European Parliament Elections May 25 , 2014 ( Le Pen Front National Party a big winner as French Elites shudder ) -- From Zero Hedge -European Voters Are Revolting; France Warns "Situation Is Grave For Europe" .... Takeaway -- Just as we had warned in the run-up to the European elections - and England's UKIP victory in local elections had suggested;Anti-European-Union parties are showing strongly in this weekend's elections. Anxiety is spreading among the status quo as Greece's anti-austerity party SYRIZA wins and perhaps even more worryingly in supposed core of the union France's Nationalist party is leading in a "political earthquake" success .......

From Mish ... a review of the European Parliament Elections and looking ahead to the battle for EU Commission President ......

Monday, May 26, 2014 1:04 AM

Fun Night for the Eurosceptics: UKIP and Front National Storm Brussels; Infighting Begins

It was a fun night for the Eurosceptics.

• Nigel Farage's UKIP was the top vote getter in the UK with about 29% of the vote
• Marine Le Pen's Front National party was the top vote getter in France with 26% of the vote
• The Danish People’s party is the largest party in Denmark with about 25% of the vote
• Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement is a likely second-place finisher in Italy 
• Alexis Tsipras' Syriza part is the top vote getter in Greece with about 26% of the vote

Eurosceptic Earthquake

The Financial Times reports Ukip Leads Populist Earthquake.

 The UK Independence party and France’s far-right Front National stormed to victory in European elections on Sunday night, as populist and nationalist parties across the continent dealt a heavy blow to the European project.

Nigel Farage, Ukip leader, said the result represented an “earthquake”, while Marine Le Pen, the FN leader, said that there had been a “massive rejection of the EU”; mainstream politicians struggled to come to terms with what had happened.

Manuel Valls, the French socialist prime minister, called the FN victory “a shock, an earthquake that all responsible leaders must respond to”, as President François Hollande prepared to convene his cabinet to discuss the result.

In Britain, Labour was battling with Tories for second place , with the opposition party expected to just edge it. Nick Clegg, the pro-European Liberal Democrat leader who confronted Mr Farage in two televised debates on Europe, was set to lose most of his 12 MEPs. By 2am the Lib Dems had won just one seat, with London results delayed. Danny Alexander, Lib Dem Treasury minister, said the results were “pretty awful”.

Eurosceptics Storm Brussels

Also consider Eurosceptics Storm Brussels

 France’s far-right Front National stormed to victory in European elections on Sunday night, leading an unprecedented surge in support for anti-EU parties across Europe that was set to reverberate far beyond Brussels politics.

The FN, led by Marine le Pen, claimed victory against both the centre-right UMP and President François Hollande’s ruling Socialist party for the first time in a nationwide vote, a stunning defeat for the mainstream parties in Europe’s second-largest economy.

Manuel Valls, the French prime minister, called the FN victory “a shock, an earthquake that all responsible leaders must respond to”.

Ms Le Pen said the victory for the fiercely anti-EU and anti-immigration FN was an “immense honour”, declaring: “What has happened tonight is a massive rejection of the EU.”

She said it was the “first step in a long march” to the “recovery of our identity” from the EU and the end of austerity policies.

The FN was expected to take 25 of France’s 74 seats in the European parliament, up from the three seats it won in the last election in 2009. It was the most dramatic result achieved by the party since Ms Le Pen’s father Jean-Marie Le Pen won through to the final round of the presidential election in 2002.

In Germany, the neo-Nazi party was expected to win one seat in the assembly for the first time. The anti-euro Alternative für Deutschland party was set to get 7 per cent.

Jean-Francois Copé, president of the UMP, conceded defeat in France, saying the FN vote was a sign of “gigantic anger” among the French electorate against the policies of Mr Hollande. The Socialist party, also hammered in local elections in March, was beaten into third place in one of its worst election defeats in France.

The gains of the populists could be sufficient for Ms Le Pen to form an anti-EU group with other like-minded parties. That would give them extra funds and speaking rights to destroy the “Brussels monster”.

According to exit polls released by the European Parliament, the European People’s party centre-right grouping in the assembly is set to win the elections with 212 seats, followed by the Socialists with 185; the Liberals with 71; and the Greens 55. Eurosceptic and anti-establishment parties from both left and right won 228 seats.

Congratulations for a well-deserved victory for the Eurosceptics.

That said, don't expect much change. As noted before, the center-left and center-right parties will act in union to block any anti-euro measures.

Race for Commission Presidency

The EU Observer reports Juncker Declares Victory in Race for Commission Presidency.

 Jean-Claude Juncker declared victory in the European elections on Sunday (25 May), and staked his claim as the first man in line to claim the European Commission presidency.

With partial results and exit polls suggesting that the centre-right EPP had claimed 212 seats in the European Parliament to 185 Socialists, Juncker, the former prime minister of Luxembourg, was presented as the next president of the EU executive by jubilant party supporters.

