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Apportionment in the European Parliament

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The apportionment of seats within the European Parliament to each member state of the European Union is set out by the EU treaties. According to European Union treaties, the distribution of seats is "degressively proportional" to the population of the member states, with negotiations and agreements between member states playing a role.[1] Thus the allocation of seats is not strictly proportional to the size of a state's population, nor does it reflect any other automatically triggered or fixed mathematical formula. The process can be compared to the composition of the electoral college used to elect the President of the United States of America in that, pro rata, the smaller state received more places in the electoral college than the more populous states.

After the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU in 2020, the number of MEPs, including the president, dropped to 705[2] but since the 2024 election, it increased to 720.[3] The maximum number allowed by the Lisbon Treaty is 751.

Background

[edit]

When the Parliament was established in 1952 as the 78-member "Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community" the then-three smaller states (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) were concerned about being under-represented and hence they were granted more seats than their population would have allowed. Membership increased to 142 with the Assembly expanded to cover the Economic and Atomic Energy Communities.[4] It then grew further with each enlargement, which each time allowing smaller nations to have greater proportion of seats relative to larger states.

Relative influence of voters from different EU member states (2024 - 2029)[5]

Influence is proportional to seats-to-votes ratio and inversely proportional to Inhabitants to MEPs ratio.

Member state Population MEPs Inhabitants
per MEP 		Influence[6]
 Austria 9,104,772 20 455,239 1,37
 Belgium 11,754,004 22 534,273 1,17
 Bulgaria 6,447,710 17 379,277 1,64
 Croatia 3,850,894 12 320,908 1,94
 Cyprus 920,701 6 153,450 4,06
 Czech Republic 10,827,529 21 515,597 1,21
 Denmark 5,932,654 15 395,510 1,57
 Estonia 1,365,884 7 195,126 3,19
 Finland 5,563,970 15 370,931 1,68
 France 68,070,697 81 840,379 0,74
 Germany 84,358,845 96 878,738 0,71
 Greece 10,394,055 21 494,955 1,26
 Hungary 9,597,085 21 457,004 1,36
 Ireland 5,194,336 14 371,024 1,68
 Italy 58,850,717 76 774,352 0,80
 Latvia 1,883,008 9 209,223 2,98
 Lithuania 2,857,279 11 259,753 2,40
 Luxembourg 660,809 6 110,135 5,65
 Malta 542,051 6 90,342 6,89
 Netherlands 17,811,291 31 574,558 1,08
 Poland 36,753,736 53 693,467 0,90
 Portugal 10,476,366 21 498,446 1,25
 Romania 19,051,562 33 577,320 1,08
 Slovakia 5,428,792 15 361,919 1,72
 Slovenia 2,116,792 9 235,199 2,65
 Spain 48,059,777 61 787,865 0,79
 Sweden 10,521,556 21 501,026 1,24
 European Union 448,387,872 720 622,761 1.00

Nice system (2003 – 2009)

[edit]
Number of seats plotted against the population of each State (Nice 2007)

The Nice Treaty provided for a maximum of 736 seats. In 2009, with about 500 million EU citizens, this meant that there were on average 670,000 citizens represented by each MEP. Some states divide the electorate for their allocated MEPs into sub-national constituencies. However, they may not be divided in such a way that the system would no longer be proportional.

The 2004 European Parliament election was the first conducted under the Nice Treaty, with 732 seats for the 25 member states.

