Apportionment in The European Parliament - Lisbon System

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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