"As lead candidate of the largest party, I have won the election," he told reporters in the Parliament hemicycle. "The EPP has got a clear lead, a clear victory."

He also insisted that he would not stand aside for another EPP candidate and issued a warning to EU leaders not to "ignore" the results by opting to "select the President in corridors".

Leaders of the Parliament's political groups will meet on Tuesday morning to begin the process of allowing a candidate to build a majority in the EU assembly. EU leaders will then gather in Brussels on Tuesday evening to have their first discussions following the elections.

Following nomination by EU leaders, a successful candidate will need the support of at least 376 deputies in the 751-member Parliament.

But Juncker stated that he would seek to build a broad majority of pro-European forces, including the Green and Liberal groups as well as the Socialists.

"I will not be on my knees with the Socialist party … but even party No 1 has to make compromises," he said, adding that he had "a lot of sympathy with Greens and friends in the Liberal group".

But Socialist candidate Martin Schulz refused to concede defeat and insisted that he, as well as Juncker, would try to form a majority.

Infighting Begins

And so the coalition infighting begins. The Euroscpetics will not vote for either Juncker or Schulz so it is going to be a difficult process coming up with 376 votes.

Should Juncker ultimately prevail, he will not be willing to bow down to UK prime minister David Cameron's proposed rule changes.

The whole setup is messier than it appears at first glance. Significant rule changes which Cameron has promised before an up-down vote on the UK staying in the EU seems highly unlikely, at best, no matter who triumphs as EC president.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-05-25/european-voters-are-revolting-france-warns-situation-grave-europe

European Voters Are Revolting; France Warns "Situation Is Grave For Europe"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/25/2014 15:44 -0400

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Just as we had warned in the run-up to the European elections - and England's UKIP victory in local elections had suggested;Anti-European-Union parties are showing strongly in this weekend's elections. Anxiety is spreading among the status quo as Greece's anti-austerity party SYRIZA wins and perhaps even more worryingly in supposed core of the union France's Nationalist party is leading in a "political earthquake" success:

• EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS MUST RESPOND TO CITIZENS' ANGER: VALLS
• FRANCE'S VALLS SAYS 'SITUATION IS GRAVE FOR FRANCE, EUROPE'
• DRAGHI SAYS PEOPLE VOTING ACROSS EUROPE ARE CLEARLY DISENGAGED

Disengaged? - or totally pissed off with promises that never materialize and wealth that only trickles down to the uber-richest and uber-elitest.

No wonder France is worried...

Open Europe @OpenEurope

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#France - Ipsos seat projection: Front National 23-25 seats, UMP 18-21, Socialist Party 13, UDI/MoDem 6-8. #EP2014

2:26 PM - 25 May 2014

Anti-establishment parties were gaining ground in other parts of the EU too (following UKIP's lead in the UK).

In France, exit polls setting the anti-immigrant, far right National Front up for its first success in a national election.

In Greece, exit polls had the far-left SYRIZA party leading with 26-30 per cent of the vote, ahead of the ruling conservative New Democracy Party. SYRIZA, whose leader, Alexis Tsipras, is running for European Commission president, has campaigned vociferously against the austerity that was part of the EU's response to its economic crisis.

In Austria, the right-wing FPOe came in third with 20 per cent, while the anti-immigrant Danish People's Party was set to take the biggest share of the vote in that Nordic country, according to exit polls and initial projections.

In Finland, the anti-immigrant True Finns party was projected to win two of the country's 13 seats in the European Parliament, adding one seat to its previous tally.

In Germany, the far-right National Democratic Party - which has many overtly neo-Nazi supporters - could be on course to win its first seat in the legislature, according to projections. Germany's anti-euro Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) is also set to make its debut in the parliament after capturing 6.5 per cent of the German vote, a public television exit poll showed.

In Belgium: *FLEMISH NATIONALISTS LEAD IN BELGIAN ELECTION, 1ST RESULTS SHOW

But it's not just France, Anti-EU parties are winning across Europe...

h/t @WikiGuido

Who coulda seen that coming?

.

Charts: Bloomberg

The Guardian......

Theme song for Le Pen to French voters ? 

Marine Le Pen's confidence vindicated by Front National election triumph

FN leader claims 'the people have spoken', as far-right party polls an historic 25% of votes in the European elections

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French far-right Front National party president Marine Le Pen reacts at the party's headquarters in Nanterre, as it topped the polls in European elections. Photograph: Pierre Andrieu/AFP/Getty Images

From the beginning of the European election campaign Marine Le Penwas insistent that Sunday evening would finally see the Front National emerge as "France's number one party".

Election pundits scorned her pretentions; the opinion polls confirmed them.

