Eurosceptic 'earthquake' rocks EU Election
Eurosceptic 'earthquake' rocks EU Election
Marine Le Pen's National
Front has come first in France's elections to the European Parliament
according to exit polls, in what PM Manuel Valls has declared a
"political earthquake".
Eurosceptic parties appeared also to have made big gains in other countries, coming first in Denmark and Greece.
Turnout in the election was 43.1%, according to provisional European Parliament figures - up on last time.
That would be the first time turnout had not fallen since the previous election - but would only be an improvement of 0.1%.
"The people have spoken loud and clear," a triumphant Marine Le Pen
told cheering supporters at National Front (FN) party headquarters in
Paris.
"They no longer want to be led by those outside our borders, by EU commissioners and technocrats who are unelected. They want to be protected from globalisation and take back the reins of their destiny."
Provisional results suggested the FN could win 25 European Parliament seats - a stunning increase on its three in 2009.
The party also issued an extraordinary statement accusing the government of vote-rigging.
Hard-left gains Across the board, the centre-right European People's Party was set to win 211 out of the 751 seats, with 28.1% across the bloc, according to estimated results issued by the European Parliament. That would make it the biggest group - but with more than 60 seats fewer than before.
That put it ahead of the Socialist group with 193 seats (25.7%), Liberals with 74 (9.9%) and Greens 58 (7.7%).
The right-wing Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy group, incorporating the UK Independence Party (UKIP), looked to have about the same number of seats as last time, but there looked set to be a rise in the number of non-attached right-wing MEPs boosting the Eurosceptic camp.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage was predicting that his party would come first in Britain, saying: "The inevitability of European integration ends tonight."
The anti-bailout hard-left group in parliament was set to make big gains, largely thanks to Syriza in Greece and United Left in Spain, gaining about 12 seats.
Chris Morris, BBC News, Brussels
At the moment the exit poll predictions in France are the
most striking story on this election results night. Even the prime
minister says the Front National is heading for victory - a political
earthquake indeed. Is the UK about to follow suit on the political
Richter scale?
Elsewhere exit polls suggest the radical left anti-austerity party Syriza has come first in the elections in Greece. While in Italy it looks set to be a close fight between the Democratic Party of the Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (running in his first national campaign) and Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement.
So plenty of anti-establishment parties are poised to increase their share of the vote, as predicted. It could well make for a more interesting more rumbustious European parliament. Even so there will still be a clear pro-European majority.
The question for mainstream parties on the centre-right and the centre-left is how they intend to respond to the sense of dissatisfaction with "politics as usual" that many voters have clearly expressed.
Martin Schulz, the former Socialist president of the European
Parliament - said of the FN victory: "It's a bad day for the European
Union, when a party with a racist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic programme
gets 25% of the vote."
Journalists watch the projected seat distribution take shape in the European Parliament
Morten Messerschmidt, of the Danish People's Party, was among the Eurosceptic winners
But many Socialists had a disappointing night - including their candidate for Commission president Martin Schulz
The election is the biggest exercise in multi-national
democracy in the world. The vote will affect the lives of the EU's 500
million citizens.
The parliament's powers have expanded since the last election in 2009, and it is hoping to have a decisive say in who gets the EU's top job, president of the European Commission.
The frontrunner for that will now be EPP candidate Jean-Claude Juncker - though that would need the approval national government leaders, which is by no means guaranteed, correspondents say.
Culled from BBC"They no longer want to be led by those outside our borders, by EU commissioners and technocrats who are unelected. They want to be protected from globalisation and take back the reins of their destiny."
Provisional results suggested the FN could win 25 European Parliament seats - a stunning increase on its three in 2009.
The party also issued an extraordinary statement accusing the government of vote-rigging.
Hard-left gains Across the board, the centre-right European People's Party was set to win 211 out of the 751 seats, with 28.1% across the bloc, according to estimated results issued by the European Parliament. That would make it the biggest group - but with more than 60 seats fewer than before.
That put it ahead of the Socialist group with 193 seats (25.7%), Liberals with 74 (9.9%) and Greens 58 (7.7%).
The right-wing Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy group, incorporating the UK Independence Party (UKIP), looked to have about the same number of seats as last time, but there looked set to be a rise in the number of non-attached right-wing MEPs boosting the Eurosceptic camp.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage was predicting that his party would come first in Britain, saying: "The inevitability of European integration ends tonight."
The anti-bailout hard-left group in parliament was set to make big gains, largely thanks to Syriza in Greece and United Left in Spain, gaining about 12 seats.
Elsewhere exit polls suggest the radical left anti-austerity party Syriza has come first in the elections in Greece. While in Italy it looks set to be a close fight between the Democratic Party of the Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (running in his first national campaign) and Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement.
So plenty of anti-establishment parties are poised to increase their share of the vote, as predicted. It could well make for a more interesting more rumbustious European parliament. Even so there will still be a clear pro-European majority.
The question for mainstream parties on the centre-right and the centre-left is how they intend to respond to the sense of dissatisfaction with "politics as usual" that many voters have clearly expressed.
Journalists watch the projected seat distribution take shape in the European Parliament
Morten Messerschmidt, of the Danish People's Party, was among the Eurosceptic winners
But many Socialists had a disappointing night - including their candidate for Commission president Martin Schulz
The parliament's powers have expanded since the last election in 2009, and it is hoping to have a decisive say in who gets the EU's top job, president of the European Commission.
The frontrunner for that will now be EPP candidate Jean-Claude Juncker - though that would need the approval national government leaders, which is by no means guaranteed, correspondents say.
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