The 2009 European Parliament election was conducted under the rules included in the Nice Treaty which provided for a maximum number of 736, although that figure had been breached on the accession of new members to the EU, these states being allowed parliamentary representation without a corresponding reduction in the number of MEPs allotted to other member states. This happened in 2007 on the accession of Romania and Bulgaria, when the number of seats temporarily increased to 785. It subsequently returned to 736 in the 2009 election.[4]

Lisbon system (2009 – present)

[edit]

Under the Lisbon Treaty, which first applied to the 2014 European Parliament election, the cap on the number of seats was raised to 750, with a maximum of 96 and a minimum of 6 seats per state. They continue to be distributed "degressively proportional" to the populations of the EU's member states.[7]

European Parliament Apportionment changes between the Treaty of Nice and the Treaty of Lisbon
(as calculated for purposes of the 2009 European Elections)
Member state 2007
Nice 		2009
Nice 		2014
Lisbon 		2014[i]
+ Croatia
 Germany 99 99 96 96
 France 78 72 74 74
 United Kingdom[ii] 78 72 73 73
 Italy 78 72 73 73
 Spain 54 50 54 54
 Poland 54 50 51 51
 Romania 35 33 33 32
 Netherlands 27 25 26 26
 Belgium 24 22 22 21
 Czech Republic 24 22 22 21
 Greece 24 22 22 21
 Hungary 24 22 22 21
 Portugal 24 22 22 21
 Sweden 19 18 20 20
 Austria 18 17 19 18
 Bulgaria 18 17 18 17
 Finland 14 13 13 13
 Denmark 14 13 13 13
 Slovakia 14 13 13 13
 Croatia – – – 11
 Ireland 13 12 12 11
 Lithuania 13 12 12 11
 Latvia 9 8 9 8
 Slovenia 7 7 8 8
 Cyprus 6 6 6 6
 Estonia 6 6 6 6
 Luxembourg 6 6 6 6
 Malta 5 5 6 6
Total: 785 736 751[iii] 751[iii]

Italicised countries are divided into sub-national constituencies, except France which changed to full-country voting in 2019.

  1. ^ As proposed by European Parliament on 13 March 2013.[8]
  2. ^ Included Gibraltar, but not any other BOT (including the SBAs), nor the Crown Dependencies. The United Kingdom and Gibraltar left the European Union on 31 January 2020.
  3. ^ a b The speaker is not counted officially, thus leaving 750 MEPs.

There was controversy over the fact that the population figures are based on residents, not citizens, resulting in countries with larger disenfranchised immigrant populations gaining more under Lisbon than those with smaller ones.[9] Italy would have been the greatest loser under the Lisbon system and sought the same number of MEPs as France and the United Kingdom. Italy raised the issue during treaty negotiations and succeeded in gaining one extra MEP (giving it the same as the UK) while the President of the European Parliament would not be counted as a lawmaker hence keeping the number of MEPs to the 750-seat limit.[10]

2011 amendment

[edit]

In 2011 an amendment, which came into force on 1 December, temporarily increased the Lisbon limit to 754.[11][12][13][14] This allowed member states who gained seats under Lisbon to take them before the 2014 election, while allowing Germany which lost seats under Lisbon to retain them until the 2014 election. This amendment, in effect, institutes a transitional manner of distributing MEPs to take account of the fact that the 2009 European Parliamentary elections took place under the rules contained in the Nice Treaty and not in the Lisbon Treaty. That result means that member state that are to gain seats in parliament under the Lisbon rules may take them, but that Germany which loses three seats under the Lisbon rules keeps those seats until the next elections, due in 2014.[15] As a result, Germany temporarily exceeds the maximum number of MEPs allocatable to a member state under the Lisbon Treaty by having 99 MEPs, three above the intended limit.

2013 amendment

[edit]

Following the accession of Croatia on 1 July 2013 with 12 extra seats, the apportionment was amended for the 2014 elections,[8] when 12 countries lost one seat (including Croatia itself).

2014 election

[edit]
Number of seats in EP 2014–2019 versus number of inhabitants, showing difference with proportionality.

From October 2008,[16] MEP Andrew Duff (ALDE, UK) has advocated within the European Parliament for a reform of EU electoral law for the 2014 elections, including the creation of a single constituency of 25 seats in which each European citizen would be entitled to vote on the basis of pan-European lists. He has been nominated rapporteur, as the European Parliament has the right of initiative in this field ruled by unanimity in the Council. After the 2009 election, Duff proposed a new version of his report,[17] which was adopted by the parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) in April 2011. However, the plenary session of the Parliament referred the report back to the AFCO committee in July 2011. A third version of the report[18] was published in September 2011 and adopted by the AFCO committee in January 2012, but was withdrawn before being discussed in plenary in March 2012 for fear that it would likely be turned down.

