European Elections 2014: votes by EC Candidates and Political group leaders, ambiance shots in the EP (Brussels and Strasbourg) and statements in the Hemicycle by EC Candidates and Political group leaders

Brussels

VERHOFSTADT, Guy (Renew, BE)

statement

JUNCKER, Jean-Claude (LU)

European election

FARAGE, Nigel (NI, UK)

KELLER, Ska (Greens/EFA, DE)

2014 European elections (T)

SCHULZ, Martin (S&D, DE)

TSÍPRAS, Aléxis (EL)

HARMS, Rebecca (Greens/EFA, DE)

DAUL, Joseph (EPP, FR)

BOVÉ, José (Greens/EFA, FR)

SWOBODA, Hannes (S&D, AT)

SPERONI, Francesco Enrico (EFD, IT)

Candidate Joseph Daul, EPP voting at the polling station

Candidate Hannes Swoboda, S&amp;D voting at the polling station

Candidate Rebecca Harms, Greens/EFA voting at the polling station

Candidate Francesco Speroni, EFD, voting at the polling station

Candidate Gabriele Zimmer, GUE voting at the polling station

Candidate Nigel Farage, EFD voting at the polling station

Candidate Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE voting at the polling station

Candidate Jean-Claude Junker, EPP at the polling station

Candidate Martin Schultz, S&amp;D, voting at the polling station

Candidate Ska Keller, Greens, arriving with bicycle and voting by mail

Candidate Jos&eacute; Bov&eacute;, Greens, voting at the polling station

Candidate Alexis Tsipras, GUE, voting at the polling station

Exterior of European Parliament (daylight), Parlamentarium atmosphere

Ska Keller, Greens, arriving by bicycle to the EP

Arrival of Jean-Claude Junker, EPP to the EP

Hannes Swoboda, S&amp;D Candidate being interviewed by Press, cutaways atmosphere in the EP

Hannes Swoboda, S&amp;D Candidate and Joseph Daul, EPP being interviewed at the studio

Martin Schultz, S&amp;D candidate at the EP followed by Press

Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE candidate at the EP followed by Press

Ska Keller, Greens candidate at the EP followed by Press

Joseph Daul, EPP candidate at the EP followed by Press

Atmosphere at the stand of the different parties

Announcement of first official European Turnout by EP Spokesman from the EP Chamber in Brussels

Graphic 1st estimation of the turnout by country

Announcement of first official European results by Jaume DUCH, EP Spokesperson

First reactions by political groups leaders SOUNDBITE (French) Joseph DAUL (EPP, FR), President of the EPP Group: EEP has arrived at the top and will propose its candidate as President of the Commission.

SOUNDBITE (French) Joseph DAUL (EPP, FR), President of the EPP Group: I want to be honest with you, I am sad tonight because of the image of France compared to other countries. Just because a populist group has won does not mean that they will decide if we stay or leave the eurozone.

SOUNDBITE (English) Hannes SWOBODA (S&amp;D, AT), President of the S&amp;D Group: It was a step forward, but finally we should draw the conclusion that maybe it was not courageous enough that we should go for the direct election of the President of the Commission, to give the voters the chance to say clearly I am for this lade or that gentleman who should be President of the Commission. Many of the voters I met said why can't I give a direct vote to the Candidate of the Commission President.

SOUNDBITE (English) Guy VERHOFSTADT (ALDE, BE), President of the ALDE Group: For the first time the turnout is going up, more than 43%, it is a small change with 42% of the elections of 2009, but for the first time in more than thirty years we see that the turnout is going up. In my opinion it is one of the consequences of tje way we have handled this European election, the fact that European parties had candidates for the Presidency of the European Commission and maybe we can go further in that direction by having direct elections for the Presidency of the European Commission in 2019.

SOUNDBITE (English) Struan STEVENSON (ECR, UK): I think we might find ourselves in a position of kingmaker or even queenmaker within the new EP. We are going to see a hung parliament if you look at these results and we are going to be in a crucial position where people will be coming and asking us for our support to produce the new President of the European Commission and the European Parliament.

SOUNDBITE (German) Gabriele ZIMMER (GUE/NGL, DE), President of the GUE Group: We stand for a European Union where the values and individual rights will be protected and enhanced, we want more integration, social foundations, we want solidarity and an end to the austerity policy.

SOUNDBITE (German) Rebecca HARMS (Greens/EFA, DE), co-President of the Greens/EFA group: We as Greens never had any agreement with right parties. I am proud that the Green party has run all over Europe a pro-European, anti-nationalist campaign, totally on the contrary to the right parties.

SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Paul FARAGE (EFD, UK), co-President of the EFD Group: I still think that the real effect of these elections with big Eurosceptic gains in many countries will be less what happen in Brussels and more what happens in the Member States and I think the day where we will have more referendums on EU membership and membership to the euro will come much closer with these results tonight.

Reactions by the candidates for the Presidency of the European SOUNDBITE (English) Martin SCHULZ (S&amp;D, DE), candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission: We will see who can start to try to build a majority in the EP. I think Juncker will try, as I will do, to find a majority in the house. I will speak to Juncker perhaps also tonight, I mentioned just and I presume you heard my 3 points, on the basis of a programme we have to build a majority and at the end we will see who with the programme can get the majority in the EP.

