Report - A8-0007/2018Report
A8-0007/2018
European Parliament

REPORT on the composition of the European Parliament

26.1.2018 - (2017/2054(INL) – 2017/0900(NLE))

Committee on Constitutional Affairs
Rapporteurs: Danuta Maria Hübner and Pedro Silva Pereira


Procedure : 2017/2054(INL)
Document stages in plenary
Document selected :  
A8-0007/2018
Texts tabled :
A8-0007/2018
Debates :
Votes :
Texts adopted :

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

on the composition of the European Parliament

(2017/2054(INL) – 2017/0900(NLE))

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to Article 14(2) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU),

–  having regard to Article 10 TEU[1];

–  having regard to its resolution of 13 March 2013 on the composition of the European Parliament with a view to the 2014 elections[2],

–  having regard to its resolution of 11 November 2015 on the reform of the electoral law of the European Union, and the annexed proposal for a Council decision adopting the provisions amending the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage[3];

–  having regard to the European Council Decision 2013/312/EU of 28 June 2013 establishing the composition of the European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Good Friday Agreement of 10 April 1998;

–  having regard to Rules 45, 52 and 84 of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (A8-0007/2018),

A.  whereas the composition of the European Parliament must respect the criteria laid down in the first subparagraph of Article 14(2) TEU, namely representatives of the Union's citizens not exceeding seven hundred and fifty in number, plus the President, representation being degressively proportional, with a minimum threshold of six members per Member State and no Member State being allocated more than ninety-six seats;

B.  whereas Article 14(2) TEU states that the European Parliament shall be composed of representatives of the Union’s citizens;

C.  whereas the TEU and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union emphasise the importance of equality and equal treatment of citizens by Union institutions; whereas it is essential to enhance the equality of representation with a view of increasing the legitimacy of the European Parliament as the legislative body representing Union citizens;

D.  whereas the European Parliament has examined a number of proposals for a permanent system for the distribution of seats based on mathematical formulas that were commissioned by, and presented to, it;

E.  whereas on 29 March 2017 and in accordance with Article 50(2) TEU, the UK government notified the European Council of its intention to leave the European Union and whereas the two-year timeframe for the negotiation and conclusion of a withdrawal agreement ends on 29 March 2019, unless the European Council, in agreement with the United Kingdom, unanimously decides to extend that period;

F.  whereas, unless the current legal situation changes, the United Kingdom will no longer be a member of the European Union at the time of the next European elections in 2019;

G.  whereas, in its proposal of 11 November 2015 for a Council decision adopting the provisions amending the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, the European Parliament outlined its position on establishing a joint constituency in which lists are headed by each political family’s candidate for the post of President of the Commission;

H.  whereas several Member States have recently voiced support for the creation of a joint constituency as from the European elections in 2019; whereas a precondition for the establishment of a joint constituency is a modification of the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, which should be adopted at least one year before the European elections as stipulated in the Venice Commission’s Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters;

I.  whereas the introduction of such a constituency would reinforce the notion of European citizenship and strengthen the European character of the elections for the European Parliament;

J.  whereas not only lists submitted by established European political parties should be admissible as transnational lists for the European elections in the joint constituency, but also lists submitted by national political parties or movements not affiliated with a European political party, that conform to pre-established European criteria;

K.  whereas in its proposal of 11 November 2015 for a Council decision adopting the provisions amending the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage the European Parliament demanded the introduction of an obligatory threshold for constituencies, and for single-constituency Member States, in which the list system is used and that comprise more than a certain number of seats; considers that this threshold needs to be established taking into account the new allocation of seats;

1.  Notes that the current allocation of seats in the European Parliament as established in European Council Decision 2013/312/EU only applies to the 2014-2019 parliamentary term; stresses, therefore, that a new decision on the composition of the European Parliament for the 2019-2024 parliamentary term is required;

2.  Acknowledges the fact that that the current distribution of seats does not respect the principle of degressive proportionality in several instances, and therefore must be corrected for the composition of the European Parliament as of the next European elections in 2019;