On 13 March 2013 the European Parliament voted a new proposal updating seat assignments per country for 2014,[8] taking into account demographic changes and bringing the total number of seats back to the nominal 751 enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty. The same document suggests the creation of a formal process "based on objective criteria to be applied in a pragmatic manner" for apportioning seats in future elections.

Apportionment in the European Parliament
Constituency 2007 2009 Dec.

2011[19]

1 July
2013[20] 		A. Duff's
1st prop.
for 2014[21][22] 		A. Duff's 2nd prop.[23] European
Council
Decision
2014[24] 		Population
in 2013[25] 		Population
per MEPs
2014 2019 2024
Pan-European – – – – 25 – – – – – –
 Germany 99 99 99 99 96 96 96 96 96 80,523,746 838,789
 France 78 72 74 74 83 79 83 83 74 65,633,194 886,935
 United Kingdom 78 72 73 73 80 76 79 80 73 63,896,071 875,289
 Italy 78 72 73 73 78 75 78 78 73 59,685,227 817,606
 Spain 54 50 54 54 61 58 61 61 54 46,704,308 864,895
 Poland 54 50 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 38,533,299 755,555
 Romania 35 33 33 33 31 31 31 31 32 20,020,074 625,627
 Netherlands 27 25 26 26 25 25 25 25 26 16,779,575 645,368
 Belgium 24 22 22 22 18 20 19 19 21 11,161,642 531,507
 Greece 24 22 22 22 19 20 19 19 21 11,062,508 526,786
 Czech Republic 24 22 22 22 18 20 18 18 21 10,516,125 500,768
 Portugal 24 22 22 22 18 20 18 18 21 10,487,289 499,395
 Hungary 24 22 22 22 17 20 18 17 21 9,908,798 471,848
 Sweden 19 18 20 20 17 18 17 17 20 9,555,893 477,795
 Austria 18 17 19 19 16 17 16 16 18 8,451,860 469,548
 Bulgaria 18 17 18 18 15 16 14 14 17 7,284,552 428,503
 Denmark 14 13 13 13 12 12 12 12 13 5,602,628 430,971
 Finland 14 13 13 13 12 12 12 12 13 5,426,674 417,436
 Slovakia 14 13 13 13 12 12 12 12 13 5,410,836 416,218
 Ireland 13 12 12 12 11 11 11 11 11 4,591,087 417,372
 Croatia — — — 12 11 11 11 11 11 4,262,140 387,467
 Lithuania 13 12 12 12 9 10 9 9 11 2,971,905 270,173
 Slovenia 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 2,058,821 257,353
 Latvia 9 8 9 9 8 8 8 8 8 2,023,825 252,978
 Estonia 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 6 1,324,814 220,802
 Cyprus 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 865,878 144,313
 Luxembourg 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 537,039 89,507
 Malta 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 421,364 70,227
total 785 736 754 766 776 751 751 751 751 505,701,172 673,370

2019 election

[edit]

The EU needed to revise the apportionment of seats in time for the next European Parliament election, expected to be held in May 2019, when the United Kingdom's 73 MEPs may have vacated their seats following Brexit. In April 2017, a group of European lawmakers discussed what should be done about the vacated seats. One plan, supported by Enrico Letta, Gianni Pittella and Emmanuel Macron, was to replace the 73 seats with a pan-European constituency list. Other options which were considered include dropping the British seats without replacement and reassigning some or all of the existing seats from other countries to reduce inequality of representation.[26] A plan to reduce the number of seats to 705 was approved by the Parliament in February 2018. It involves redistributing 27 seats to under-represented members and reserving the remaining 46 for future EU expansions. A proposal by the Constitutional Affairs Committee to create a pan-member constituency was rejected by the Parliament at the same time.[27] The proposed redistribution did not occur due to the Brexit extension until 31 October, and the allocation used was the same as in 2014. After Brexit took legal effect, the seat distribution was decided by the European Council. Those countries which were allocated additional seats elected MEPs who only took office after Brexit had taken effect.

