Executive Summary:
European Council Decision (EU) 2023/2061 establishes the composition of the European Parliament, adhering to the principles of degressive proportionality, a maximum of 750 seats plus the president, and a minimum of six and maximum of 96 seats per Member State. The European Parliament is required to submit a proposal for an updated seat allocation by the end of 2027 in advance of the 2029-2034 parliamentary term. The decision entered into force on the day following its publication.
Key Points / Main Content:
General Principles:
* The total number of seats in the European Parliament shall not exceed 750 plus the President.
* Seat allocation to Member States shall be degressively proportional, with a minimum of six and a maximum of 96 seats per Member State.
* Degressive proportionality means that each MEP from a more populous Member State represents more citizens than each MEP from a less populous Member State.
* Seat allocation must consider demographic developments in the Member States.
Data and Calculation:
* The total population of Member States is calculated by Commission Eurostat based on data provided by the Member States.
Seat Allocation for 2024-2029 Term:
* Specifies the number of representatives in the European Parliament elected in each Member State for the 2024-2029 parliamentary term (listed in document).
Future Seat Allocation:
* The European Parliament shall submit a proposal for an updated allocation of seats sufficiently far in advance of the 2029-2034 parliamentary term, and if possible by the end of 2027.
Budgetary Considerations:
* The budgetary authority and the Commission should ensure that the increase in the number of seats is budgetary neutral within Section 1 of the general budget.
Impact Analysis:
European Parliament:
Impact: The European Parliament must operate within the defined seat allocation principles and propose an updated seat allocation.
Action Required: To submit a proposal for an updated seat allocation to the European Council sufficiently far in advance of the 2029-2034 parliamentary term, and if possible by the end of 2027.
Member States:
Impact: The number of representatives each Member State will have in the European Parliament for the 2024-2029 term is determined.
Action Required: No direct action stipulated, but should be aware of the seat allocation and its implications.
Commission Eurostat:
Impact: Responsible for calculating the total population of Member States based on provided data.
Action Required: Continue calculating and providing population data according to Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013.
Budgetary Authority and the Commission:
Impact: Must ensure budgetary neutrality regarding the increase in seats.
Action Required: Ensure that the increase in the number of seats is budgetary neutral within Section 1 of the general budget of the Union.
European Council:
Impact: The European Parliament shall submit to the European Council a proposal for an updated allocation of seats.
Action Required: Receive and consider the proposal from the European Parliament for an updated allocation of seats.
Key Entities Referenced
European Council: The institution of the European Union, comprising heads of state or government of the Member States, which provides the Union with the necessary impetus for its development and defines the general political directions and priorities thereof.
European Parliament: The parliamentary assembly of the European Union that, with the Council of the European Union, forms the legislative branch of the EU.
Treaty on European Union: One of the two primary treaties upon which the European Union (EU) is founded.
European Atomic Energy Community: An international organisation established by the Treaty of Rome on 25 March 1957 with the original purpose of creating a specialist market for nuclear power in Europe.
Council of the European Union: A body composed of government ministers from each EU member state to make laws and coordinate EU policies.
Commission Eurostat: The statistical office of the European Union responsible for producing data on the European Union and promoting harmonisation of statistical methods across the member states.
Regulation EU No 1260/2013: A regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on European demographic statistics.
Brussels: The de facto capital city of the European Union, located in Belgium, where the European Council decision was made.
L 238/114 EN Official Journal of the European Union 27.9.2023
DECISIONS
EUROPEAN COUNCIL DECISION (EU) 2023/2061
of 22 September 2023
establishing the composition of the European Parliament
THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL,
Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Article 14(2) thereof,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 106a(1)
thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Parliament(1),
Having regard to the consent of the European Parliament(2),
Whereas:
(1) Article 14(2), first subparagraph, of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) lays down the criteria for the composition
of the European Parliament, namely that representatives of the Union’s citizens are not to exceed seven hundred and
fifty in number, plus the President, that representation is to be degressively proportional, with a minimum threshold
of six members per Member State, and that no Member State is to be allocated more than ninety-six seats.
(2) Article 10 TEU provides, inter alia, that the functioning of the Union is to be founded on representative democracy,
with citizens being directly represented at Union level in the European Parliament and with Member States being
represented by their governments, themselves being democratically accountable to their national Parliaments or
citizens, in the Council.
(3) Article 14(2) TEU therefore applies within the context of the wider institutional arrangements set out in the Treaties,
which also include the provisions on decision-making in the Council.
(4) By the end of 2026 and in advance of the proposal on its composition, the European Parliament should propose an
objective, fair, durable and transparent seat distribution method implementing the principle of degressive
proportionality, without prejudice to the institutions’ prerogatives under the Treaties. Taking into account the
impact of possible future developments, such a method should safeguard a sustainable maximum number of
members of the European Parliament.
(5) The budgetary authority and the Commission, in the exercise of their prerogatives under the annual budgetary
procedure, should ensure that the increase in the number of seats foreseen by this Decision is budgetary neutral
within Section 1 of the general budget of the Union,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
In the application of Article 14(2) TEU, the following principles shall be respected:
— the total number of seats in the European Parliament shall not exceed 750 in number, plus the President;
(1) Proposal adopted on 15 June 2023 (not yet published in the Official Journal).
(2) Consent of 13 September 2023 (not yet published in the Official Journal).27.9.2023 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 238/115
— the allocation of seats to Member States shall be degressively proportional with a minimum threshold of six seats and a
maximum threshold of 96 seats per Member State, while reflecting as closely as possible the sizes of the respective
populations of the Member States;
— degressive proportionality is defined as follows: the ratio between the population and the number of seats of each
Member State before rounding up or down to the nearest whole number is to vary in relation to their respective
populations in such a way that each Member of the European Parliament from a more populous Member State
represents more citizens than each Member of the European Parliament from a less populous Member State and,
conversely, that the larger the population of a Member State, the greater its entitlement to a large number of seats in
the European Parliament;
— the allocation of seats in the European Parliament is to consider demographic developments in the Member States.
Article 2
The total population of the Member States is calculated by the Commission (Eurostat) on the basis of data provided by the
Member States, in accordance with a method established by means of Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 of the European
Parliament and of the Council(3).
Article 3
The number of representatives in the European Parliament elected in each Member State for the 2024–2029 parliamentary
term is set as follows:
Belgium 22
Bulgaria 17
Czechia 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
(3) Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2013 on European demographic
statistics (OJ L 330, 10.12.2013, p. 39).L 238/116 EN Official Journal of the European Union 27.9.2023
Portugal 21
Romania 33
Slovenia 9
Slovakia 15
Finland 15
Sweden 21
Article 4
Sufficiently far in advance of the beginning of the 2029–2034 parliamentary term, and if possible by the end of 2027, the
European Parliament shall submit to the European Council, in accordance with Article 14(2) TEU, a proposal for an
updated allocation of seats in the European Parliament.
Article 5
This Decision shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Done at Brussels, 22 September 2023.
For the Council
The President
C. MICHEL