Europe's voters ahve given their governments a battering, writes Denis Staunton.
The precise shape of the next European Parliament will not become clear until later today but within minutes of polls closing last night, a single, unmistakeable trend was emerging. Governing parties across Europe are the big losers of this election, with some governments receiving a thorough battering from voters.
Germany's Social Democrats saw their vote collapse by almost eight percentage points to just over 21 per cent, France's opposition Socialists won almost twice as many votes as the governing conservatives and Britain's Labour Party experienced its second electoral humiliation within a few days. The pattern was repeated in smaller countries, with governments from Ireland to the Czech Republic suffering setbacks.
Denmark's opposition Social Democrats doubled their share of the vote to emerge ahead of Anders-Fogh Rasmussen's centre-right coalition while in Hungary, the opposition Fidesz party were the big winners.
Spain and Greece, which recently changed their governments, defied the trend, as did Sweden and Luxembourg, where prime ministers Göran Persson and Jean-Claude Juncker enjoy enormous personal popularity.
The poor performance of governing parties could make the Taoiseach's task more difficult this week as he seeks agreement on the EU's new constitutional treaty. Shaken leaders who have recently stared political mortality in the face can be reluctant to take the necessary risks or make the compromises required for a successful deal.
The outcome of yesterday's elections could also influence the leaders' choice of a successor to Romano Prodi as president of the European Commission. Belgium's Prime Minister, Guy Verhofstadt, looks less like a frontrunner today, following a humiliating performance by his Liberals in regional and European elections yesterday.
Mr Juncker, on the other hand, looks a more attractive prospect than ever - as one of very few long-standing leaders who remains popular in his own country. Mr Juncker promised to remain in Luxembourg if he won a general election there yesterday - which he did - but some senior EU figures hope he can be persuaded to change his mind over dinner on Thursday.
The centre-right European People's Party/European Democrats (EPP/ED) looks set to retain its position as the largest group in the European Parliament with the Socialists in second place. The Greens increased their share of the vote, notably in Germany and Austria, and the Liberal group is likely to retain its current strength.
The election returned a number of mavericks to the parliament, including Paul van Buitinen, a Dutch former European Commission official who drew attention to corruption in Brussels, and Hans-Peter Martin, an Austrian MEP who angered European Parliament colleagues by exposing expenses scams. Mr Martin won more than 14 per cent of the vote in Austria.
Despite the spectacular exception of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), the elections held mixed fortunes for Eurosceptic parties throughout the Union.
Denmark's traditionally strong Eurosceptic movement lost all its seats, while in Austria, Joerg Haider's Freedom Party saw its vote share fall from more than 20 per cent to 6 per cent.
In France, the Front National doubled its share of the vote and in Belgium, the far-right Vlaams Blok was expected to win as many as three seats in the European Parliament.
The poll, held over four days in the 25 member states, may have been the biggest in Europe's history but the turnout was, at about 44 per cent, lower than at any previous European Parliament election and was generally lower in the 10 new member-states that joined the EU in May.