Official PKW results — status: final
The 25 May 2014 EP election is remembered for a dramatic tie and record-low turnout: 23.83% — the lowest in Polish European Parliament history. PO and PiS won almost identical results — 32.13% and 31.78% — receiving 19 seats each, splitting Polish representation down the middle. It was a sharp decline for PO, which had won around 44% in 2009, and a rise for PiS (roughly 27% in 2009). The result was the first signal of the coming political realignment.
New Right (Nowa Prawica) of Janusz Korwin-Mikke made its debut: 7.15% and 4 seats — the first free-market, anti-establishment party to clear the EP threshold in Poland. It was the seed of the future Confederation. SLD–UP won 9.44% and 5 seats, PSL — 6.80% and 4 seats. Three PO/SLD splinter factions fell below the 5% threshold: Solidarna Polska (3.98%), Europa Plus Twój Ruch (3.58%) and Polska Razem (3.16%).
At the time of the election, Poland was governed by PM Donald Tusk's PO cabinet; six weeks later Ewa Kopacz succeeded him as Tusk became President of the European Council (1 December 2014). The 2014 EP results foreshadowed the end of PO dominance: a year later PiS won the parliamentary election with 37.58% and Poland's first single-party majority, while PO fell to opposition with 24.09%. The low European turnout (23.83%) reflected widespread belief that the EP was mainly symbolic — a view dramatically revised between 2016–2023, when Poland became the centre of EU rule-of-law debates.
Frequently asked questions
Poland uses a proportional system with a 5% threshold (no higher threshold for coalitions — unlike Sejm elections). The country is divided into 13 constituencies, with seats allocated using the d'Hondt method. Voters choose a party list and indicate a preferred candidate.
Poland had 51 seats in 2014 (PO 19, PiS 19, SLD–UP 5, New Right 4, PSL 4). The number grew: 51 (2014), 52 (2019), 53 (2024). The full Parliament had 751 MEPs (until 2024).
Turnout of 23.83% — the lowest in Polish EP elections — reflected widespread belief that the European Parliament had mainly symbolic significance. This changed dramatically after 2015, when Poland became embroiled in rule-of-law disputes with the European Commission, and in 2019 turnout jumped to 45.68%.
After the 2014 election: PO — European People's Party (EPP); PiS — European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), which it co-founded in 2009; SLD — Socialists and Democrats (S&D); New Right — non-attached MEPs; PSL — EPP.
For the first time in a nationwide vote, Law and Justice (PiS) pulled level with the governing Civic Platform (PO), each taking 19 seats on near-identical vote shares (32.13% to 31.78%). It marked the erosion of PO's dominance — the party had won around 44% in the 2009 European election — and was the first clear sign of the realignment that would carry PiS to power a year later.
The New Right (Kongres Nowej Prawicy) of the veteran libertarian and Eurosceptic Janusz Korwin-Mikke won 7.15% and 4 seats — the first free-market, anti-establishment party to clear the threshold in a Polish European election. It proved that there was space to the right of PiS and was an important forerunner of the Confederation (Konfederacja) movement that would emerge later.
The contrast with 2009 was stark: PO fell from roughly 44% to 32%, while PiS rose from around 27% to nearly 32%, converging on the governing party. Coupled with the record-low turnout, the result captured a moment of fatigue with PO's long spell in office and previewed the political shift confirmed in the 2015 parliamentary election.