The votes have been counted to decide who will represent Belgium in the next European Parliament, with initial results on Sunday showing Mouvement Réformateur (MR) has gained a seat to become one of the largest Belgian parties in the EU Parliament, matching the three seats each retained by Vlaams Belang and N-VA.
A total of 22 MEPs have been elected to represent Belgium for the next five years, so who will be heading to Brussels for the upcoming legislative term?
Here’s a breakdown of the number of spots won by each European political group, how that’s divided up between national Belgian parties, and which candidates will be filling the seats (according to official figures from the Federal Public Service and Home Affairs office).
European People’s Party (EPP) – 4 seats
Flemish Christian Democrats (CD&V) - 2 seats
Liesbet Sommen (left) and and Wouter Beke (right). Credit: Belga
CD&V has retained its two seats. The two new MEPs for CD&V will be former Flemish Welfare and Public Health Minister Wouter Beke, and former journalist and CD&V staffer Liesbet Sommen.
They replace outgoing MEPs Cindy Franssen, who announced late last year that she would not be standing for re-election, and Tom Vandenkendelaere who previously served as an MEP from 2014 to 2019, and stepped into the role again in 2021 when elected MEP Kris Peeters was appointed vice-president of the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) Management Committee.
Les Engagés - 1 seat
Yvan Verougstraete. Credit: Belga / Laurie Dieffembacq
Les Engagés have retained their single seat, which will be filled by entrepreneur Yvan Verougstraete, founder and CEO of Medi-Market, a chain of pharmacies and drugstores in Belgium and Luxembourg.
Outgoing MEP Benoit Lutgen, who was formerly leader of Les Engagés when it was known as the Humanist Democrat Centre, left the European parliament to run in the federal elections (he was elected in the constituency of Luxembourg).
Les Engagés have previously expressed key differences with the EPP on migration and security, and may seek to change groups.
Christlich Soziale Partei (German language community) - 1 seat
Pascal Arimont. Credit: Belga / Dirk Waem
This German-speaking party has retained its single seat, which will continue to be held by Pascal Arimont. A former member of Belgium's German speaking parliament, he has been an MEP since 2014.
Socialists and Democrats (S&D) – 4 seats
Vooruit - 2 seats
Bruno Tobback (left) and Kathleen Van Brempt (right). Credit: Belga
Vooruit has won two seats in the next European Parliament, growing from one MEP elected in 2019.
One of the seats will be filled by returning MEP Kathleen Van Brempt, who was first elected as an MEP in 2000. She has served as State Secretary for Labour Organisation and Welfare in the Belgian Federal government, as well as Minister for Mobility, Social Economy and Equal Opportunities in the Flemish government.
Vooruit's other seat will be filled by Bruno Tobback, a former leader of the Flemish socialists (then called sp.a) who also served as Minister of Environment and Pensions in the Belgian Federal Government.
Socialist Party (PS) – 2 seats
Estelle Ceulemans (left) and Elio Di Rupo (right) pictured during a congress of French-speaking socialist party PS in December. Credit: Belga / John Thys
PS has held onto its two seats, one of which will be filled by Elio Di Rupo, the bow-tied Walloon political veteran who was the world's first openly gay man to be head of government in modern times when he led Belgium between 2011 and 2014.
The other seat will be filled by Estelle Ceulemans, a longstanding member of the Belgian General Labor Federation (FGTB) who served as general secretary of the union's Brussels division.
In the wake of the Qatargate corruption scandal, neither of the MEPs elected to PS seats are returning for the next term. Marc Tarabella was charged with corruption and money laundering and was kicked out of the party, while Maria Arena was investigated and not charged, but still stood down from the 2024 elections.
Renew Europe – 4 seats
Mouvement Reformateur (MR) - 3 seats
From left to right: Olivier Chastel, Sophie Wilmès, Benoît Cassart. Credit: Belga
MR have gained a third seat in the next European Parliament, adding to the two it held in 2019.
The first will be filled by former Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès, who has also served as minister for budget as well as foreign affairs for the Federal Government.
Returning MEP and pharmacist Olivier Chastel will keep his seat, while the third seat will be filled by cattle breeder Benoît Cassart, who ran unsuccessfully for previous European elections with MR and with DéFI.
Former journalist and vice-president of Renew Europe Frédérique Ries has served as an MEP since 1999, but will not be resuming her seat for a sixth mandate, as she announced earlier this year that she is retiring from politics.
