Green parties across Europe made huge gains in the European elections to deliver the best ever results for the European Green Party and far greater influence in the European Parliament. The Greens/EFA Group gained at least 70 seats, some 20 extra compared to the previous term. The final composition of the parliamentary group will be determined during the upcoming weeks.

The first sign of the Green Wave came following exit polls on Thursday night on 23 May in the Netherlands indicating 11 percent of the vote and 3 MEPs. It’s the fourth successful election in a row for GroenLinks helping them establish their position as a driving force for progressive change in the Netherlands and Europe.

OP NAAR EEN SOCIAAL EN GROEN EUROPA 💚



Bedankt voor je stem! Nu is het aan de rest van Europa, maar de toon is hier gezet!



Voor verbinding. Word lid!https://t.co/8ZbxAnMhj2#spreekjeuit pic.twitter.com/UWiWW5elxP — GroenLinks (@groenlinks) May 23, 2019

More good news then came from Ireland after a vibrant campaign that crossed rural boundaries and clearly won the trust of local communities across the country. It’s the first time in 15 years that the Irish Green Party has been represented in the European Parliament. The full scale of the Green surge came on election night on Sunday 26 May when the bulk of the results were revealed, indicating substantial Green growth across Europe.

Having topped the poll with 63,849 first preference votes, @CiaranCuffe has exceeded the quota and is now deemed elected as an MEP for Dublin. 💚🌊🇪🇺#wantedgreenvotedgreen #GreenWave #EP2019 #cuffefordublin @europeangreens pic.twitter.com/NvTRDOOQNM — Green Party Ireland (@greenparty_ie) May 27, 2019

The German Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen won 21 percent of the vote - compared to just over 10 percent 5 years ago - beating the Social Democratic Party (SPD) to become the country's second largest political force.

Danke!

Für dieses Hammer-Ergebnis! Für jede Stimme! Für die zahllosen Stunden, die unsere Wahlkämpfer*innen dafür gearbeitet haben!#Europawahl #EP2019 #2605 pic.twitter.com/dJ3uXi2ouh — BÜNDNIS90/DIE GRÜNEN (@Die_Gruenen) May 26, 2019

As for the French Greens, Europe Ecologie Les Verts (EELV), they defied expectations by topping 13 percent and doubling their representation in the European Parliament to deliver 12 MEPs.

In both France and Germany support was particularly strong among the young. Amongst the under-25s, EELV came first with 22 percent and Bündnis 90/Die Grünen also came first with 34 percent – three times as much as Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU).

In Finland, Vihreät De Gröna shot into second position with 16 percent of the vote and there were also breakthroughs in Denmark and Austria.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Vihreät - De Gröna (@vihreat) onMay 27, 2019 at 1:01am PDT

The 21-year-old Danish student Kira Peter-Hansen, who has joined the Greens/EFA Group as part of Denmark's Socialistisk Folkeparti (Socialist People's Party), now becomes the youngest MEP in history.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Socialistisk Folkeparti (@sf_socialistisk_folkeparti) onMay 27, 2019 at 11:19am PDT

In the UK, the Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW) will now return to Brussels with more than twice as many MEPs after phenomenal results across the country. They’ll have a delegation of 7 Green MEPs representing them in the European Parliament.

SEVEN GREEN MEPs ELECTED!



An amazing night but now we need your support to build on it 👊



Join the #Greenwave today and say:



Yes to Europe 🇪🇺



No to climate change ⏳https://t.co/VkvGuW4Hzh pic.twitter.com/rjhP7JX4Td — The Green Party (@TheGreenParty) May 26, 2019

Greens also welcomed Francisco Guerreiro of the People-Animals-Nature (PAN) party, the first Portuguese MEP elected to the Greens/EFA group since 1989.

In Belgium, the Flemish Greens Groen won the most votes ever gained in an election and their Francophone counterparts Ecolo doubled their number of seats from 1 to 2 MEPs.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ecolo 🌱 (@ecolobe) onMay 28, 2019 at 7:27am PDT

In Luxembourg, Déi Gréng had its strongest election result ever and Sweden succeeded in more than doubling the result of their last nationwide election in September 2018 - from 4.4% to 11.4%.

The European Green Party and the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament will now gather together to discuss how they can take advantage of their increased influence to effect more ambitious Green change over the next 5 years.