Dutch-speaking electoral college

The Dutch-speaking electoral college is one of three constituencies of the European Parliament in Belgium. It currently elects 13 MEPs using the D'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation. Before it elected 14 MEPs, until the 2007 accession of Bulgaria and Romania.

Dutch-speaking electoral college
European Parliament constituency
Location among the current constituencies
Shown within Belgium
Member state	Belgium
Created	1979
MEPs	12
Sources

Boundaries

The constituency generally corresponds to the Flemish Community of Belgium, and is sometimes called the Flemish-speaking electoral college.^[1][2] In officially bilingual Brussels, electors can choose between lists of this electoral college or those of the French-speaking electoral college.

Prior to the 2011–2012 state reform, voters could choose between both lists not only in Brussels, but in an area encompassing unilingually Dutch territory, Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde; some towns in the officially Dutch-speaking Brussels Periphery still have this option.

Members of the European Parliament

Representatives of the Dutch-Speaking community (1979–present)
Election	MEP (Party)		MEP (Party)		MEP (Party)		MEP (Party)		MEP (Party)		MEP (Party)		MEP (Party)		MEP (Party)		MEP (Party)		MEP (Party)		MEP (Party)		MEP (Party)		MEP (Party)		MEP (Party)
1979		Lambert Croux (CVP)		Paul De Keersmaeker (CVP)		Jaak Henckens (CVP)		Léo Tindemans (CVP)		Marcel Vandewiele (CVP)		Joris Verhaegen (CVP)		Joannes Verroken (CVP)		Willy De Clercq (PVV)		Herman Vanderpoorten (PVV)		Maurits Coppieters (VU)		Marcel Colla (SP)		Karel Van Miert (SP)	12 seats
1984	Raphaël Chanterie (CVP)		Rika De Backer (CVP)	Pol Marck (CVP)		Paul Staes (Agalev)		Willy Kuijpers (VU)		Jef Ulburghs (SP)	Karel De Gucht (PVV)	August de Winter (PVV)	Jaak Vandemeulebroucke (VU)	Marijke Van Hemeldonck (SP)		Willy Vernimmen (SP)	13 seats
1989	Marianne Thyssen (CVP/ CD&V)	Leo Tindemans (CVP)	An Hermans (CVP)				Karel Pinxten (CVP)		Karel Dillen (VB)	Willy De Clercq (PVV/ VLD)		Marc Galle (SP)			12 seats
1994			Wilfried Martens (CVP)	Raphaël Chanterie (CVP)	Magda Aelvoet (Agalev)		Marie-Paule Kestelijn-Sierens (PVV)	Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck (PVV)			Anne Van Lancker (SP/ SP.A)	Philippe De Coene (SP)			Frederik Willockx (SP)	13 seats
1998						Nelly Maes (VU)
1999		Miet Smet (CVP)	Johan Van Hecke (CVP /VLD)		Frank Vanhecke (VB)		Patsy Sörensen (Agalev)					Ward Beysen (VLD)		Dirk Sterckx (VLD/ Open VLD)			Bart Staes (VU/ Groen)	Peter Bossu (SP)		Luckas Vander Taelen (Agalev)
2000				Kathleen Van Brempt (SP)
2002													Jan Dhaene (Agalev)
2003					Koenraad Dillen (VB)			Frank Vanhecke (VB)	Saïd El Khadraoui (SP)
2004						Jean-Luc Dehaene (CD&V)				Ivo Belet (CD&V)		Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck (VLD/ Open VLD)			Philip Claeys (VB)			Frieda Brepoels (NVA)				Mia De Vits (SP.A)
2009			Guy Verhofstadt (Open VLD)		Derk Jan Eppink (LDD)								Kathleen Van Brempt (SP.A/ Vooruit)			13 seats
2011		Philippe De Backer (Open VLD)
2013				Mark Demesmaeker (NVA)
2014
2014						Helga Stevens (NVA)		Louis Ide (NVA)			Johan Van Overtveldt (NVA)			Gerolf Annemans (VB)	12 seats
2014	Tom Vandenkendelaere (CD&V)				Sander Loones (NVA)
2015							Anneleen Van Bossuyt (NVA)
2016		Lieve Wierinck (Open VLD)						Hilde Vautmans (Open VLD)
2018					Ralph Packet (NVA)
2019	Kris Peeters (CD&V)	Geert Bourgeois (NVA)		Assita Kanko (NVA)	Cindy Franssen (CD&V)		Filip De Man (VB)		Johan Van Overtveldt (NVA)		Tom Vandendriessche (VB)					Petra De Sutter (Groen)
2024	Wouter Beke (CD&V)	Kris Van Dijck (NVA)			Rudi Kennes (PTB)	Liesbet Sommen (CD&V)	Barbara Bonte (VB)			Sara Matthieu (Groen)					Bruno Tobback (Vooruit)	13 seats