Apportionment in the European Parliament
Country 2007 2009 Dec.

2011[28]

July
2013 		2014 Proposals for 2019 after the
removal of UK seats[26][29] 		Population
Cambridge Compromise Decision
(Feb 2018) 		Change
from 2014 		2017[30] Thousands
per MEP
Minimizing
Gini[31] 		Minimizing
malapportionment
 Germany 99 99 99 99 96 96 96 96 Steady 82,521,653 860
 France 78 72 74 74 74 79 96 79 Increase +5 66,989,083 848
 United Kingdom 78 72 73 73 73 – – – Decrease -73 – –
 Italy 78 72 73 73 73 73 89 76 Increase +3 60,589,445 797
 Spain 54 50 54 54 54 57 70 59 Increase +5 46,528,024 789
 Poland 54 50 51 51 51 47 58 52 Increase +1 37,972,964 730
 Romania 35 33 33 33 32 27 33 33 Increase +1 19,644,350 595
 Netherlands 27 25 26 26 26 24 29 29 Increase +3 17,081,507 589
 Belgium 24 22 22 22 21 18 21 21 Steady 11,351,727 541
 Greece 24 22 22 22 21 17 20 21 Steady 10,768,193 513
 Czech Republic 24 22 22 22 21 17 20 21 Steady 10,578,820 504
 Hungary 24 22 22 22 21 16 19 21 Steady 9,797,561 467
 Portugal 24 22 22 22 21 17 20 21 Steady 10,309,573 491
 Sweden 19 18 20 20 20 16 19 21 Increase +1 9,995,153 476
 Austria 18 17 19 19 18 15 18 19 Increase +1 8,772,865 462
 Bulgaria 18 17 18 18 17 13 15 17 Steady 7,101,859 418
 Denmark 14 13 13 13 13 12 13 14 Increase +1 5,748,769 411
 Finland 14 13 13 13 13 12 13 14 Increase +1 5,503,297 393
 Slovakia 14 13 13 13 13 12 13 14 Increase +1 5,435,343 388
 Ireland 13 12 12 12 11 11 12 13 Increase +2 4,784,383 368
 Croatia – – – 12 11 10 11 12 Increase +1 4,154,213 346
 Lithuania 13 12 12 12 11 9 9 11 Steady 2,847,904 259
 Latvia 9 8 9 9 8 8 8 8 Steady 1,950,116 244
 Slovenia 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 Steady 2,065,895 258
 Estonia 6 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 Increase +1 1,315,635 188
 Cyprus 6 6 6 6 6 6 7 6 Steady 854,802 142
 Luxembourg 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 Steady 590,667 98
 Malta 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 Steady 460,297 77
Total 785 736 754 766 751 639 736 705 Decrease –46 445,714,098[32] 632

2024 election

[edit]

In February 2023, the AFCO committee of the European Parliament released a draft report (whose rapporteurs are Lóránt Vincze and Sandro Gozi) on the necessary changes to the composition of the European Parliament in order to respect the principle of degressive proportionality (enshrined in the TEU). The draft report suggested a new apportionnement which aimed at respecting the degressive proportionality while also resulting in no loss of seats for any Member State, therefore leading to an expansion in the number of MEPs, from 705 to 716.[33] On 12 June 2023, the report was approved by the AFCO committee, with the apportionment being unchanged compared to the draft report.[34] On 15 June 2023 the report was approved by the EP plenary.[35]

In July 2023, the European Council put forward its own proposed apportionment for the tenth European Parliament, which would add 15 new MEPs and thus take the number of seats from 705 to 720.[36] In this proposal, no Member State would lose any spots in the hemicycle and the countries gaining new seats would be as indicated in the table below under New allocation of seats (final decision for 2024).