3.  Recognises that a number of Member States consider that the voting system in the Council needs to be taken into consideration when deciding on the allocation of seats in the European Parliament;

4.  Underlines that, whilst the mathematical formulas display great potential for providing a permanent system for the distribution of seats in the future, it is politically unviable for Parliament to suggest a permanent system at this stage;

5.  Acknowledges the fact that, unless the current legal situation changes, the United Kingdom will no longer be a Member State at the time of the next European elections in 2019;

6.  Proposes that a new allocation of seats in Parliament, which respects the criteria laid down in Article 14 TEU, is applied as of the next European elections in 2019; in case the abovementioned legal situation concerning the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union changes, the allocation of seats applied during the 2014-2019 parliamentary term should apply until the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union becomes legally effective;

7.  Underlines that the seats to be vacated by the United Kingdom upon its withdrawal from the European Union will facilitate the adoption of a new allocation of seats in Parliament, which will implement the principle of degressive proportionality; further underlines that the new allocation proposed would allow for a reduction in the size of Parliament; notes that the use of only a fraction of the seats vacated by the United Kingdom is sufficient to ensure no loss of seats for any Member State and makes it possible to allocate a significant number of seats to the joint constituency;

8.  Underlines that the reduction in the size of Parliament would leave a number of seats to accommodate potential future enlargements of the European Union and members elected on transnational lists in a joint constituency;

9.  Recalls that under the Good Friday Agreement, the people of Northern Ireland have an inherent right to hold British or Irish citizenship, or both, and by virtue of the right to Irish citizenship, to citizenship of the Union as well;

10.  Recalls that degressive proportionality, as defined by the Treaties, is based on the number of seats per Member State and not on the nationality of the candidates;

11.  Calls on the Council to rapidly finalise the revision of the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage;

12.  Underlines that the reform of the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage proposed by the European Parliament will strengthen the European character of the elections and send a positive message for the future of the European project;

13.  Underlines that the revision of the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage shall create the legal basis for the establishment of the joint constituency;

14.  Considers that the proposed distribution based on the principles of the Treaties provides a solid foundation for a method to determine the allocation of seats in the future respecting the criteria of Article 14 TEU, in particular the principle of degressive proportionality, as well as being fair, transparent, objective, in line with the most recent demographic shifts, and understandable to European citizens;

15.  Submits to the European Council the annexed proposal for a decision of the European Council establishing the composition of the European Parliament, on the basis of its right of initiative laid down in Article 14(2) TEU; underlines the urgent need to adopt that decision, which requires its consent, so that the Member States can enact, in good time, the necessary domestic provisions to enable them to organise the European elections for the 2019-2024 parliamentary term;

16.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution and the proposal for a decision of the European Council annexed hereto, together with the aforementioned report of its Committee on Constitutional Affairs, to the European Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.

ANNEX TO THE MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

Proposal for a

decision of the European Council

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 initiative of the European Parliament,

Having regard to the consent of the European Parliament,

Whereas:

(1) The first subparagraph of Article 14(2) of the Treaty on European Union lays down the criteria for the composition of Parliament, namely representatives of the Union's citizens not exceeding seven hundred and fifty in number, plus the President, representation being degressively proportional, with a minimum threshold of six members per Member State, and no Member State being allocated more than ninety-six seats,

(2)  Article 10 of the Treaty on European Union provides, inter alia, that the functioning of the Union shall be founded on representative democracy with citizens being directly represented at Union level in the European Parliament and Member States being represented by their governments, themselves being democratically accountable to their national Parliaments or citizens, in the Council. Article 14(2) of the Treaty on European Union on the composition of the European Parliament 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,

(3)  The appropriate legal basis for a joint constituency comprising the entire territory of the Union needs to be provided by the Council decision adopting the provisions amending the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, stipulating, in accordance with Article 223 (1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the terms for the establishment of such a joint constituency;

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

In the application of the provisions of Article 14(2) of the Treaty on European Union, the following principles shall be respected:

— the allocation of seats in the European Parliament shall fully utilise the minimum and maximum thresholds per Member State set by the Treaty on European Union in order to reflect as closely as possible the sizes of the respective populations,

–  degressive proportionality shall be defined as follows: the ratio between the population and the number of seats of each Member State before rounding to whole numbers shall 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 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,

–  the allocation of seats shall reflect demographic developments in Member States.

