Amsterdam - The Dutch Freedom Party is to receive 4 seats in the European Parliament, according to exit polls released in the Netherlands just after voting booths closed at 9 pm (1900 GMT) on Thursday.

The Christian Democrats remain the biggest party with 5 seats (down from 7 in 2004), while Labour drops from 7 to 4 seats.

The Liberal VVD and the left Liberal D66 each are to receive 3 seats. The leftist Socialist Party, the Greens, and the religious Christian parties each receive 2 seats.

The exit poll results were released by the Dutch news wire ANP and Dutch public broadcaster NOS.

Britain and the Netherlands Thursday kicked off a four-day round of voting in elections for a new European Parliament held across the 27 member states of the European Union.(dpa)