The dismal result obtained by the Nationalist Party in the European Parliament elections bucked the trend in the rest of Europe, where other parties belonging to the European People's Party (EPP) had a generally good showing.

The latest results from the 27 EU member states have the EPP retaining its dominance as the biggest group in the Brussels chamber.

Despite losing the British Conservative MEPs, which had decided before the election to leave the group to form another political formation with minor parties from Poland and other former communist countries, the centre right parties still managed to elect a total of 263 MEPs out of the 736 seats available.

On the other hand, the Socialist group, home to Malta's Labour MEPs, has seen its influence diluted further, electing 161 representatives, 56 fewer than last time.

Also contrary to what happened in Malta, the Green group made the biggest gains, increasing the number of its MEPs from 43 in the past legislature to 52. This makes it the forth strongest political grouping in the EP, surpassing the right-wing Union for Europe of the Nations and just behind the Liberals which will have 80 MEPs, or almost 20 per cent less than in the last legislature.

But the main headline across Europe was the resurrection of the far right parties, particularly in Britain and the Netherlands, which not only managed good results but have also gained seats in the EP at the expense of the left.

In Britain, the British National Party - which wants to halt all immigration to Britain and offer incentives to newcomers already living in the UK to go home - is for the first time sending two representatives to Brussels. British observers described this result as a reflection of anger over immigration and the recession that is causing unemployment to soar.

In the Netherlands, the anti-Islamic Freedom Party won four seats while far-right parties also made gains in Austria and Hungary.

What is certainly similar to Malta is that many other ruling parties of varying political beliefs suffered defeats. Voters punished them in Greece, Austria, Spain, Britain, Bulgaria, Ireland and Hungary.

On a national level, the British result spelt disaster for Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown who has for the first time seen his party becoming the third force in the UK surpassed by the eurosceptic UK Independence Party which wants to pull Britain out of the EU. David Cameron's Conservatives captured most seats in the EP while Labour's share of the vote fell to just 15 per cent.

In neighboring Italy, scandal-hit Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi still managed to retain his lead over the centre left although his Partito della Liberta did not do as well as he was hoping for. The media tycoon's party saw its share of the vote slip to 35.2 per cent from 37.4 per cent in the general election a year ago.

The main opposition centre-left Partio Democratico, led by Dario Franceschini, took just 26.2 per cent against 33.2 per cent in the general election.

The biggest winner in Italy's EP elections was none other than Lega Nord, the party of Italy's Interior Minister Roberto Maroni who was lately involved in political confrontations with Malta over illegal migration. His bold anti-immigration stance has helped the party boost its performance and obtain a 10.2 per cent share of the vote, up two per cent in just a year.

As for the turnout across Europe, the strategy of investing more than €18 million in a blitz campaign wooing European citizens to the polling booths failed miserably. The turnout hit rock bottom, with only 42.9 per cent of all eligible voters in the 27 member states casting their vote.

Malta had one of the highest turnouts, although the politically charged island also saw its voter participation dip by three per cent. Only Luxembourg (91 per cent) and Belgium (90 per cent), both of which have compulsory voting, surpassed Malta but even then the turnout was lower than in 2004.

Some member states did register an increase, among them Estonia, where voter participation reached 43 per cent, up 17 per cent over four years ago. Increases were also recorded in Greece, Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Poland and Slovakia.

The new European Parliament will hold its first plenary meeting in Strasbourg on July 14 when all MEPs will start their five-year long legislature. Before that happens, MEPs will have to negotiate the Parliamentary Committees on which they will sit, while political groups will choose their leaders.

During the first Parliamentary session, MEPs will also have to elect a new EP President to take the place of Germany's Hans Gert Poettering, who presided over the Euroepan chamber for two and a half years.

It is expected the Presidency will once again be shared between MEPs from the EPP and the Socialist Group, each assuming control of the chamber for two and a half years.

Election year and turnout (%)

1979 - EU9: 61.99
1984 - EU10: 58.98
1989 - EU12: 58.41
1994 - EU12: 56.67
1999 - EU15: 49.51
2004 - EU25: 45.47
2009 - EU27: 42.94