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. The apportionment of seats is not proportional to each state's population, nor does it reflect any particular mathematical formula; however it is stated in the treaties that distribution of seats should be "degressively proportional" to the population of the member states. 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.

As of January 2012, the total number of members of the European Parliament (MEPs) is 752, two fewer than the current maximum number of MEPs which the coming into force of a recent amendment to the EU's treaties set as 754.

Background

When the Parliament was established in the 1950s as the 78 member "Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community" the smaller states (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) were concerned about being underrepresented 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.

It then grew further with each enlargement. Membership reached 626 in 1995 with the Treaty of Amsterdam setting a limit of 700. The Treaty of Nice increased this to 732 and set out the future distribution for up to 27 states. In 2007 Romania and Bulgaria joined with 35 and 18 members respectively temporarily pushing the number of members over the ceiling to 785. In 2009 the number of members decreased to 736.

Current apportionment

The current apportionment of members in the European Parliament reflect an amendment to the Lisbon Treaty which came into force on 1 December 2011. 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. 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.

Nice system

The last European parliamentary elections were 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 state 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 joined in 2007, when the number of seats temporarily increased to 785. It subsequently returned to 736 in the 2009 election.

736 seats for about 500 million EU citizens 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.

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

Relative influence of voters from different EU member states (2003)

Member state	Population millions	MEPs	Inhabitants per MEP	Influence
Austria	8.27	17	486,235	1.71
Belgium	10.51	22	477,773	1.74
Bulgaria	7.72	17	454,059	1.83
Cyprus	0.77	6	127,667	6.52
Czech Republic	10.25	22	465,955	1.79
Denmark	5.43	13	417,538	1.99
Estonia	1.34	6	224,000	3.72
Finland	5.26	13	404,308	2.06
France	62.89	72	873,417	0.95
Germany	82.43	99	832,606	1
Greece	11.13	22	505,682	1.65
Hungary	10.08	22	458,045	1.82
Ireland	4.21	12	350,750	2.37
Italy	58.75	72	816,000	1.02
Latvia	2.3	8	286,875	2.9
Lithuania	3.4	12	283,583	2.94
Luxembourg	0.46	6	76,667	10.86
Malta	0.4	5	80,800	10.3
Netherlands	16.33	25	653,360	1.27
Poland	38.16	50	763,140	1.09
Portugal	10.57	22	480,455	1.73
Romania	21.61	33	654,848	1.27
Slovakia	5.39	13	414,538	2.01
Slovenia	2	7	286,143	2.91
Spain	43.76	50	875,160	0.95
Sweden	9.05	18	502,667	1.66
United Kingdom	60.42	72	839,194	0.99

Lisbon system

Under the Lisbon Treaty, 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. Germany lost three seats, while Spain gained four. France, Sweden and Austria gained two seats each and eight other countries each gained one seat:

European Parliament Apportionment changes between the Treaty of Nice and the Treaty of Lisbon (as calculated for purposes of the '09 European Elections)
Member state	2007 Nice	2009 Nice	2014 Lisbon		Member state	2007 Nice	2009 Nice	2014 Lisbon		Member state	2007 Nice	2009 Nice	2014 Lisbon
Germany	99	99	96		Czech Republic	24	22	22		Slovakia	14	13	13
France	78	72	74		Greece	24	22	22		Ireland	13	12	12
United Kingdoma	78	72	73		Hungary	24	22	22		Lithuania	13	12	12
Italy	78	72	73		Portugal	24	22	22		Latvia	9	8	9
Spain	54	50	54		Sweden	19	18	20		Slovenia	7	7	8
Poland	54	50	51		Austria	18	17	19		Cyprus	6	6	6
Romania	35	33	33		Bulgaria	18	17	18		Estonia	6	6	6
Netherlands	27	25	26		Finland	14	13	13		Luxembourg	6	6	6
Belgium	24	22	22		Denmark	14	13	13		Malta	5	5	6
a Includes Gibraltar, but not any other BOT, SBA or Crown dependency b The speaker is not counted officially, thus leaving 750 MEPs. Italicised countries are divided into sub-national constiuencies										Total:	785	736	751b

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. 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. MEPs also intend to propose amendments well in advance of the 2014 elections to take account of demographic changes. It is hoped that this may avoid the political horse trading that occurs when the numbers need to be revised.

Growth in membership

State	Joined	Population 2006	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
Germany	1951	82,428,000	18	36	36	81	81	81	99	99	99	99	99	99
France	1951	62,886,000	18	36	36	81	81	81	87	87	87	78	78	72	+2
United Kingdom	1973	60,422,000			36	81	81	81	87	87	87	78	78	72	+1
Italy	1951	58,752,000	18	36	36	81	81	81	87	87	87	78	78	72	+1
Spain	1986	43,758,000						60	64	64	64	54	54	50	+4
Poland	2004	38,157,000									54	54	54	50	+1
Romania	2007	21,610,000											35	33
Netherlands	1951	16,334,000	10	14	14	25	25	25	31	31	31	27	27	25	+1
Greece	1981	11,125,000					24	24	25	25	25	24	24	22
Portugal	1986	10,570,000						24	25	25	25	24	24	22
Belgium	1951	10,511,000	10	14	14	24	24	24	25	25	25	24	24	22
Czech Republic	2004	10,251,000									24	24	24	22
Hungary	2004	10,077,000									24	24	24	22
Sweden	1995	9,048,000								22	22	19	19	18	+2
Austria	1995	8,266,000								21	21	18	18	17	+2
Bulgaria	2007	7,719,000											18	17	+1
Denmark	1973	5,428,000			10	16	16	16	16	16	16	14	14	13
Slovakia	2004	5,389,000									14	14	14	13
Finland	1995	5,256,000								16	16	14	14	13
Ireland	1973	4,209,000			10	15	15	15	15	15	15	13	13	12
Lithuania	2004	3,403,000									13	13	13	12
Latvia	2004	2,295,000									9	9	9	8	+1
Slovenia	2004	2,003,000									7	7	7	7	+1
Estonia	2004	1,344,000									6	6	6	6
Cyprus	2004	766,000									6	6	6	6
Luxembourg	1951	460,000	4	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6
Malta	2004	404,000									5	5	5	5	+1
Total		494,070,000	78	142	198	410	434	518	567	626	788	732	785	736	+18

Source for MEP figures 1952-2004: European NAvigator. Source for population figures and MEP figures for 2007 and 2009: European Parliament. 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.

See also

• United States Congressional apportionment
• Leveling seat