Article 2

  The total population of the Member States is calculated by the Commission (Eurostat) on the basis of the most recent 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[1].

Article 3

1. The number of representatives in the European Parliament elected in each Member State is hereby set as follows for the 2019-2024 parliamentary term:

Belgium

21

Bulgaria

17

Czech Republic

21

Denmark

14

Germany

96

Estonia

7

Ireland

13

Greece

21

Spain

59

France

79

Croatia

12

Italy

76

Cyprus

6

Latvia

8

Lithuania

11

Luxembourg

6

Hungary

21

Malta

6

Netherlands

29

Austria

19

Poland

52

Portugal

21

Romania

33

Slovenia

8

Slovakia

14

Finland

14

Sweden

21

2. However, in case the United Kingdom is still a Member State of the Union at the beginning of the 2019-2024 parliamentary term, the number of representatives in the European Parliament per Member State taking up office shall be the one provided for in Article 3 of the European Council Decision 2013/312/EU[2] until the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union becomes legally effective.

Once the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union becomes legally effective, the number of representatives in the European Parliament elected in each Member State shall be the one indicated in paragraph 1 of this Article.

The representatives in the European Parliament who fill the additional seats resulting from the difference between the number of seats allocated to that Member State in the first and second subparagraphs of this paragraph shall take up their seats in Parliament at the same time.

Article 4

Following the entry into force of the appropriate legal basis for transnational lists, a joint constituency comprising the entire territory of the Union shall be established. The terms of such joint constituency shall be stipulated in the Council Decision adopting the provisions amending the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage.

However, in case the United Kingdom is still a Member State of the Union at the beginning of the 2019-2024 parliamentary term, and if there are representatives in the European Parliament elected on transnational lists, they shall only take up their seats once the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the Union becomes legally effective.

The number of representatives elected in the joint constituency shall be defined on the basis of the number of Member States.

Article 5

Sufficiently far in advance of the beginning of the 2024-2029 parliamentary term, the European Parliament shall submit to the European Council, in accordance with Article 14(2) of the Treaty on European Union, a proposal for an updated allocation of seats.

Article 6

This Decision shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Done at ...

For the European Council

The President

.

  • [1]  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).
  • [2]  European Council Decision 2013/312/EU of 28 June 2013 establishing the composition of the European Parliament (OJ L 181, 29.6.2013, p. 57).

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

The apportionment of seats in the Parliament is a politically sensitive issue as it has a direct impact on citizens’ representation in the only directly elected European institution. In this respect, it is of utmost importance to ensure that the composition of the European Parliament is based on fair, transparent, objective, sustainable, and equitable principles.

The distribution of the European Parliament’s seats must follow the general provisions of Article 14 of the Treaty on European Union. These provisions concern the size of the Parliament, the maximum and minimum number of seats allocated to each Member State, and that the seats must be allocated in line with the principle of degressive proportionality. This principle is currently defined by European Council Decision 2013/312/EU.

The current distribution of seats in the Parliament only partially respects the principle of degressive proportionality as defined in secondary legislation. The current distribution has been adopted as a “pragmatic solution”, which was also designed to partially compensate the imbalances resulting from the current voting system in the Council. In 2013, this pragmatic solution was based on the principle that “nobody gains and nobody loses more than one seat” as a result of the political compromise that was struck. Such a political compromise meant that in some cases Members of the European Parliament from Member States with a smaller population represented more citizens per Member than their colleagues from relatively more populous Member States[1]. This runs counter to the principle of degressive proportionality as it is currently defined.

