EU Parliament: 2024 elections, 28 seats to a transnational list. “Council will work on the proposal without delay”

(Strasbourg) As a consequence of demographic changes in the EU, the European Parliament's Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) proposed distributing an additional 11 seats to nine countries. “The current composition of Parliament is no longer in line with the principles enshrined in the Treaties”, a statement reads. It is thus proposed to give two extra representatives to Spain and the Netherlands, and one extra representative to Austria, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia, Ireland, Slovenia and Latvia in the upcoming 2024 European elections. In addition, 28 seats should be saved for elected members within a future transnational constituency, in line with Parliament's resolution on the reform of the European electoral law. No EU Member State will lose seats. The proposal is to be presented at the current plenary session in Strasbourg on Thursday 15 June. It is Parliament's task to draw up a proposal for the distribution of seats among Member States in view of the European elections that will take place in 2024. The Council will have to continue negotiations on the reform of the electoral law. “Any further delay in the work of the Council on the modification of European electoral law would run counter to the principle of sincere cooperation”, the AFCO said. According to the Treaties, Parliament shall not exceed 750 members plus the President; each Member State shall not be allocated less than 6 and more than 96 seats, distributed according to the principle of “degressive proportionality”, in line with the most recent demographic data.
Sarah Numico