EU leaders to discuss election fallout in Brussels

Francois Hollande: "This vote is there and it needs to be confronted"

European leaders are due to meet in Brussels to discuss the fallout of the recent EU elections, amid growing calls for changes to the union.

French President Francois Hollande, whose party was beaten by the far right, wants more focus on the economy.

UK PM David Cameron says it cannot be "business as usual", after being beaten by the UK Independence Party.

Despite the rise of anti-establishment parties, pro-European parties still won most votes overall.

Vote 2014

Tuesday's informal summit is the first opportunity for all 28 leaders to discuss the way forward after the game-changing European Parliament elections.

Many of those there will have faced a tough few days at home, correspondents say.

Mr Hollande has described his domestic results as "painful". The far-right National Front stormed to victory with a preliminary 25% of the vote, pushing Mr Hollande's Socialists into third place.

National Front President Marine Le Pen said on Tuesday that her party - which Germany's Finance Minister, the pro-EU Wolfgang Schaeuble, described as "fascist" - would use its electoral mandate to "defend France" and fight "crazy measures like votes for immigrants".

Matthew Price, BBC News, Brussels

How will EU leaders handle the Eurosceptic rise?

Europe has not "voted against the EU". The vast majority of those who bothered to cast a ballot did so for parties that are pro-EU.

Yes, the focus is understandably on France and the UK, with Denmark, Greece, and others also giving Euro-enthusiasts cause for concern.

However in many countries mainstream parties dominated - in Germany, Italy, Poland - where it was felt a growing Eurosceptic movement could break through - in the Netherlands and elsewhere.

Anti-EU forces overshadow Brussels talks

Mr Hollande, who has always been a champion of the EU, admitted that the union had become "remote and incomprehensible", but he said he would use Tuesday's summit meeting to "reaffirm that the priority is growth, jobs and investment".

Nigel Farage's Eurosceptic party UKIP got the most votes of any party in the UK

Far right leader Marine Le Pen said France could not ignore the voices of her National Front supporters

Alexis Tsipras, head of Greece's radical left opposition Syriza, called for early elections after its gains

Meanwhile Mr Cameron, whose Conservative Party lost seven seats in the European Parliament, said it was clear voters were "deeply disillusioned" with Europe and that the message had been "received and understood".

UKIP took 27% of the vote in the UK, marking the first time in a century that a party other than the Conservatives or Labour has won a UK election.

'Workable majority'

Despite the unprecedented Eurosceptic gains across the Union, Jose Manuel Barroso, outgoing president of the European Commission, insisted that the pro-EU blocs still had "a very solid and workable majority".

David Cameron: "People are deeply disillusioned with the European Union"

• The centre-right European People's Party appears set to win 213 out of the 751 seats, with 28.36% across the bloc, according to estimated results issued by the European Parliament.
• The Socialist alliance has 25.3% of the vote, the Liberals 9% and the Greens 7%.
• The Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy group appeared to have about 5%.

Turnout across Europe is estimated at 43.1%, the first time it has not fallen since the previous election.

The parliament's powers have expanded since the last election in 2009, and it is hoping to have a decisive say in who gets the EU's top job, president of the European Commission.