Election results

2024

Main article: 2024 European Parliament election in Belgium

Party		EU party	EP group	Votes	%	Change	Seats	Change
	Flemish Interest	ID	PfE	1,034,112	22.94	−3.86	3	-
	New-Flemish Alliance	EFA	ECR	995,868	22.09	−0.35	3	-
	Christian Democratic and Flemish	EPP	EPP	594,968	13.20	−2.33	2	-
	Vooruit	PES	S&D	570,067	12.64	+2.43	2	+1
	Groen	EGP	G-EFA	450,781	10.00	−2.37	1	-
	Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats	ALDE	RE	410,743	9.11	−6.84	1	-1
	Workers' Party of Belgium	ELA	Left	366,285	8.12	+3.17	1	+1
	For You	NI	NI	47,243	1.05	new	0	new
	Volt Belgium	NI	NI	38,713	0.86	+0.83	0	-

2019

Main article: 2019 European Parliament election in Belgium

Party		EU party	EP group	Votes	%	Change	Seats	Change
	New-Flemish Alliance	EFA	ECR	954,048	22.44	−4.23	3	-1
	Flemish Interest	ID Party	ID	811,169	19.08	+12.32	3	+2
	Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats	ALDE	Renew	678,051	15.95	−4.45	2	-1
	Christian Democratic and Flemish	EPP	EPP	617,651	14.53	−5.43	2	0
	Green	EGP	Greens/EFA	525,908	12.37	+1.75	1	0
	Socialist Party Different	PES	S&D	434,002	10.21	−2.97	1	0
	Workers' Party of Belgium	None	GUE/NGL	210,391	4.95	+2.55	0	0
	Volt Belgium	Volt Europa	None	20,385	0.48	+0.48	0	0
Total				4,251,605	100		12	0

2014

Main article: 2014 European Parliament election in Belgium

Party		EU party	EP group	Votes	%	Change	Seats	Change
	New-Flemish Alliance	EFA	ECR	1,123,363	26.67	+16.79	4	+3
	Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats	ALDE	ALDE	859,254	20.40	−0.2	3	0
	Christian Democratic and Flemish	EPP	EPP	840,814	19.96	−3.34	2	−1
	Socialist Party Different	PES	S&D	555,354	13.18	−0.05	1	−1
	Flemish Interest	EAF	None	284,891	6.76	−9.14	1	−1
	Green	EGP	Greens/EFA	447,449	10.62	+2.72	1	0
	Workers' Party of Belgium	None	None	101,246	2.40	+1.42	0	0
Total				4,212,371	100		12	−1