Open VLD - 1 seat
Open VLD MEP Hilde Vautmans. Credit: Belga
Open VLD have lost one seat since 2019.
Former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt will not be returning to resume the role of MEP he has held since 2009 - he announced last year that he would be retiring from politics after his current mandate.
Open VLD's remaining seat will be filled by returning MEP Hilde Vautmans, who previously worked in Verhofstadt's cabinet while he was Prime Minister, and helped to legalise same-sex marriage in Belgium.
European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) – 3 seats
N-VA - 3 seats
From left to right: Assita Kanko, Johan Van Overtvelt, Geert Bourgeois
N-VA has retained the same number of seats it won in the 2019 elections, with two of the party's MEPs returning for another term: former journalist and previous Finance Minister for the Belgian Federal government Johan Van Overtveldt, and Assita Kanko, who is an advocate for women's rights and a critic of irregular immigration.
Kanko faced allegations of harassment from her parliamentary staff last year, but was later cleared of wrongdoing following an internal probe.
Former Minister-President of Flanders Geert Bourgeois will not be returning to his seat, as he decided to leave active politics and not to stand for re-election.
N-VA's third seat will go to Kris Van Dijck, who served as a member of Flemish Parliament for almost 30 years, before he resigned in 2019 over accusations of fraud involving tax money and prostitutes, the same year he was caught drunk driving. Later the Flemish Parliament's deontological (ethics) committee found that the accusations of fraud were unfounded.
N-VA have previously indicated they may seek to move political group, since they "do not feel at home" there since the UK Conservative Party left after Brexit.
European Group: Identity and Democracy (3 seats)
Vlaams Belang - 3 seats
Left to right: Tom Vandendriessche, Barbara Bonte, Gerolf Annemans. Credit: Belga
Vlaams Belang are also retaining three seats from the 2019 elections, with two MEPs remaining in place.
Businessman Tom Vandendriessche, who is currently under investigation by the European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf), will stay on as MEP. In 2019 Patsy Vatlet was elected as an MEP for Vlaams Belang, but did not take her seat, and was replaced by Vandendriessche.
Former Vlaams Belang leader Gerolf Annemans will retain the seat he has held since 2014, while the third seat will be filled by Barbara Bonte. A tax consultant before her political career, Bonte was elected to the Flemish parliament in 2014, but resigned in 2015 due to personal and health reasons.
The Left (2 seats)
PTB-PVDA - 2 seats
The Belgian Workers' Party (PTB-PVDA) is one unified party, but contests both French and Dutch-speaking electoral colleges. The party has gained a seat since 2019, and will have an MEP representing both electoral colleges in the next European Parliament.
Marc Botenga. Credit: The Left/Flickr.
Returning MEP Marc Botenga will resume his seat with French-speaking PTB. The Brussels native was the left wing party's first ever MEP, and during his time has taken on the European Commission and the power of multinationals. He is the spokesperson for social movements and trade unions in the Parliament.
PVDA lead candidate Rudi Kennes. Credit: PVDA
The seat for Dutch speaking PVDA will go to Rudi Kennes. The first labourer from Flanders to go to the European Parliament, Kennes has been a trade unionist from a young age and made it to the position of vice-chairman of GM Europe's European Works Council.
Greens/EFA (2 seats)
Groen - 1 seat
Sara Matthieu. Credit: EP Photo
Groen has retained its single seat since the 2019 elections, which will be filled by returning MEP Sara Matthieu. Matthieu took over the position from Petra De Sutter, who was elected as an MEP in 2019 but resigned in 2020 to join De Croo's Federal Government as Deputy Prime Minister.
Ecolo - 1 seat
Saskia Bricmont pictured during an electoral meeting of French speaking greens Ecolo, Sunday 26 May 2024 in Brussels. Credit: Belga
Ecolo also holds one seat in the next European Parliament, having lost one since the last election.
The party's one remaining seat will go to returning MEP Saskia Bricmont, who has served on European committees for international trade, justice and home affairs, as well as a committee of inquiry into the use of surveillance spyware.
Ecolo's second seat in 2019 went to outgoing veteran Philippe Lamberts, who has lead the Greens/EFA group since 2014. It was already confirmed that Lamberts would be leaving the Parliament after his current mandate.
