Ratification of Parliament's 18 additional MEPs completed
With the vote of Belgium's Joint Community Commission (CoCom), the process of ratifying the protocol allowing 18 additional Members to join the European Parliament has been successfully completed. The 27 national ratification procedures started on September 2010, following a decision by national governments in June 2010 to adopt a proposal modifying the EP composition.
All ratified protocols have now been brought together in Rome, where the treaty change has been signed, thus allowing the text to enter into force on 1 December. The next and final step is for national authorities to notify the European Parliament of their decisions as to who the new MEPs will be. Once this is done, the 18 will be able to start working as fully-fledged MEPs.
The European Council decided on 17 June 2010 to launch an Intergovernmental Conference to handle a treaty change proposed by Spain to allow for the 18 additional MEPs. This short IGC was dealt with at Coreper II, the meeting of the permanent representatives of the Member States in Brussels on 23 June 2010.
Contacts:
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Federico DE GIROLAMO