Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) fared worse than expected in Sunday's European elections, achieving just over 21 per cent of the vote, according to projections based on interim results, dpa reported. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's alliance of Christian Democrats and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) achieved an estimated 38.3-38.4 per cent, as predicted. Voter turnout scraped the 42-per-cent mark, continuing a downward trend after 43 per cent voted in the European polls in 2004. For the SPD, Sunday's result will undoubtedly prompt searching questions ahead of September's general election, in which both CDU and SPD have hoped to seek new alternatives to their current government coalition. "It is a disappointing result, there is no other way of putting it," said German Vice-Chancellor Frank-Walter Steinmeier of the SPD, adding that he had expected a different result. However, he warned against drawing conclusions ahead of September's general election. The SPD had been expected to improve on its historic low of 21.5 per cent in the last European elections held in 2004, when internal party politics had led to deep unpopularity. The CDU/CSU alliance remained in the lead Sunday, despite a 6-per-cent drop over 2004, confirming advance expectations. Sunday's main beneficiaries were the Free Democrats, who saw their share of the vote rise from 6.1 per cent to more than 10 per cent, according to interim results. The Greens achieved around 12 per cent of the vote, in line with their previous share of seats in Europe. The Left Party experienced a marginal increase, to more than 7 per cent. The CSU, standing in Bavaria alone, had no problems clearing the national 5-per-cent hurdle for representation in Europe. Germany, the most populous state in the European Union, is apportioned 99 of the seats in the European Parliament.
