2024 European Parliament Election In The Netherlands

The 2024 European Parliament election in the Netherlands was held on 6 June 2024 as part of the 2024 European Parliament election. It was the tenth time the elections have been held for the European elections in the Netherlands, and the first to take place after Brexit.

Left-wing GroenLinks–PvdA retained its plurality, winning eight seats. The right-wing populist Party for Freedom saw the largest increase in seats, going from zero to six compared to the previous election.

Electoral system

Apportionment

Compared to last election, Netherlands is entitled to five more MEPs: three already assigned in 2020 in the occasion of the redistribution post Brexit, and two assigned in 2023 after a pre-election assessment of the Parliament composition based on the most recent population figures. The 31 members are elected through semi-open list proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency with seats allocated through D'Hondt method. Parties that do not reach a full Hare quota are ineligible to receive remainder seats, meaning there is an effective electoral threshold of around 3.23%.

Electoral law

Both Dutch nationals and EU citizens residing in the Netherlands are entitled to vote in the European elections in the Netherlands. No voter registration is needed for EU nationals (including Dutch citizens) residing within the country, but they do need to be registered as a resident in their municipality on 23 April 2024. Dutch citizen residing abroad are required to register as "Dutch voter abroad" in the municipality of The Hague. In addition, those eligible to vote must turn 18 years old by election day at the latest.

The seats won by a list are first allocated to the candidates who, in preferential votes, have received at least 10% of the Hare quota (effectively a tenth of a seat or 0.32% of the total votes), regardless of their placement on the electoral list. If multiple candidates from a list pass this threshold, their ordering is determined based on the number of votes received. Any remaining seats are allocated to candidates according to their position on the electoral list.

Five municipalities – Alphen aan den Rijn, Midden-Delfland, Boekel, Borne, and Tynaarlo – will have a pilot to test an A3-size ballot, smaller than ones used in prior elections. The revised ballot would not list all candidate names and would instead ask voters to select the candidate number regardless of party. If successful, it is planned to be used nationwide starting with the 2026 municipal elections.

Contesting parties

Campaign

Newspaper '' NRC'' wrote that the election campaign was overshadowed by the conclusion of the 2023–2024 cabinet formation and that it only gained momentum in the week prior. Polling by Ipsos I&O showed that name recognition of the lead candidates barely increased during the campaign.

On election day, CDA, PVV, and FVD reported that their websites had been hit by denial-of-service attacks, and pro-Russian hacker group HackNeT claimed responsibility.

Debates

The NOS organized a television debate the day before the election. The lead candidates of the nine biggest parties in the November 2023 general election and in the polls – PVV, GroenLinks–PvdA, VVD, CDA, SP, D66, NSC, Volt, and BBB – participated. Anja Haga ( Christian Union) and Anja Hazekamp ( PvdD), who did not qualify, debated each other the same day in De Balie.

Opinion polling

Seats

Vote share

Results

With most votes counted, GroenLinks–PvdA managed to retain its plurality despite losing one of its nine seats compared to the 2019 election, when GroenLinks and PvdA participated separately. The Party for Freedom, which had won the November 2023 general election, was the biggest winner, going from zero to six seats. The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) came in third with four seats. Forum for Democracy, 50PLUS, and the Christian Union, which no longer participated on a shared list with the Reformed Political Party, lost their seats, while the Farmer–Citizen Movement (2), Volt Netherlands (2), and New Social Contract (1) won representation for the first time. Other parties that secured seats were the Christian Democratic Appeal (3), Democrats 66 (3), the Party for the Animals (1), and the Reformed Political Party (1).

Voter turnout was at 46.2%, the highest it had been since 1989. Polling firm Ipsos I&O concluded that of those who had voted for New Social Contract and the Party for Freedom in the November 2023 general election, 59% and 56%, respectively, did not turn out in the European Parliament election. This was 22% for GroenLinks–PvdA.

By province

References

{{Dutch elections

Netherlands
European Parliament election
European Parliament elections in the Netherlands