the Czech Republic, where the eurosceptic opposition trounced the ruling Social Democrats.
Fears of a record low turnout were also confirmed, with the dire participation rate in former communist countries which liberated themselves from totalitarian rule just 15 years ago triggering particular concern.
According to a projection by the Gallup polling institute, only 44.6 percent of voters bothered to cast their ballots -- if confirmed, the lowest turnout since the first elections for the EU assembly in 1979.
Turnout was lowest overall in the 10 EU newcomers that joined on May 1, where an average of only 28.7 percent voted, while 47.7 percent of electors in the 15 old EU member states got themselves to the polls, Gallup said.
"In the beginning, elections were something exciting and exclusive after decades of communism but that enthusiasm is wearing off," said political analyst Bohumil Dolezal in Prague.
Turnout was expected to be lowest in Slovakia, where just 16.6 percent of voters cast ballots, according to partial results.
In Poland, where turnout was estimated initially at little more than 20 percent, President Aleksander Kwasniewski went as far as to call the low participation a "disease".
The bleak mood in Brussels was darkened further by the gains of anti-EU parties, most notably in Britain, Poland, and Sweden. "These people tend to be the wreckers, the ones who are against finding solutions," said Graham Watson, the head of the European Liberal Democrats bloc in the parliament.
Provisional figures showed the centre-right bloc in the parliament -- the European People's Party (EPP) -- retaining its place as the largest group with 269 seats and the European Socialists in second place with 199.
The EU Parliament, set up in 1979, has been hobbled by widespread public perception that it is little more than a debating body with little real powers and has been dogged by frequent reports of corruption among its members.
But it has amassed considerable power in EU decision-making, notably EU budget approval and influence over legislation on trade, environment and consumer affairs.
And it will see its influence increase sharply if EU leaders finally agree on the Union's first constitution at a summit Thursday and Friday.
The first elections for a newly-enlarged European parliament left governments reeling as voters dealt ruling parties a string of stunning defeats and stayed away from the polls in record numbers.
Voters punished governments who supported the US-led invasion of Iraq and painful economic reforms, while the electorate in former communist eastern Europe showed no sympathy for leaders who had guided them into the European Union just over a month ago.
Turnout may have slumped to less than 45 percent of the 350 million eligible voters -- the lowest since the first elections to the assembly in 1979 -- in the landmark EU-wide polls, the first since the bloc expanded from 15 to 25 countries on May 1.
In a bitter disappointment for the EU's executive arm, projections showed barely one-in-four voters in the 10 new states cast their ballots, a worrying sign that the idealism of the historic enlargement is fast evaporating.
Eurosceptic parties opposed to the entire European project were making considerable gains in the polls, which climaxed on the fourth and final day Sunday with simultaneous voting in 19 EU states. Six countries had voted over the three previous days in the world's only pan-national polls.
In Britain, the anti-EU UK Independence Party made a dramatic breakthrough by taking 12 seats, according to partial results, marking its arrival as a serious political force and a new headache for beleaguered Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Combined with the 25 seats won by the opposition Conservatives, Britain is likely to send to Strasbourg a delegation dominated by eurosceptics.
German voters meanwhile handed Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats its worst-ever defeat in nationwide polls since its creation after World War II, in a stinging rebuke for his painful reform agenda that the party's own chairman admitted was a "bitter result".
In France, the opposition Socialist party emerged as clear winners over centre-right supporters of President Jacques Chirac, while Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party was heading for its worst-ever performance with around 20 percent of the vote.
In Sweden, a new eurosceptic party -- The June List -- made a surprisingly strong showing while the ruling Social Democrats fell well below expectations.
"It is clear that the European elections are used as a balance-sheet election," said Martin Schulz, head of the German Social Democrats' list competing for his country's 99 seats, the biggest chunk in the parliament.
Spain's new Socialist government were one of the few ruling parties to outscore their rivals, along with Greece's conservatives who repeated their recent general election success over the Socialists.
In the EU's largest new member, the Polish opposition Civic Platform crushed the ruling Democratic Alliance (SLD), and anti-EU parties appeared to have captured a quarter of the vote.
A similar patten emerged in the Czech Republic, where the eurosceptic opposition trounced the ruling Social Democrats.
Fears of a record low turnout were also confirmed, with the dire participation rate in former communist countries which liberated themselves from totalitarian rule just 15 years ago triggering particular concern.
According to a projection by the Gallup polling institute, only 44.6 percent of voters bothered to cast their ballots -- if confirmed, the lowest turnout since the first elections for the EU assembly in 1979.
Turnout was lowest overall in the 10 EU newcomers that joined on May 1, where an average of only 28.7 percent voted, while 47.7 percent of electors in the 15 old EU member states got themselves to the polls, Gallup said.
"In the beginning, elections were something exciting and exclusive after decades of communism but that enthusiasm is wearing off," said political analyst Bohumil Dolezal in Prague.
Turnout was expected to be lowest in Slovakia, where just 16.6 percent of voters cast ballots, according to partial results.
In Poland, where turnout was estimated initially at little more than 20 percent, President Aleksander Kwasniewski went as far as to call the low participation a "disease".
The bleak mood in Brussels was darkened further by the gains of anti-EU parties, most notably in Britain, Poland, and Sweden. "These people tend to be the wreckers, the ones who are against finding solutions," said Graham Watson, the head of the European Liberal Democrats bloc in the parliament.
Provisional figures showed the centre-right bloc in the parliament -- the European People's Party (EPP) -- retaining its place as the largest group with 269 seats and the European Socialists in second place with 199.
The EU Parliament, set up in 1979, has been hobbled by widespread public perception that it is little more than a debating body with little real powers and has been dogged by frequent reports of corruption among its members.
But it has amassed considerable power in EU decision-making, notably EU budget approval and influence over legislation on trade, environment and consumer affairs.
And it will see its influence increase sharply if EU leaders finally agree on the Union's first constitution at a summit Thursday and Friday.
