At the European elections the Belgian voter has, as at the general elections, the possibility to bring out either a vote for a party or a vote for a candidate of the party (a preferential vote). At the European elections of June 17, 1984 the voters have voted for half by preference, whereas in 1979 more than half of them have done so. There is a great difference between the Dutch speaking and the French speaking voters: the first have voted for less than half by preference, the second for more than half. There is also a difference from one politica! party to another. The highest percentage is obtained by the socialist parties (almost sixty percent for the French speaking and the same percentage for the Dutch speaking socialists), the lowest by the «green» partyAgalev (almost twenty-one percent). The preferential votes of individual candidates differ widely, pointing out not only their popularity but also to a certain extend their political power.