On Wednesday 13 September, the European Parliament is expected to give its approval to increasing the number of seats in its chamber from 705 to 720 for the 2024-2029 parliamentary term, after its Committee on Constitutional Affairs adopted, on Monday 11 September and by a large majority (20 votes in favour, 5 against and 1 abstention), the specific agreement reached by the Council of the EU (see EUROPE 13230/2).
Compared to the current Parliament, three Member States (Spain, France and the Netherlands) would obtain two additional seats and nine others (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Austria, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia) one additional seat.
During the plenary debate on Tuesday 12 September, MEPs certainly noted the progress represented by this agreement. According to co-rapporteur Loránt Vincze (EPP, Romanian), the agreement follows the logic of taking into account demographic changes, a logic pursued by Parliament, whose proposal was based on a chamber of 716 seats (see EUROPE 13200/25). The other co-rapporteur, Sandro Gozi (Renew Europe, Italian), felt that European citizens would benefit from “fairer and more equitable” representation.
Nevertheless, the two authors of the report criticised the lack of cooperation between Member States on one of the few legislative dossiers initiated by the European Parliament. Mr Gozi also referred to a “pointless and short-sighted provocation” by the Council, which struck out any reference to the creation of a reserve of seats for a possible European constituency.
Speaking on behalf of the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council, Pascual Navarro Ríos, State Secretary for the European Union, replied that “a large majority” of countries had called for such references to be left out, referring to the reform of EU electoral law that the Council shelved in June (see EUROPE 13210/26). With regard to MEPs’ criticism of the Council’s request that the increase in the size of the Chamber should have no budgetary impact, he considered that the text allowed for the flexibility needed to achieve this objective without undermining parliamentary work.
To see the draft European Council decision on which Parliament must give its consent, go to https://aeur.eu/f/8i9 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)