P311 CEEFAX 311 Tue 12 Jun 21:11/11 1/4 OO EURO-ILJCTJONS June 1984 BELGIUM How Belgians voted in 1979 % Social Christian 37.7 Socialist 23.4 Liberals 16.6 FDF-RW 7.6 Flemish Nat. 5.9 Others 8.8 National profile in a momentP311 CEEFAX 311 Tue 12 Jun 21:14/00 2/4 OO EURO-ELECTIONS June 1984 BELGIUM Turn out at 1979 Euro-election: 91.6 pet cent (Electorate: 6.8m). Parties in national government: Social Christians and Liberals. European election voting system: Compulsory voting from age of 18, under a variation of the "list system" of proportional representation where the candidates are chosen bz the party. The party decides the candidate order but the elector is allowed to vote for one ot more in a different order. Strongly regional in arrangement. National profile continuesP311 CEEFAX 311 Tue 12 Jun 21:13/15 3/4 OO O EURO-ELECTIONS June 1984 BELGIUM Number of seats in European parliament: Twenty-four, consisting of: * 7 Socialists * 10 Christian Democrats * 4 Liberals and Democrats * 2 Group for Technical Coordination * 1 Independent COMMENT follows in a momentP311 CEEFAX 311 Tue 12 Jun 21:11/11 4/4 OO BELGIUM COMMENT After introducing austerity measures, the centre-right government coalition is trying to defend itself from a socialist attack in the elections. The socialists have gained support recently from the unions, who have been strongly opposing the policies of the govjtnmjnt. The parties in Belgium, aware of the language divisions in their country, view the European poll as legitimate ground for national struggles. National profile in a moment