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 |
|||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member state | 2007 |
2009 |
2014 |
Member state | 2007 |
2009 |
2014 |
Member state | 2007 |
2009 |
2014 |
||
| 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 Kingdom | 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 | ||
| Total: | 785 | 736 | 751 | ||||||||||
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.
Read more about this topic: Apportionment In The European Parliament
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