2009

Main article: 2009 European Parliament election in Belgium

Party		Affiliation	Votes	%	Change	Seats	Change
	Christian Democratic and Flemish	EPP	948,123	23.26	−4.89	3	0
	Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats	ELDR	837,884	20.56	−1.35	3	0
	Flemish Interest	None	647,170	15.88	−7.28	2	−1
	Socialist Party Different	PES	539,393	13.23	−4.60	2	−1
	New-Flemish Alliance	EFA/EPP-ED group (previous term)	402,545	9.88	+9.88	1	0
	Green!	EGP	322,149	7.90	−0.08	1	0
	List Dedecker	None, (joined ECR)	296,699	7.28	N/A	1	N/A
	Workers' Party of Belgium+	None	40,057	0.98	+0.37	0	0
	Social Liberal Party	EFA	26,541	0.65	N/A	0	N/A
	Others		15,383	0.38		0
Total			4,075,944	100		13	−1

2004

Main article: 2004 European Parliament election in Belgium

Party		Affiliation	Votes	%	Change	Seats	Change
	Christian Democratic and Flemish/New Flemish Alliance		1,131,119	28.15	+6.47	4	+1
	Vlaams Blok		930,731	23.16	+8.07	3	+1
	Flemish Liberals and Democrats		880,279	21.91	−1.7	3	0
	Social Progressive Alternative-Spirit		716,317	17.83	+3.62	3	+1
	Groen!		320,874	7.99	−3.99	1	−1
	Workers' Party of Belgium		24,807	0.62	0.05	0	0
	Left Socialist Party		14,166	0.35	N/A	0	N/A
Total			4,018,293	100		14	0

1999

Main article: 1999 European Parliament election in Belgium

Party		Affiliation	Votes	%	Change	Seats	Change
	Flemish Liberals and Democrats		847,099	21.88%	+3.52%	3	0
	Christian People's Party		839,720	21.68%	−5.75%	3	−1
	Vlaams Blok		584,392	15.09%	+2.53%	2	0
	Socialist Party		550,237	14.21%	−3.42%	2	−1
	People's Union-ID		471,238	12.17%	+5.08%	2	+1
	Agalev-Groen		464,042	11.98%	+1.25%	2	+1
	Vivant		67,107	1.73%	N/A	0	N/A
	Others		48,589	1.25%		0	0
Total			3,872,424	100		14	0

1994

Main article: 1994 European Parliament election in Belgium

Party		Affiliation	Votes	%	Change	Seats	Change
	Christian People's Party		1,013,266	27.43%	−6.65%	4	−1
	Flemish Liberals and Democrats		678,421	18.36%	+1.26%	3	+1
	Socialist Party		651,371	17.63%	−2.41%	3	0
	Vlaams Blok		463,919	12.56%	+5.97%	2	+1
	Agalev		396,198	10.73%	−1.47%	1	0
	People's Union		262,043	7.09%	−1.61%	1	+1
	WOW		127,504	3.45%	N/A	0	N/A
	Others		101,427	2.75%		0	0
Total				100		14	+1

1989

Main article: 1989 European Parliament election in Belgium

Party		Affiliation	Votes	%	Change	Seats	Change
	Christian People's Party		1,247,075	34.08%	+1.55%	5	+1
	Socialist Party		733,242	20.04%	−8.09%	3	−1
	Party for Freedom and Progress		625,561	17.10%	+2.91%	2	0
	Agalev-Groen		446,539	12.20%	+5.12%	1	0
	People's Union-EVA		318,153	8.70%	−5.21%	1	−1
	Vlaams Blok		241,117	6.59%	+4.49%	1	+1
	Others		47,219	1.29%		0	0
Total				100		13	0

1984

Main article: 1984 European Parliament election in Belgium

Party		Affiliation	Votes	%	Change	Seats	Change
	Christian People's Party		1,132,682	32.53%	−15.56%	4	−3
	Socialist Party		979,702	28.13%	+7.23%	4	+1
	Party for Freedom and Progress		494,277	14.19%	−1.13%	2	0
	People's Union		484,494	13.91%	+4.20%	2	+1
	Agalev		246,712	7.08%	+4.75%	1	+1
	Vlaams Blok		73,174	2.10%	N/A	0	N/A
	Others		71,239	2.05%		0	0
Total				100		13	0

