This article describes theparty affiliations of the leaders of eachmember-state represented in theEuropean Council during the year1998. The list below gives the political party that eachhead of government, orhead of state, belonged to at the national level, as well as theEuropean 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 ofQualified Majority Voting.
| Party | January 1, 1998 | 21 October 1998 | 27 October 1998 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | 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 |
| 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 | |
| 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 |
| Date | Member-state | Leader | National party | European party |
| 21 October | Italy | Massimo D'Alema | DS | PES |
| 27 October | Germany | Gerhard Schröder | SPD | PES |
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