SOUNDBITE (English) Martin SCHULZ (S&amp;D, DE), candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission: What we can predict for the time being is that all groups belonging to the pro European democratic spectrum of this house have to discuss with each other.

SOUNDBITE (English) Martin SCHULZ (S&amp;D, DE), candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission: I think all people looking to the results in France this is a bad day for the European Union when a party with such an open racist, xenophobic and anti-semitic programme gets 25 or 24% of the voters in France.

SOUNDBITE (English) Martin SCHULZ (S&amp;D, DE), candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission: The reasons behind such a vote for this party in France are not that the people are hard core extremists, they are disappointed, they have lost trust and hope and therefore I stick to tax evasion, tax fraud, fight against unemployment specially of young people.

SOUNDBITE (English) Guy VERHOFSTADT(ALDE, BE), candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission: It is clear that a very stable majority is needed in this parliament and the two big groups together, EPP and S&amp;D together lost more or less 70 to 80 seats and have no such stable majority. A stable majority is not certainly majority of less than 400. And that means that they shall be need to have a brother negotiation with the third group in the EP and, that is the alliance on the ALDE for Europe. For the rest, what is important is that this new majority in this House agrees on a new lead forward in the integration of the EU and use this new lead forward into integration of the EU has an engine for growth. I think it is also possible to build up a majority in this House around our program and my candidature. As I see the results, there is in this House a huge majority, I think even a two-third majority to go forward with the integration of the EU. Before the elections, a number of people said that the third group in the Parliament shall be Eurosceptic, nationalist, populist groups. I don't see it for the moment.

SOUNDBITE (English) Ska KELLER, Green Party, candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission: When it comes to the Commission Presidency a topic that will stay with us all of us for the next couple of days and maybe even longer, we stand to our commitment that we think only one should become Commission President who has also been running for that Office. But we, Greens , of course have also a couple of demands to whatever candidates for Commission President, because, we, Greens, only give our green vote to people who also supporting Green policies. And that will go, in particular for the areas encouraging the Greens jobs they are so badly need it all over Europe, for creating jobs in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy, but also education and health.

SOUNDBITE (English) Ska KELLER, Green Party, candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission: We will be very happy to invite any potential candidates to our Greens group to discuss what Greens items he or she will bring on their agenda. For us, it is very important that the Green vote only goes to green content and this is something we will fight for. We will be very happy to see the proposal of both Mr Junker and Mr Schultz on this. We haven't seen any so far and, well, some of the candidates might have to still reconsider some of the policies they've been doing the past five years, because what we've been seeing from the conservatives as well as social democrats has not always been very green and very progressive.

SOUNDBITE (Greek) Alexis TSIPRAS, Party of the European Left, candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission: The European Left is probably stand out as the fourth major political force, a very important success. No one can ignore our political agenda, no one can ignore the new group that will be established within GUE/NGL, a group that will play a crucial role in the different correlations in the European Parliament and the election of the new President. Apart from that, we had a historic development in Greece. For the first time in the country's political history a left part wins the elections with a clear margin and an indisputable percentage rate, signalling the rejection of the vast people's majority to the applied austerity policy.

SOUNDBITE (Greek) Alexis TSIPRAS, Party of the European Left, candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission: This historic choice by the Greek people underlines the rejection of austerity in the country chosen by the EU leadership to become the guinea pig of the crisis and this is a message we are sending to the whole of Europe, especially to the periphery who is suffering from similar austerity programmes. The message is that we must put an end to this Golgotha, to the destructive austerity policy and that European peoples must invest in democracy, growth, social cohesion and solidarity.

SOUNDBITE (Greek) Alexis TSIPRAS, Party of the European Left, candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission: Our programme is very clear. On the basis of this programme we could form coalitions both with Greens and Socialist and Democrats, as long as the latter decided to distant themselves from the parties of Mrs Merkel and Mr Junker, the EPP.

SOUNDBITE (French) Jean-Claude JUNCKER, EPP, candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission: The EPP has won this election we don't know by what marge in, it will be a double digit result, so I am delighted to stand as candidate for the European presidency of the European Commission. I don't hold anything with those who say that the results of this election can be ignored. We know that they are those who would prefer to ignore the results of the elections and to decide on who should become President in corridors.

SOUNDBITE (French) Jean-Claude JUNCKER, EPP, candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission: I will enter negotiations with the socialist party of course, I will not be on my knees before the socialist party because the party number one has not to be on his knees.

SOUNDBITE (French) Jean-Claude JUNCKER, EPP, candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission: I ever I was elected President of the Commission only because the EPP votes would be joined by the votes of the extreme right I would refuse the mandate of the next President of the European Commission.

SOUNDBITE (French) Jean-Claude JUNCKER, EPP, candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission: You have to respect the voters. Not because they are voters but because they are citizens. European citizens have now sent a very clear signal to the first party, the biggest party. And, I think that the other parties have now to stop giving the impression that the outcome of the results is less important that a political will and clearly we have now a clear voice across the continent.