Chancellor Angela Merkel's party topped the European Parliament election poll in Germany on Sunday, while her coalition partners fared worse than expected.
According to provisional results from the Federal Election Commission, Mrs Merkel's Christian Democrat alliance took 37.9% of the poll.
However, the Social Democrats failed to lift their share of the European vote from an all-time low in 2004, coming in on Sunday at 20.8%.
Both parties lost votes on their 2004 tallies, with the liberal FDP and socialist Left parties making ground.
The Christian Democrat alliance alliance lost 6.6% on its previous European total of 44.5%.
The FDP climbed 4.9 percentage points to 11%.
Voter participation was 43% - the same as 2004.
The election was seen as a dry-run for a general election in September.
