French victories and Irish defeats mean mixed results for Greens

Green bloc takes up 10 more seats in European parliament after spectacular wins and disastrous defeats

John Vidal, environment editor
guardian.co.uk, Monday 8 June 2009 14.08 BST

European Green parties enjoyed wildly fluctuating fortunes in the European elections, ranging from winning a spectacular 16% in the French polls to being effectively wiped out in Ireland. In the UK, the party held its two English seats, and knocked Labour into fifth place in two regions.
While centre left and socialist parties were heavily hit by a general swing to the right, the Greens increased their overall share both of the European vote and the number of seats in the parliament. The party now has 54 seats compared with 44 in 2004, and, in alliance with Plaid Cymru and a Catalan group, is now now the fifth largest block in the European parliament.
Overall, the party gained seats in nine countries. The most spectacular results by far were in France where Europe Ecologie, led by the man who led the student riots in Paris in 1968, Daniel Cohn-Bendit and peasant leader José Bové, gained more than 16% of the vote and more than doubled its seats to 14. In Paris, the party took more than double the Socialist vote.
In England, the party won 8.7% of the overall vote, up from 6.2% in 2004, but did not increase its number of seats. It won nearly 100,000 extra votes in the south-east where it won more than 11% of the vote. There and in the south-west, the party beat Labour into fifth place.
"In the south-east we have increased our vote by 50% and we are disappointed it has not translated into a second seat," said Caroline Lucas, the Green party leader who was re-elected to Europe for the second time. "We have seen some spectacular results where we have targeted areas like Brighton and Hove and that bodes well for the next election."
The strong showing for green parties across Europe means legislation to fight climate change and promoting clean energy should remain high on the parliament's agenda. The success in France is certain to push the environment far higher up the French agenda but the wipe-out in Ireland, where the party shared power with Fianna Fáil, could prompt a general election.
"The rise of the Green party [in Europe] has been striking," said Thomas Klau, from the London-based thinktank Centre for European Reform. The Green party are the one political force in the EU that has (been) closest to creating a true European political party, a true European political movement ... with a political message that is strong and plausible, pro-European, that looks for European answers to the big problems the world and European society are facing, starting with climate change, of course."
Greens by country:
France
Europe's most spectacular and surprising success with the party winning 16.27%, of the vote, only just behind the Socialists on 16.48%. The French greens will now have the single biggest green block in the parliament with 14 MEPs.
Ireland
The Green party was the biggest loser of the election winning no European seats and losing all its councillors in Dublin. It appeared that voters punished the Greens with their cooperation with Fianna Fáil. If the Greens now withdraw from government, a general election could be called.
Scotland
The full Scottish result will not be known until later today but from votes now in it appears the party's vote has grown significantly.
Sweden
Along with the Pirate party, the Greens were Sweden's big winner, becoming the country's third largest party.
Greece
The party was polling 8% in pre-election polls but only secured 3.49% of the vote, giving it a European seat for the first time.
Germany
The Greens slightly improved on their 2004 result gaining one MEP, for a total of 14, representing 12.1%.
Finland
The Greens doubled their seats to two with 12.4% of the vote.