INSTANT VIEW: Centre-right wins European assembly vote

(Reuters) - Center-right parties retained control of the European Parliament in an election which ended on Sunday with a record low turnout and defeats for several national governments struggling over the economic crisis.

Following are comments on the results so far.

NICOLAUS HEINEN, ANALYST AT DEUTSCHE BANK:

"I think the reason why the conservatives were so successful on the European level has to be looked for in national politics. In Germany for example, 57 percent of voters said national topics gave the direction in their voting this year, while in 2004, only 51 percent. So this shows that national politics were a determining factor in the voting behavior.

"The success of smaller parties can be interpreted as a result of the de facto grand coalition between the socialists and conservatives, which we called a cartel of power. We will have that as well in the future.

"However, the tendency as you can see among the socialists ... is the internal debate about whether to support (European Commission President Jose Manuel) Barroso or not. I think that implies some potential for maneuvers in political decisions. So in my opinion the next legislature will entail more ad hoc coalitions."

THOMAS KLAU, Center FOR EUROPEAN REFORM:

"The most striking feature of the election results, and I'm speaking, of course, as of now, is the fact that the center-left parties across Europe, the Social Democrats and Socialists have not been able to give a plausible answer, political answer, to the economic crisis.

"We haven't seen ... a far-right wave washing across the European continent. That has not happened.

"The rise of the Green Party has been striking. The Green Party are the one political force in the EU that has (been) closest to creating a true European political party, a true European political movement ... with a political message that is strong and plausible, pro-European, that looks for European answers to the big problems the world and European society are facing, starting with climate change, of course.

"This is something that a substantial part of the electorate has welcomed. The success of the Greens, I think, is a clear indication there is a substantial part of the electorate that responds positively to European parties that give a European answer to the big problems of the day."

OUTGOING EU PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT HANS-GERT POETTERING:

"I am very pleased that pro-European parties ... achieved a very solid majority."

ANTONIO MISSIROLI, DIRECTOR OF STUDIES, EUROPEAN POLICY CENTER:

"The European People's Party will remain in control of the parliamentary agenda. They don't have enough to control things, but they can play a pivotal role in shaping alliances ... It will be difficult to form a coherent alliance against them.

"There are very good results for populist parties, especially on the right but not only on the right. (But) the extreme parties are very heterogeneous, they will hardly represent a cohesive bloc."