title: Parties in the European Council during 2006
text: # Parties in the European Council during 2006
  
  This article describes the party affiliations of the leaders of each member-state represented in the European Council during the year 2006. The list below gives the political party that each head of government, or head of state, belongs to at the national level, as well as the European political alliance to which that national party belongs. 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 2006 | 1 January 2006 | 17 May 2006 | 17 May 2006 | 4 July 2006 | 4 July 2006 | 4 September 2006 | 4 September 2006 | 6 October 2006 | 6 October 2006 |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Party | # | QMV | # | QMV | # | QMV | # | QMV | # | QMV |
  | European People's Party | 11 | 144 | 10 | 115 | 9 | 108 | 9 | 108 | 10 | 118 |
  | Party of European Socialists | 6 | 102 | 6 | 102 | 7 | 109 | 6 | 97 | 5 | 87 |
  | Alliance for Europe of the Nations | 2 | 34 | 2 | 34 | 2 | 34 | 2 | 34 | 2 | 34 |
  | European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party | 4 | 30 | 4 | 30 | 4 | 30 | 4 | 30 | 4 | 30 |
  | Independent | 2 | 11 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 11 |
  | European Democratic Party | 0 | 0 | 1 | 29 | 1 | 29 | 1 | 29 | 1 | 29 |
  | Movement for European Reform | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 12 |
  
  ## List of leaders (1 January 2006)
  
  | Member-state | Votes | Leader | National party | European party |
  | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Germany | 29 | Angela Merkel | CDU | EPP |
  | United Kingdom | 29 | Tony Blair | Lab | PES |
  | France | 29 | Jacques Chirac | UMP | EPP |
  | Italy | 29 | Silvio Berlusconi | FI | EPP |
  | Spain | 27 | José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero | PSOE | PES |
  | Poland | 27 | Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz | PiS | AEN |
  | Netherlands | 13 | Jan Peter Balkenende | CDA | EPP |
  | Greece | 12 | Kostas Karamanlis | ND | EPP |
  | Czech Republic | 12 | Jiří Paroubek | ČSSD | PES |
  | Belgium | 12 | Guy Verhofstadt | VLD | ELDR |
  | Hungary | 12 | Ferenc Gyurcsány | MSZP | PES |
  | Portugal | 12 | José Sócrates | PS | PES |
  | Sweden | 10 | Göran Persson | SAP | PES |
  | Austria | 10 | Wolfgang Schüssel | ÖVP | EPP |
  | Slovakia | 7 | Mikuláš Dzurinda | SDKÚ | EPP |
  | Denmark | 7 | Anders Fogh Rasmussen | V | ELDR |
  | Finland | 7 | Matti Vanhanen | Kesk. | ELDR |
  | Ireland | 7 | Bertie Ahern | FF | AEN |
  | Lithuania | 7 | Valdas Adamkus | Independent | Independent |
  | Latvia | 4 | Aigars Kalvītis | TP | EPP |
  | Slovenia | 4 | Janez Janša | SDS | EPP |
  | Estonia | 4 | Andrus Ansip | RE | ELDR |
  | Cyprus | 4 | Tassos Papadopoulos | DIKO | Independent |
  | Luxembourg | 4 | Jean-Claude Juncker | CSV | EPP |
  | Malta | 3 | Lawrence Gonzi | PN | EPP |
  
  ^ DIKO's MEP is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group in the European Parliament, but the party is not formally attached to any pan-European organization.
  
  ## Changes during the year
  
  ### Affiliation
  
  | Date | Member-state | Leader | National party | European party |
  | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 17 May | Italy | Romano Prodi | Independent | EDP |
  | 4 July | Slovakia | Robert Fico | SMER-SD | PES |
  | 4 September | Czech Republic | Mirek Topolánek | ODS | MER |
  | 6 October | Sweden | Fredrik Reinfeldt | M | EPP |
  
  ^ Prodi officially aligns himself only with his The Olive Tree coalition rather than any member-party, but he was previously a member of Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy's ancestor-party and is honorary president of its European parent, the EDP.
  
  ### Office-holder only
  
  | Date | Member-state | Leader | National party | European party |
  | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 14 July | Poland | Jarosław Kaczyński | PiS | AEN |
  