1979

Main article: 1979 European Parliament election in Belgium

Party		Affiliation	Votes	%	Change	Seats	Change
	Christian People's Party		1,607,941	48.09%	N/A	7	N/A
	Belgian Socialist Party		698,889	20.90%	N/A	3	N/A
	Party for Freedom and Progress		512,363	15.32%	N/A	2	N/A
	People's Union		324,540	9.71%	N/A	1	N/A
	Agalev		77,986	2.33%	N/A	0	N/A
	Others		121,783	3.64%	N/A	0	N/A
Total				100	N/A	13	N/A

Returned members

Below are all members since the creation of the Dutch-speaking electoral college. Only members who were sworn in at the beginning of each parliamentary turn are mentioned. Under Belgian law, MEPs can resign and be automatically replaced. This was the case, for example, for Johan Van Overtveldt, who resigned to become Minister of Finance on 14 October 2014 and was replaced by Sander Loones.

MEPs for Belgium's Dutch-speaking electoral college, 1979 onwards
Election	1979 (1st parliament)		1984 (2nd parliament)		1989 (3rd parliament)		1994 (4th parliament)		1999 (5th parliament)		2004 (6th parliament)		2009 (7th parliament)		2014 (8th parliament)			2019 (9th parliament)
MEP Party		Willy Vernimmen SP			Seat not established			Anne Van Lancker SP					Seat abolished
MEP Party		Karel Van Miert SP				Marc Galle SP		Philippe De Coene SP		Peter Bossu SP		Saïd El Khadraoui sp.a/Spirit			Seat abolished
MEP Party		Marcel Colla SP		Marijke Van Hemeldonck SP				Freddy Willockx SP		Luckas Vander Taelen Agalev		Mia De Vits sp.a/Spirit		Kathleen Van Brempt sp.a
MEP Party		Willy De Clercq PVV		Jef Ulburghs SP		Paul Staes Agalev		Magda Aelvoet Agalev		Patsy Sörensen Agalev		Bart Staes Groen						Petra De Sutter Groen
MEP Party		Herman Vanderpoorten PVV		Paul Staes Agalev		Willy De Clercq VLD						Karel De Gucht VLD/Vivant		Guy Verhofstadt Open Vld
MEP Party		Paul De Keersmaeker CVP		Karel De Gucht VLD				Annemie Neyts VLD		Ward Beysen VLD		Annemie Neyts VLD/Vivant						Hilde Vautmans Open Vld
MEP Party		Jaak Henckens CVP		August de Winter VLD		An Hermans CVP		Mimi Kestelijn-Sierens VLD		Dirk Sterckx VLD/Vivant				Philippe De Backer Open Vld		Karel De Gucht Open Vld		Kris Peeters CD&V
MEP Party		Joris Verhaegen CVP		Raphaël Chanterie CVP						Miet Smet CVP		Ivo Belet CD&V/N-VA						Cindy Franssen CD&V
MEP Party		Lambert Croux CVP				Marianne Thyssen CVP												Geert Bourgeois N-VA
MEP Party		Marcel Vandewiele CVP		Rika De Backer CVP		Karel Pinxten CVP		Wilfried Martens CVP		Johan Van Hecke CVP		Jean-Luc Dehaene CD&V/N-VA				Johan Van Overtveldt N-VA
MEP Party		Leo Tindemans CVP		Pol Marck CVP		Leo Tindemans CVP				Nelly Maes VU		Frieda Brepoels CD&V/N-VA				Mark Demesmaeker N-VA		Assita Kanko N-VA
MEP Party		Joannes Verroken CVP		Jaak Vandemeulebroucke VU						Bart Staes VU		Koen Dillen VB		Derk-Jan Eppink LDD		Louis Ide N-VA		Filip De Man VB
MEP Party		Maurits Coppieters VU		Willy Kuijpers VU		Karel Dillen VB						Philip Claeys VB				Helga Stevens N-VA		Patsy Vatlet VB
MEP Party	Seat not established							Frank Vanhecke VB								Gerolf Annemans VB