2024 European Parliament election in Denmark

9 June 2024

All 15 Danish seats in the European Parliament[1]

Party Leader Current seats Venstre Morten Løkkegaard 3 Social Democrats Christel Schaldemose 3 Green Left Kira Peter-Hansen 2 Social Liberals Sigrid Friis Frederiksen 1 DPP Anders Vistisen 1 Conservatives Niels Flemming Hansen 1 Red–Green Per Clausen 1 Moderates Stine Bosse 1 The Alternative Jan Kristoffersen 0 Liberal Alliance Henrik Dahl 0 Denmark Democrats Kristoffer Hjort Storm 0

The 2024 European Parliament election in Denmark will be held on 9 June 2024.^[2][3][4] The elections will be held as part of the wider 2024 European Parliament election, but will not take place in the Faroe Islands or Greenland, which are not part of the European Union.

Background

In February 2023, the Committee on Constitutional Affairs of the European Parliament (AFCO) released a draft report (whose rapporteurs are Lóránt Vincze and Sandro Gozi) on the necessary changes to the composition of the European Parliament in order to respect the principle of degressive proportionality (enshrined in the TEU). It was approved by both the AFCO on 12 June 2023,^[5] as well as EP plenary on 15 June.^[6] With its implementation, Denmark was allocated an additional seat for the European Parliament elections, changing the number from 14 to 15.^[7]

On 31 March 2023, Christel Schaldemose was nominated as the main candidate of the Social Democrats.^[8] On 15 April 2023, Henrik Dahl announced his candidacy for Liberal Alliance.^[9] On 22 April 2023, Morten Løkkegaard was nominated as the main candidate for Venstre.^[10]

On 26 May 2023, an electoral alliance was announced between the Social Democrats, Green Left, and The Alternative.^[11]

On 16 October 2023, an electoral alliance was announced between the Conservatives and Liberal Alliance^[12]

On 7 January 2024, Martin Lidegaard revealed, possibly by mistake, that the Social Liberals wished to join an electoral alliance with Venstre.^[13]

On 10 January 2024, Pernille Vermund announced that New Right and its parliamentary group would be dissolved,^[14] meaning the party will not be able to contest the election.

Electoral system

15 members of the European Parliament will be elected in Denmark through a single constituency, using the D'Hondt method. Parties can choose to either use open list or mostly closed list. Unlike in parliamentary elections, but similarly to local elections, electoral alliances are allowed.

To be an eligible voter you must be at least 18 years old and meet one of the following requirements:

• Danish citizenship and permanent residence in Denmark or another EU member state;

or

• citizenship in another EU Member state and resident in Denmark.

To contest the election, a party must either have earned representation at the previous parliamentary election and still be represented in the Folketing 6 weeks before the election date, or earned representation at the previous European Parliament election in Denmark and still be represented in the European Parliament 6 weeks before the election date. If none of these criteria are met, a party must collect voter signatures from a number of voters equal to at least 2% of the valid votes at the last parliamentary election (70,680).^[15]

Parties running

As of October 2023, no party has collected enough signatures to be eligible to contest the election,^[16] meaning the only parties currently eligible to contest the election are the 12 currently represented in the Folketing.

Apparentments

For European Parliament elections in Denmark, apparentments (or electoral alliances) are allowed. If parties agree to enter an electoral alliance, they will count their votes as one and be allocated seats as though it was one party, using the D'Hondt method. When an electoral alliance has been allocated the number of seats it is entitled to, the seats will similarly be divided between them using the D'Hondt method.

So far the following electoral alliances have been announced:

Notes

References