The purpose of the draft decision of the European Council is to determine the composition of the European Parliament following approval by the European Parliament.
The first subparagraph of Article 14(2) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) lays down the criteria for the composition of the European Parliament, namely that there may be no more than 750 representatives of the citizens of the Union, plus the President, that representation must be degressively proportional, with a minimum threshold of 6 members per Member State, and that no Member State may be allocated more than 96 seats.
Under the draft decision, the number of representatives to the European Parliament elected in each Member State for the 2024-2029 term is set as follows:
- Belgium 22
- Bulgaria 17
- Czech Republic 21
- Denmark 15
- Germany 96
- Estonia 7
- Ireland 14
- Greece 21
- Spain 61
- France 81
- Croatia 12
- Italy 76
- Cyprus 6
- Latvia 9
- Lithuania 11
- Luxembourg 6
- Hungary 21
- Malta 6
- Netherlands 31
- Austria 20
- Poland 53
- Portugal 21
- Romania 33
- Slovenia 9
- Slovakia 15
- Finland 15
- Sweden 21.
Sufficiently in advance of the start of the 2029-2034 legislature, and if possible by the end of 2027, the European Parliament should submit to the European Council a proposal updating the composition of seats in the European Parliament.
By the end of 2026, and prior to the proposal on its composition, the European Parliament should propose a method for the distribution of seats which is objective, fair, sustainable and transparent and which implements the principle of degressive proportionality.
Taking into account the impact of possible future developments, such a method should guarantee a maximum sustainable number of Members of the European Parliament.
The budgetary authority and the Commission will have to ensure that the increase in the number of seats provided for in this Decision has no budgetary impact within Section 1 of the general budget of the Union.