Merkel conservatives win elections in Germany: exit polls

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives claimed victory in European Parliament elections today, despite strong gains for the centre-left Social Democrats and the rise of a new anti-euro party, exit polls showed.
Germany, the most populous country in the EU, sends 96 members to the 751-seat European Parliament which has demanded a stronger say in who takes over from outgoing European Commission president Jose Manuel Barosso.
Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party the CSU -- a team that last September celebrated a landslide win at the national level -- between them scored about 36 per cent, public broadcasters ARD and ZDF estimated.

The result -- though less triumphant than last year's German election result of 41.5 per cent -- was seen as another endorsement for Merkel, the only leader of a major EU member country to have weathered the political fallout from the eurozone crisis.
The result pointed at the German electorate's "extreme satisfaction with the federal government", said political scientist Jens Walther of Dusseldorf University. "Compared to other countries, she (Merkel) had a very good result."
The CDU's top candidate David McAllister said: "We had a goal and we achieved that goal, we are the strongest force in this election, we clearly won. And Germany clearly voted in a pro-European way. This confirms our good policy for Europe."

But the vote was also celebrated by Merkel's new partners in a left-right 'grand coalition' government, the Social Democrats (SPD), who looked set to score over 27 per cent, up from 20.8 per cent at the last such EU vote in 2009.

Since teaming up with Merkel's party, the SPD has pushed social reforms including a national minimum wage in Germany.
It also boasts among its ranks the European candidate for European Commission president, Martin Schulz.
Walther, the political analyst, called the SPD's result "an extraordinary success ... Their biggest gain in post-war history", although he stressed that the leap was up from a historic low.

Germany's SPD leader, Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, greeted the outcome at a joint appearance with Schulz, telling him: "We are super-proud that you are one of us."
Gabriel praised Germany's voter turnout of 48 per cent, high for a European election, and said: "The people knew what this was about, and that's why they went out to vote: they wanted to decide for themselves who will be the next president of the European Commission.