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Apportionment in the European Parliament relates to the distribution of legislative seats in the European Parliament among the states of the European Union. The Parliament's apportionment is not strictly in accordance with the population of the states; rather, they are distributed according to "degressive proportionality".

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.^[1]

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 moved this up 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.^[1] In 2009 the number of members decreased to 736.

Nice system

At present, the exact number of seats allocated to each country is determined by the treaties, currently the Treaty of Nice, and is adjusted by the accession treaty of each new member. This last occurred with the enlargement in 2007. No change to the seats occurs without ratification by all states. According to the treaty of Nice, the maximum number of members in the Parliament is 736. However this number may be exceeded temporarily when enlargements take place during a Parliamentary term. E.g. when Romania and Bulgaria joined in 2007, the number of seats temporarily increased to 785, but dropped back down to 736 at the 2009 election.^[1]

736 seats for about 500 million EU citizens means that there is on average 670,000 citizens represented per MEP. But the number of seats for each country is not proportional to its share of population. Rather, the seats are distributed by an ad hoc scheme (see table below) which roughly follows degressive proportionality, i.e. the greater the population a state has, the more people per member are represented.

Some states divide 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 countries'^[2]

Lisbon system

Under the Lisbon Treaty, the cap on the number of seats would be raised to 750 with a maximum of 96 and a minimum of 6. They would be distributed according to "degressive proportionality" (the larger the state, the more citizens that are represented per MEP).^[3] Under the proposals, Germany would lose three seats, while Spain would gain four. France, Sweden and Austria would gain two and the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Latvia, Slovenia, and Malta would all gain one:^[4]

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	June 2009 Nice	Dec. 2009 Lisbon		Member state	2007 Nice	June 2009 Nice	Dec. 2009 Lisbon		Member state	2007 Nice	June 2009 Nice	Dec. 2009 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.^[5] 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 under the 750 seat limit.^[6] MEPs also intend 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 have to be revised.^[4]

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
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
United Kingdom	1973	60,422,000			36	81	81	81	87	87	87	78	78	72
Italy	1951	58,752,000	18	36	36	81	81	81	87	87	87	78	78	72
Spain	1986	43,758,000						60	64	64	64	54	54	50
Poland	2004	38,157,000									54	54	54	50
Romania	2007	21,610,000											35	33
Netherlands	1951	16,334,000	10	14	14	25	25	25	31	31	31	27	27	25
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
Austria	1995	8,266,000								21	21	18	18	17
Bulgaria	2007	7,719,000											18	17
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
Slovenia	2004	2,003,000									7	7	7	7
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
Total		494,070,000	78	142	198	410	434	518	567	626	788	732	785	736

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

References

See also

• United States Congressional apportionment
• Leveling seat

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