On 19 May 1979, in an article published by the daily newspaper Le Soir, the Belgian Socialist MP, Hervé Brouhon, welcomes the forthcoming first elections to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, emphasising the importance of these elections for his party.

On 10 June 1979, polling stations set up in Brussels for the first election of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage welcome the first of the City’s voters.

Luxembourg campaign poster for the first elections to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage (10 June 1979).

On 10 July 1979, a display board shows campaign posters for the various Luxembourg political parties in the run-up to the European and parliamentary elections in Luxembourg.

On 10 June 1979, the first elections to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage are held. Some schools are used as polling stations, like here in Luxembourg City.

On 10 June 1979, Pierre Werner, MP and leader of the parliamentary group of the Luxembourg Christian Social Party, answers questions from a journalist during the elections to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage in Luxembourg. In the background, posters published during the campaign for the first elections to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage.

On 11 June 1979, the daily newspaper Luxemburger Wort publishes the results of the first election by direct universal suffrage of the 410 members of the European Parliament, held on 7 and 10 June 1979. The ballot results show how the left has lost ground to centre and pro-European right-wing political groups.

Leaflet explaining to Luxembourgish speakers the way in which the European Communities work and the importance of the European elections on the eve of the first European Parliament elections by direct universal suffrage in June 1979.

On 9-10 June 1979, the French newspaper Le Figaro publishes a cartoon by Piem illustrating the start of the first direct elections to the European Parliament.

French poster designed by Belgian artist Jean-Michel Folon for the campaign preceding the first elections to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage (10 June 1979).

On 12 June 1979, after the first elections to the European Parliament (EP) by direct universal suffrage, French daily newspaper Le Monde gives an overview, country by country, of the results of the ballot.

On 20 June 1979, French daily newspaper Le Monde harshly criticises the campaign preceding the first elections to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage and condemns the results of the vote.

En juillet 1979, Jean-Pierre Gouzy, l'éditorialiste de la revue fédéraliste L'Europe en formation revient sur le faible taux de participation aux premières élections européennes au suffrage universel et insiste sur les responsabilités des nouveaux élus.

In this interview, Édith Cresson, Member of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1981, describes her experience of the first elections to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage in 1979.

In this interview, Jean François-Poncet, former French Foreign Minister, discusses the debates caused in France, in particular within part of the Parliamentary right wing, by the election of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage in 1979.

On 10 December 1978, the German Socialist-Democrat Party (SPD for Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands) takes advantage of the SPD European day in Cologne to reveal to the electors its political agenda for the first elections to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage.

'Towards me!' 'Ow! Ouch! I thought we wanted a united Europe ...' The cartoonist in the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung portrays the European political parties as fighting over the leadership of Europe on the occasion of the first direct elections to the European Parliament (EP).

On 6 June 1979, Walter Scheel, President of the German Republic, delivers a speech - which is televised and broadcast on radio - on the subject of the first direct elections to the European Parliament.

On 7 June 1979, the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung comments on the first direct elections to the European Parliament whilst reminding its readers of the importance of their vote and highlighting the implications of the election.

On 9 June 1979, the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung publishes a cartoon by Behrendt portraying the elections to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage as a historic opportunity to reunite the European peoples and to put an end to the drawn out fratricidal wars.

German poster for the campaign preceding the first direct elections to the European Parliament (10 June 1979).

Italian poster for the campaign preceding the first direct elections to the European Parliament (10 June 1979).

In July 1978, one year before the first elections to the European Parliament by universal suffrage are held in June 1979, Franco Foschi, Junior Minister in the Italian Foreign Ministry, considers the lengthy process which led to the direct election of the Parliament.

In 1977, the British Labour Party publishes a pamphlet setting out the instructions given to the party’s candidates for the first elections to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage.

In his editorial of 4-5 April 1977, Emanuele Gazzo, Editor-in-Chief of Agence Europe, comments on some of the proposals contained in the British white paper on the voting procedure to be applied in the United Kingdom for the first direct elections to the European Parliament.

On 18 May 1979, Margaret Thatcher, the newly elected British Prime Minister, announces the publication of the Conservative Party Manifesto for the first elections to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, to be held in one month’s time.

On 28 May 1979, the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung examines the attitude of British political leaders and the British public towards the first direct elections to the European Parliament, due to take place one month later.

On 8 June 1979, New Zealand cartoonist Leslie Gibbard takes an ironic look at the helplessness of British political leaders amid the voters’ lack of interest in the first elections to the European Parliament by universal suffrage.

Distribution of the seats in the European Parliament according to political groups (1979).

Table showing the rates of participation in the European elections of June 1979 in the nine Member States of the European Communities.

‘Europa and her bull.’ In June 1979, commenting on the first elections to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, the German cartoonist, Horst Haitzinger, takes an ironic look at the ancient myth of ‘The Rape of Europa’ to illustrate the low turnout at the European elections.

In June 1979, alluding to the first elections to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, the German cartoonist, Felix Mussil, speculates on the real powers of the European Parliament and on the national interests that are undermining the European integration process.

On 12 June 1979, the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung gives an initial and comparative report of the direct elections to the European Parliament (EP).

Diagram showing the distribution of seats in the European Parliament by political group (1979).

On 18 July 1979, Colette Flesch, Member of the European Parliament, and Jean Wolter, Interior Minister, comment on the election of Simone Veil as President of the European Parliament.