As the first exit polls were announced at 8pm on Sunday, cheers and a rendition of La Marseillaise broke out among the party faithful gathered at the FN headquarters in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, appeared to prove Le Pen right.

The first estimations suggested the far-right FN had done even better than expected, polling an historic 25% of votes in the European electionsand becoming France's number one party on the European stage.

The exit polls suggested the opposition centre right UMP had just over 20% of the vote, but the worst news was reserved for the ruling Socialists who came in third with just under 15%.

It was the second slap in the face for president François Hollande's administration in as many months after a disastrous showing in local elections in March.

The initial results gave the FN 24 seats in the European parliament, the UMP 19 seats, 13 for the PS, six for the Greens and four for the Front de Gauche.

As she arrived at the FN power base, supporters broke out into cheers and chanted "Marine, Marine".

"The people have spoken. Our people demands one type of politics: they want French politics by the French, for the French, with the French. They don't want to be led any more from outside, to submit to laws," a clearly jubilant Le Pen told supporters.

"The sovereign people have proclaimed loud and clear ... that they want to take back their destiny into their own hands.

"We must build another Europe, a Europe of free and sovereign nations and freely decided cooperation. Tonight is a massive rejection of theEuropean Union.

"If Germany has become the economic heart of Europe, through the incompetence and weakness of our leaders, then France has been and will be the political heart of Europe. What is happening in France signals what will happen in all European countries; the return of the nation.

"To all those French who voted for us, I say that the battle for the greatness of France should unite us in the rediscovered love of our country."

Le Pen's father and party found Jean-Marie Le Pen called on the dissolution of the Assemblée Nationale and for the prime minister Manuel Valls to resign.

Valls described the result as a "shock" and a "political earthquake".

A meeting called by UMP head Jean-François Copé was reportedly tense, according to a source.

On a personal level, it was a triple victory for the Le Pen clan. Marine Le Pen was predicted to have won 32.6% of votes in her constituency in north west France, her father was thought to have polled 28.9% in his south eastern constituency, while Le Pen's partner Louis Aliot won his seat with 23.7% of the vote in the south west against former UMP defence minister Michele Alliot-Marie.

At the FN's headquarters in the Rue des Suisses in the western Paris suburb of Nanterre, visitors are greeted with a statue of Joan of Arc, the party's heroine and figurehead, in full battle pose. On the internal terrace is an enormous fibre glass statue of a cockerel, another Gallic totem. French tricolor flags are everywhere.

Party officials had been – rightly as it transpired – optimistic judging by the rows of champagne glasses ranged on a table in the HQ.

The FN has pledged to close France's borders to "stop the free movement of the Roma" and (foreign) delinquents as well as "cheap foreign labour", to ditch the euro and return to the franc, to end free trade agreements with America, and "to defend, in all circumstances, our values, our identity, our traditions and our way of life".

In its election material Le Pen had urged the French to vote, insisting that shunning the polls was a vote for what it calls the UMPS, a conflation of the acronyms for two main parties, the opposition Union pour un Mouvement Populaire and the Parti Socialist.

"Today, France is at a crossroads," she wrote in her election declaration distributed to homes across the country. "Either she becomes once more a great country that is free, independent, safe, propserous and proud of its history and read to fight for its future and that of its children. Or it disappears in a Europe-ist magma, multicultural, without influence of power, undermined by precocity and shunted wise by a savage globalisation of which the European Union is only the first step."

She concluded: "Unemployment, the loss of social benefits, injustices, the loss of our values, uncontrolled immigration are not inevitable but the result of political chooses that we can oppose, that we must oppose. France has still a future and needs you."

The FN has repeated the mantra that it has become a major force in French politics at almost every election for years, but following an unprecedented victory in last month's local election in which the far-right won control of more than a dozen town and city halls, it has become more than just the wishful thinking of the past.

As Le Monde wrote after Sunday's estimations: "Marine Le Pen has won her bet: the Front National is the main winner in the European elections".

The paper added: "If the extreme right party's victory is no great surprise, the opinion polls having anticipated it for the last few weeks, the scale is surprising."

Jean-Yves Camus, a researcher at the French political think-tank IRIS, wrote in Slate.fr "The particularity of the Front National is that it cannot take part in any government or even regional coalition. It's opponents are very diverse but have one thing in common: the wish not to govern with it (the FN). It's a weak position.

"A major party is one that is able to transform its manifesto into political decisions, whereas the position in which the FN will find itself in the European parliament is of a marginalised opposition, in the same way the two FN MPs in the French parliament are very isolated."

Before the results, Slate said the only place the FN would become the "number one party in France" was on Facebook where its page had 157,000 likes compared with 84,500 for the Parti Socialiste and 82,100 for the centre-right opposition UMP party.

Hours before the polling stations opened, three people were shot dead in a Jewish museum in Brussels and two Jewish brothers were beaten up in the south eastern Paris suburb of Creteil.