On 15 September 2023, the European Parliament approved the apportionment proposed by the Council, with 515 votes in favor, 74 against and 44 abstentions.[3]

Furthermore, this decision envisages the future (before the 2029-2034 parliamentary term) definition of "an objective, fair, durable and transparent seat distribution method implementing the principle of degressive proportionality, without prejudice to the institutions’ prerogatives under the Treaties". [37][38]

Member state Population (2023) MEPs ratio population/seats New allocation of seats (AFCO draft) Change from 2022 (AFCO draft) New ratio population/seats (AFCO draft) New allocation of seats (final decision for 2024)[37] Change from 2022 (final decision for 2024) New ratio population/seats (final decision for 2024)
 Germany 84,358,845 96 878,738 96 Steady 878,738 96 Steady 878,738
 France 68,070,697 79 858,767 79 Steady 861,654 81 Increase +2 840,379
 Italy 58,850,717 76 774,352 76 Steady 774,352 76 Steady 774,352
 Spain 48,059,777 59 814,572 61 Increase +2 787,865 61 Increase +2 787,865
 Poland 36,753,736 52 706,803 52 Steady 706,803 53 Increase +1 693,467
 Romania 19,051,562 33 577,320 33 Steady 577,320 33 Steady 577,320
 Netherlands 17,811,291 29 614,182 31 Increase +2 574,558 31 Increase +2 574,558
 Belgium 11,754,004 21 559,714 21 Steady 559,714 22 Increase +1 534,273
 Czech Republic 10,827,529 21 515,597 21 Steady 515,597 21 Steady 515,597
 Sweden 10,521,556 21 501,026 21 Steady 501,026 21 Steady 501,026
 Portugal 10,467,366 21 498,446 21 Steady 498,446 21 Steady 498,446
 Greece 10,394,055 21 494,955 21 Steady 494,955 21 Steady 494,955
 Hungary 9,597,085 21 457,004 21 Steady 457,004 21 Steady 457,004
 Austria 9,104,772 19 479,199 20 Increase +1 455,239 20 Increase +1 455,239
 Bulgaria 6,447,710 17 379,277 17 Steady 379,277 17 Steady 379,277
 Denmark 5,932,654 14 423,761 15 Increase +1 395,510 15 Increase +1 395,510
 Finland 5,563,970 14 397,426 15 Increase +1 370,931 15 Increase +1 370,931
 Slovakia 5,428,792 14 387,771 15 Increase +1 361,919 15 Increase +1 361,919
 Ireland 5,194,336 13 399,564 14 Increase +1 371,024 14 Increase +1 371,024
 Croatia 3,850,894 12 320,908 12 Steady 320,908 12 Steady 320,908
 Lithuania 2,857,279 11 259,753 11 Steady 259,753 11 Steady 259,753
 Slovenia 2,116,792 8 264,599 9 Increase +1 235,199 9 Increase +1 235,199
 Latvia 1,883,008 8 235,376 9 Increase +1 209,223 9 Increase +1 209,223
 Estonia 1,365,884 7 195,126 7 Steady 195,126 7 Steady 195,126
 Cyprus 920,701 6 153,450 6 Steady 153,450 6 Steady 153,450
 Luxembourg 660,809 6 110,135 6 Steady 110,135 6 Steady 110,135
 Malta 542,051 6 90,342 6 Steady 90,342 6 Steady 90,342
 European Union 448,387,872 705 636,011 716 Increase +11 626,240 720 Increase +15 622,761

  Degressive proportionality breached.

