Christian Democrats biggest Dutch party in European Parliament

The Christian Democrats has become Dutch biggest party in the European Parliament with five seats, surprisingly beating the Euroskeptic Party for Freedom (PVV), which got four seats, Dutch broadcaster NOS reported Sunday night. The Democrats 66 (D66) party also got four seats, but it received the largest number of votes of 15.4 percent, compared with 15 percent for the Christian Democrats. However, the Christian Democrats won an extra seat thanks to their joint ticket with other Christian parties. The PVV, led by Geert Wilders, got 13.2 percent of the vote, resulting in four seats. The PVV won four seats in the 2009 elections, but an extra Dutch seat was allocated to the PVV after the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. The ruling People's Party of Freedom and Demoracy (VVD) and Labor Party (PvdA) kept their three seats each in the European Parliament. The remaining of the 26 Dutch seats were divided among the GreenLinks (2), Socialist Party (2), ChristianUnion/SGP (2) and the Party for Animals (1). The turnout rate was 37 percent, roughly the same with five years ago.