French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday announced he was dissolving the lower house of parliament and called for new legislative elections after projected results showed his camp losing heavily to the far-right National Rally party in the European elections. Read our liveblog to see how all the day's events unfolded.
This liveblog is now closed.
- French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday announced he was dissolving parliament and called snap legislative elections for June 30 and July 7 after the far-right National Rally (RN) was projected to have trounced his centrist alliance in EU polls.The far-right group scored more than double the number of votes of the head of state's centrist alliance, projections indicated.
- Voter turnout in France was up two points as of 5pm, with 45.26 percent of eligible voters casting ballots compared with 43.29 percent in 2019. The turnout for EU elections is generally low, but the last elections in 2019 showed the first uptick in 30 years with a turnout of 50.7 percent.
- The French abstention rate is estimated to have dropped from some 50 percent in 2019 to 48.6 percent, according to polling by Ipsos-Sopra Steria on Sunday.
- In Austria, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Spain, far-right parties were also projected to make large gains.
- Members of the European Parliament decide which laws apply across the European Union – from environmental regulation to security policy – as well as approve the EU budget and monitor how money is spent.
- Each country’s representation at the European Parliament is based on population, with the most seats allocated to Germany with 96 seats and France with 81. At the other end of the spectrum, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta hold just six seats each.
-
View the projections and final results of the elections on our dedicated page.
