title: Parties in the European Council during 2001
text: # Parties in the European Council during 2001
  
  This article describes the party affiliations of the leaders of each member-state represented in the European Council during the year 2001. The list below gives the political party that each head of government, or head of state, belonged to at the national level, as well as the European political alliance to which that national party belonged. The states are listed from most to least populous. More populous states have greater influence in the council, in accordance with the system of Qualified Majority Voting.
  
  ## Summary
  
  | Party | 1 January 2001 | 1 January 2001 | 11 June 2001 | 11 June 2001 | 27 November 2001 | 27 November 2001 | 6 December 2001 | 6 December 2001 |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Party | # | QMV | # | QMV | # | QMV | # | QMV |
  | Party of European Socialists | 8 | 45 | 8 | 45 | 7 | 42 | 7 | 42 |
  | Independent | 3 | 23 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 3 |
  | European People's Party | 3 | 14 | 4 | 24 | 4 | 24 | 5 | 34 |
  | European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party | 1 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 8 |
  
  ## List of leaders (1 January 2001)
  
  | Member-state | Votes | Leader | National party | European party |
  | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Germany | 10 | Gerhard Schröder | SPD | PES |
  | France | 10 | Jacques Chirac | RPR | Independent |
  | United Kingdom | 10 | Tony Blair | Lab | PES |
  | Italy | 10 | Giuliano Amato | Independent | Independent |
  | Spain | 8 | José María Aznar | PP | EPP |
  | Netherlands | 5 | Wim Kok | PvdA | PES |
  | Greece | 5 | Costas Simitis | PA.SO.K. | PES |
  | Belgium | 5 | Guy Verhofstadt | VLD | ELDR |
  | Portugal | 5 | António Guterres | PS | PES |
  | Sweden | 4 | Göran Persson | SAP | PES |
  | Austria | 4 | Wolfgang Schüssel | ÖVP | EPP |
  | Denmark | 3 | Poul Nyrup Rasmussen | A | PES |
  | Finland | 3 | Paavo Lipponen | SDP | PES |
  | Ireland | 3 | Bertie Ahern | FF | Independent |
  | Luxembourg | 2 | Jean-Claude Juncker | CSV | EPP |
  
  ## Changes
  
  ### Affiliation
  
  | Date | Member-state | Leader | National party | European party |
  | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 11 June | Italy | Silvio Berlusconi | FI | EPP |
  | 27 November | Denmark | Anders Fogh Rasmussen | V | ELDR |
  | 6 December | France | Jacques Chirac | RPR | EPP |
  
  ^ – Rally for the Republic, which held office under Jacques Chirac, became an EPP member.
  
  