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European Council decision foresees 720 seats in the European Parliament after the next elections
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Two additional seats for France, Spain, Netherlands; one each for Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Poland, Finland, Slovakia, Ireland, Slovenia, and Latvia
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Criticism of the European Council’s institutional overstepping by MEPs
The Constitutional Affairs Committee has endorsed the European Council decision to expand the number of Parliament’s seats to 720.
The decision was endorsed with 20 votes in favour, five against, and one abstention.
Seat distribution by member state
Additional seats are to be allocated as follows:
- France +2 [81]
- Spain +2 [61]
- Netherlands +2 [31]
- Austria +1 [20]
- Belgium +1 [22]
- Poland +1 [53]
- Denmark +1 [15]
- Finland +1 [15]
- Slovakia +1 [15]
- Ireland +1 [14]
- Slovenia +1 [9]
- Latvia +1 [9]
Quotes
Co-rapporteur Loránt VINCZE (EPP, RO) commented: “I welcome that in its draft decision the European Council has followed the logic of the Parliament. I do regret, however that, it did not consult the Parliament when it proposed four additional seats and ruled out the possibility of a budget increase of the Parliament. This not only disregards the fact that the Council itself has increased the number of seats, but it is not in line with the Treaty budgetary provisions either.”
Co-rapporteur Sandro GOZI (Renew, FR) said: “This report will yield a fairer composition of the European Parliament, which takes into account demographic developments in member states, as we have constantly called for. We regret however the deletion of the provisions requesting the allocation of 28 seats to transnational candidates, and the premature tabling of the report to the Plenary vote. We now expect Council to accelerate its work on the reform of the electoral law proposed by the Parliament.”
You can watch a recording of the committee meeting here.
Background
The European Council’s proposal was based on Parliament’s report of June 2023, which started the process and was prompted by demographic changes in the EU since the 2019 elections. Parliament’s composition is assessed before each election, in line with the principles set out in the Treaties (i.e. a maximum of 750 MEPs plus the President, no less than 6 and no more than 96 seats for any EU country, and the “degressive proportionality” principle), and based on the most recent population figures.
Next steps
Parliament is set to discuss and vote on the European Council decision during the ongoing plenary session (11 – 14 September) in Strasbourg.