Changes in membership

[edit]
State Joined
 Population
2006 		Population
2017 		Sep
1952 		Mar
1957 		Jan
1973 		Jun
1979 		Jan
1981 		Jan
1986 		Jun
1994 		Jan
1995 		May
2004 		Jun
2004 		Jan
2007 		Jun
2009 		Dec
2011 		Jul
2013 		Jun
2014 		Feb
2020
 Germany 1951 82,428,000 82,521,653 18 36 36 81 81 81 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 96 96
 France 1951 62,886,000 66,989,083 18 36 36 81 81 81 87 87 87 78 78 72 74 74 74 79
 United Kingdom 1973 60,422,000 65,808,573   36 81 81 81 87 87 87 78 78 72 73 73 73  
 Italy 1951 58,752,000 60,589,445 18 36 36 81 81 81 87 87 87 78 78 72 73 73 73 76
 Spain 1986 43,758,000 46,528,024   60 64 64 64 54 54 50 54 54 54 59
 Poland 2004 38,157,000 37,972,964   54 54 54 50 51 51 51 52
 Romania 2007 21,610,000 19,644,350   35 33 33 33 32 33
 Netherlands 1951 16,334,000 17,081,507 10 14 14 25 25 25 31 31 31 27 27 25 26 26 26 29
 Belgium 1951 10,511,000 11,351,727 10 14 14 24 24 24 25 25 25 24 24 22 22 22 21 21
 Greece 1981 11,125,000 10,768,193   24 24 25 25 25 24 24 22 22 22 21 21
 Czech Republic 2004 10,251,000 10,578,820   24 24 24 22 22 22 21 21
 Portugal 1986 10,570,000 10,309,573   24 25 25 25 24 24 22 22 22 21 21
 Sweden 1995 9,048,000 9,995,153   22 22 19 19 18 20 20 20 21
 Hungary 2004 10,077,000 9,797,561   24 24 24 22 22 22 21 21
 Austria 1995 8,266,000 8,772,865   21 21 18 18 17 19 19 18 19
 Bulgaria 2007 7,719,000 7,101,859   18 17 18 18 17 17
 Denmark 1973 5,428,000 5,748,769   10 16 16 16 16 16 16 14 14 13 13 13 13 14
 Finland 1995 5,256,000 5,503,297   16 16 14 14 13 13 13 13 14
 Slovakia 2004 5,389,000 5,435,343   14 14 14 13 13 13 13 14
 Ireland 1973 4,209,000 4,784,383   10 15 15 15 15 15 15 13 13 12 12 12 11 13
 Croatia 2013 4,443,000 4,154,213   12 11 12
 Lithuania 2004 3,403,000 2,847,904   13 13 13 12 12 12 11 11
 Slovenia 2004 2,003,000 2,065,895   7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8
 Latvia 2004 2,295,000 1,950,116   9 9 9 8 9 9 8 8
 Estonia 2004 1,344,000 1,315,635   6 6 6 6 6 6 6 7
 Cyprus 2004 766,000 854,802   6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
 Luxembourg 1951 460,000 590,667 4 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
 Malta 2004 404,000 460,297   5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6
Total 494,070,000 511,522,671 78 142 198 410 434 518 567 626 788 732 785 736 754 766 751 705

