Chancellor Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and its Bavaria-only sister party, the Christian Social Union, came in first with 38.8 percent of the votes but suffered substantial losses compared to the 2004 result of 44.5 percent.

The second-placed Social Democrats (SPD) garnered only on 21.1 percent -- a historic low for the center-left party. The SPD, junior partners in Merkel's uneasy grand coalition, had expected to improve on 2004's 21.5 percent.

Despite the negative trend, CDU General Secretary Ronald Pofalla said his party was satisfied with the results.

"We will be able to build on these results in preparation for national elections in September. We have achieved our mission: the CDU is by far the strongest political party in Germany."

EU polls seen as a test for German national elections

The Social Democrats' poor showing is expected to trigger some searching questions ahead of September's general election, in which both CDU and SPD have hoped to seek new alternatives to their current uneasy grand coalition.

"It is a disappointing result; there is no other way of putting it," German Vice-Chancellor Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the SPD's candidate to challenge Angela Merkel, said.

The pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), Merkel's preferred coalition partners after September, were the biggest winner of Sunday's vote, with their score soaring to 10.6 percent from 6.1 percent.

The Greens were the third strongest party with 11.6 percent of the vote, compared to 11.9 percent in 2004. The hard-line socialist party The Left improved its score to 7.5 percent from 6.1 percent. But it wasn't as high as had been predicted by some analysts. The Left had hoped to benefit more from voter dissatisfaction with the government’s attempts to deal with the economic crisis.

Campaigns dominated by national, not European issues

None of the remaining smaller parties managed to gather enough votes for a ticket to the European Parliament. The EU vote is seen as a crucial test for German national elections in September.

Leading into Sunday's election, voter turnout had been expected to be at a record low. Eventually, 43.3 percent of eligible German voters cast their ballots, up from 43 percent in 2004.

With its 99 seats, out of a total of 736, Germany has the largest contingent of deputies in the European Parliament.

Election campaigns in Germany had been dominated by national issues and the struggle against the global recession.

av/dpa/AFP/Reuters
Editor: Andreas Illmer