Europe’s centre-right parties on Monday celebrated a resounding election victory that underlined the resilience of the European model of welfare state capitalism in the face of the worst recession since the 1930s.

The centre-right emerged as the clear winner in elections to the European parliament, taking 263 seats in the 736-seat assembly, compared with 163 for socialists, 80 for centrist liberals and 52 for the Greens, according to provisional figures.