Source for MEP figures 1952–2004: European Navigator. Source for population figures and MEP figures for 2007 and 2009: European Parliament, full population figures [1]. December 2011 figures reflect the members added to the European Parliament by the Protocol Amending the Protocol on Transitional Provisions (OJ 29.9.2010, C 263, p. 1) which came into force on 1 December 2011. Figures for 2019 follow parliamentary decision of February 2018.[2][3]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "National Representation in European Democracy: Seat Apportionment in the European Parliament". European Union Studies Association. [PDF file]
  2. ^ "Redistribution of seats in the European Parliament after Brexit". European Parliament. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  3. ^ a b "2024 European elections: 15 additional seats divided between 12 countries". Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Composition of the European Parliament". European NAvigator. Retrieved 12 June 2007.
  5. ^ "Europäische Verfassung: Das Demokratiedefizit". Der Spiegel. 2 October 2003. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  6. ^ It's based on the medium value 622,761 Inhabitants/MEPs. Formula:
  7. ^ "Distribution of EP seats: Constitutional Affairs Committee approvals proposal". Europa (web portal). 2 October 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2001.
  8. ^ a b c "Composition of the European Parliament with a view to the 2014 elections". Europa.eu. 13 March 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  9. ^ Goldirova, Renata (12 October 2007). "Italy seeks to delay MEP seats decision". EU Observer. Archived from the original on 16 October 2007. Retrieved 12 October 2007.
  10. ^ Goldirova, Renata (19 October 2007). "EU agrees new 'Lisbon Treaty'". EU Observer. Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
  11. ^ "18 new MEPs take their seats". European Parliament. 10 January 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  12. ^ "Ratification of Parliament's 18 additional MEPs completed". European Parliament. 29 November 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  13. ^ Philip Ebels (14 November 2011). "18 new MEPs to arrive next month". EUobserver. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  14. ^ "Ratification details". Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  15. ^ Protocol Amending the Protocol on Transitional Provisions annexed to the Treaty on European Union, to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and to the Treaty Establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (OJ 29.9.2010, C 263, p. 1).
  16. ^ Euractiv, MEP: 'Radical' electoral reform 'badly needed' for 2014 13 October 2008
  17. ^ Europolitics, Célia Sampol, European elections: Andrew Duff proposes creation of transnational list Archived 2 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine 26 April 2010
  18. ^ Legislative observatory of the European Parliament, Procedure files on the Proposal for a modification of the Act concerning the election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage of 20 September 1976
  19. ^ Amendments to the protocol on transitional provisions annexed to the EU treaties ratified on 1 December 2011, according to the European Parliament Press release on the ratification of Parliament's 18 additional MEPs, 1 December 2011
  20. ^ Accession of Croatia to the EU in compliance with the Treaty concerning the accession of the Republic of Croatia signed on 9 December 2011
  21. ^ First proposal by Member of European Parliament Andrew Duff in his draft report entitled Proposal for a modification of the Act concerning the election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage of 20 September 1976, published on 4 November 2010
  22. ^ Report of the European Parliament staff, The allocation between the EU member states of seats in the European Parliament – Cambridge Compromise March 2011
  23. ^ Euractiv, Countries set to lose MEPs as their population shrinks, 11 September 2012
  24. ^ Official Journal of the European Union, 2013/312/EU: European Council Decision of 28 June 2013 establishing the composition of the European Parliament, 28 June 2013
  25. ^ Eurostat, as of 1 January 2013; numbers in italic are provisional.
  26. ^ a b "MEPs debate who inherits British seats". politico.eu. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  27. ^ "Size of Parliament to shrink after Brexit" (Press release). European Parliament. 7 February 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  28. ^ Amendments to the protocol on transitional provisions annexed to the EU treaties ratified on 1 December 2011, according to the European Parliament Press release on the ratification of Parliament's 18 additional MEPs, 1 December 2011
  29. ^ a b "Is Brexit an opportunity to reform the European Parliament?" [pdf]
  30. ^ "Population on 1 January". Eurostat. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  31. ^ The Gini coefficient defines how equal (or unequal) is the distribution of seats among member states represented in the parliament. According to ref.,[29] the Gini coefficient of the European Parliament, before changes coming from brexit, is 17.5%, making it very unequal; as a point of comparison, the US House of representative scores a 2.2%, the German Bundestag 3.4%.
  32. ^ Population of the EU without the United Kingdom
  33. ^ "Draft report on the composition of the European Parliament (2021/2229(INL) – 2023/0900(NLE))" (PDF). European Parliament. February 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  34. ^ "MEPs propose new seat distribution for the next legislative term | News | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. 6 December 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  35. ^ "European elections 2024: Parliament proposes more seats for nine EU countries | News | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. 15 June 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  36. ^ "European Parliament set to grow by 15 MEPs in 2024". Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  37. ^ a b "EUR-Lex - 32023D2061 - EN - EUR-Lex". eur-lex.europa.eu. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  38. ^ Müller, Manuel (2 February 2024). "Degressive proportionality: EU enlargement will increase European electoral inequality – but the problem can be solved". Der Föderalist.
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