title: Parties in the European Council during 1998
text: # Parties in the European Council during 1998
  
  This article describes the party affiliations of the leaders of each member-state represented in the European Council during the year 1998. 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 | January 1, 1998 | January 1, 1998 | 21 October 1998 | 21 October 1998 | 27 October 1998 | 27 October 1998 |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Party | # | QMV | # | QMV | # | QMV |
  | Party of European Socialists | 8 | 39 | 9 | 49 | 10 | 59 |
  | European People's Party | 4 | 25 | 4 | 25 | 3 | 15 |
  | Independent | 3 | 23 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 13 |
  
  ## List of leaders (1 January 1998)
  
  | Member-state | Votes | Leader | National party | European party |
  | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Germany | 10 | Helmut Kohl | CDU | EPP |
  | France | 10 | Jacques Chirac | RPR | Independent |
  | United Kingdom | 10 | Tony Blair | Lab | PES |
  | Italy | 10 | Romano Prodi | 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 | Jean-Luc Dehaene | CD&V | EPP |
  | Portugal | 5 | António Guterres | PS | PES |
  | Sweden | 4 | Göran Persson | SAP | PES |
  | Austria | 4 | Viktor Klima | SPÖ | PES |
  | 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 |
  | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 21 October | Italy | Massimo D'Alema | DS | PES |
  | 27 October | Germany | Gerhard Schröder | SPD | PES |
  