On June 13, 1999 the fifth direct elections to the European Parliament were held in the France. Once again, abstention was very high for this type of election- only 47% of eligible voters voted. The election was also the first French European election to be won by the French Socialist Party.

In a major surprise and historical upset for the government, Charles Pasqua's and Philippe de Villier's dissident Rally for France-Movement for France list surpassed the list of President Jacques Chirac's RPR-Liberal Democracy, led by Nicolas Sarkozy.

Minor parties, including Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Traditions and the far-left Workers' Struggle obtained very good results and elected 6 and 5 MEP's respectively.

The far-right FN was penalized by Bruno Megret's dissident MNR list and obtained a deceivingly low result.

Results