FACTBOX: How governments fared in European Parliament vote

(Reuters) - Center-right parties retained control of the European Parliament in an election that ended on Sunday with a record-low turnout but which spared most big national governments from embarrassing defeats.

The following is how Europe's leaders fared, country-by-country.

BRITAIN

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown suffered a fresh defeat on Sunday, after his Labour Party plunged to its lowest level in a century of European elections. The defeat at the polls came after a week of resignations from his government and calls for Brown to step down in order to save the party. However, a BBC opinion poll released on Monday showed Labour would still lose a general election under a different leader.

With most of the European election results shown, Labour came in third place with 15.7 percent of the vote, behind the anti-EU UK Independence Party and the Conservatives. The far-right British National Party scored its first two seats, including in Yorkshire and Humber, a former Labour seat.

FRANCE

President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party were clear victors on Sunday, securing 28 percent of the vote while Socialists slipped to 16.5 percent. French ruling parties rarely do so well in mid-term, and Sarkozy is expected to use this support to push through his reforms. "Europe has to change. The reforms have to continue," his Elysee Palace said in a statement.

While the UMP gained from the Socialists' losses, so did the Green Party, led by 1968 student leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit. They finished with 16.3 percent of the vote.

GERMANY

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her party's strong showing in the European elections has boosted her chance of winning a second term in the September national elections.

"This result gives us the courage, power and confidence to move decisively forward and our chances at the national elections have grown clearly since yesterday's vote," Merkel told reporters of a result which if replicated in September would allow her to ditch a loveless coalition with the Social Democrats.

SPD Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called the results "disappointing," but said the party would "stick firmly to our political line."

IRELAND

Ireland's ruling Fianna Fail lost a crucial seat in Dublin to a Eurosceptic rival while also suffering major defeats at the local elections. In another blow to Prime Minister Brian Cowen, a majority of voters said they would support a general election this year rather than the scheduled one in 2012.

Ireland's nationalist Sinn Fein party, the only major elected party to oppose the EU's reform treaty, lost its only parliament seat on Sunday. Irish voters rejected the Lisbon treaty in a referendum last year, but polls have shown a majority of voters will support the treaty in a vote expected later this year if certain opt-outs are offered.

HUNGARY

Hungary's ruling Socialists Monday pledged support to Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai despite a huge defeat in the European elections. The Socialists won only four of Hungary's 22 seats, and some analysts said this could undermine political support for Bajnai and his crisis management cabinet. The far-right Jobbik ("For a Better Hungary") party capitalized on discontent over the country's economic crisis and resentment of its Roma minority to win three seats.

PORTUGAL

Portugal's ruling Socialists took a beating in the EU vote, throwing the autumn general election race wide open. The opposition center-right Social Democrats garnered the most support, taking 31.7 percent of the vote over the Socialists' 26.6 percent. The Socialists won an absolute majority in parliament in the 2005 general election, and had collected 44.5 percent of the vote in the 2004 European elections. The Socialists had hoped to sail to victory in the general election, but analysts said it will not come so easily this time.

SPAIN

Spain's governing Socialists lost as widely expected, but the opposition conservative Popular Party did not secure the landslide margin some had predicted during the economic crisis. A preliminary count put them just under 4 percentage points ahead of the Socialists. Given the dire state of the economy, with unemployment at about 18 percent, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero will likely breathe a sigh of relief.

GREECE

Ruling conservatives struggling with the economic crisis, social unrest and numerous scandals lost to the main opposition socialist party, who will now press calls for early national elections. The government's term ends in 2011 but a vote for president in March is widely seen as the limit.

CZECH REPUBLIC

The former ruling right-wing Civic Democrats as expected came out ahead with 31.45 percent, according to partial results, with the Social Democratic Party on 22.4 percent. The country is being run by an interim government ahead of an early election in October. Polls had suggested the Civic Democrats may win the parliamentary election but be unable to form an alliance with a majority in the assembly.

DENMARK

The opposition Social Democrats narrowly beat the Liberal party. The Conservative People's Party, the Liberals' partner in the minority coalition government, was in fifth place. Political analysts said before the vote that Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, a Liberal, would be less likely to call an early parliamentary election if the coalition parties did not do well.

FINLAND

The center-right National Coalition Party had the biggest share of votes, 23.2 percent, and its coalition partner, the Center Party, was in second place with 19 percent. They kept the opposition Social Democrats to third place, despite a slide in popularity for Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen.

AUSTRIA

The two mainstream governing parties, the Social Democrats (23.8 percent) and the conservative People's Party (29.7 percent), lost support compared to the last election in 2004 but were still the main parties.

Maverick Hans-Peter Martin made gains to secure nearly 18 percent of the votes, almost 4 percentage points more than in 2004. He had been expected to win over some voters who would otherwise have opted for the far-right. The Freedom Party secured just over 13 percent.

SLOVAKIA

The social democratic Smer party of Prime Minister Robert Fico won a convincing victory with 32 percent of the votes in an election in which fewer than 20 percent of the electorate voted.

The main opposition center-right faction SDKU was next with almost 17 percent.