The European Parliament has always attached great importance to the need to consider the establishment of a system for the distribution of seats in conjunction with a revision of the voting system in the Council, in order to ensure an inter-institutional balance[2]. This issue is alluded to in the European Council Decision of 28 June 2013 on the composition of Parliament (2013/312/EU). It must be noted, however, that a change to the voting rules in the Council would require a change in the Treaties.

Over the years, the Parliament has acknowledged the importance of a permanent system for the fair, objective, and transparent[3] distribution of its seats, before each new European election, in line with the provisions as set out in the Treaties. In this regard, it has sought to find a suitable method by commissioning several studies to examine a number of mathematical models for the allocation of its seats. However, a permanent system has not yet been put in place.

In its Resolution of 13 March 2013 on the composition of the European Parliament in view of the 2014 elections[4], the Parliament undertook to propose a system for the apportionment of its seats. This idea was taken up by the European Council in Article 4 of its Decision of June 2013 establishing the composition of the European Parliament[5] (to which the Parliament gave its consent). This Decision committed the Parliament to present a proposal for the definition of “…a system which in future will make it possible, before each fresh election to the European Parliament, to allocate the seats between Member States …” by the end of 2016. Due to compelling political reasons linked to the UK referendum of 23 June 2016, the Parliament could not prepare a proposal before the end of 2016, as required by the European Council Decision.

The Rapporteurs have examined a number of proposals for a permanent system for the distribution of seats in Parliament based on mathematical formulas[6]. Among the proposals which came closest to matching all criteria was the FPS (Fix, Proportional to population and Square root to population) method. It produces interesting results that deserve further analysis and should be taken into consideration for the future allocation of seats from the 2024 elections onwards.

While this and other formulas do respect the formal conditions necessary to achieve a composition of Parliament, which fully meets the requirements of Article 14 (2) TEU, they do not provide a solution which is also politically acceptable in the long run as well as in the current context. This current political context makes it very difficult to commit to a permanent system for the distribution of Parliament’s seats at this time. The political uncertainty is further compounded by the legal uncertainty as a result of the triggering of Article 50 by the United Kingdom. This is especially the case, because the procedure for finalising the European Council Decision in the Annex of this resolution has to be concluded by the summer of 2018, due to legal constraints of some Member States. By that time, the UK’s withdrawal from the EU will not have been completed. Therefore, it is legally and politically unfeasible to propose a permanent system for the distribution of the Parliament’s seats at this stage.

Furthermore, as the Parliament has already underlined the importance of the link between a permanent system for the distribution of its seats and a review of the voting system in the Council, which cannot be achieved without a revision of the Treaties, the Rapporteurs consider that the establishment of a system should be postponed to a time when the political context is ripe for a comprehensive discussion on the inter-institutional balance.

The Rapporteurs’ proposal: a solution based on principles

The Rapporteurs are presenting a draft European Council Decision on the composition of Parliament that provides a distribution of seats among the Member States, which is fair, objective and based on clear principles. Taking into account the need of Member States to have legal certainty regarding the number of representatives they would elect for the 2019 - 2024 parliamentary term sufficiently ahead of the elections, the Rapporteurs propose to maintain the currently applicable distribution of seats for the period while the UK is still a Member of the Union. Once the UK formally and legally withdraws from the Union, the new distribution would take effect.

This new distribution is based on three principles:

1.  Respect for the principle of degressive proportionality, as required by Article 14 TEU

2.  No loss of seats for any Member State

3.  A minimal redistribution of the seats vacated by the UK’s exit from the EU

The proposed solution is a viable option in the current political context and it fully respects the three above-mentioned principles and all criteria listed in Article 14 TEU. The proposal of the Rapporteurs uses a minimal number of UK seats that would remain vacant when the UK’s withdrawal from the EU has been formally and legally completed, thus bringing the size of Parliament down to 705 MEPs. This would mean that 46 seats remain available for potential future enlargements or to be partially used for a joint constituency.

Furthermore, the new distribution based on principles corrects all breaches to the principle of degressive proportionality without entailing any losses of seats for the member States, while at the same time reducing the size of Parliament.

Annex I illustrates the impact of the Rapporteurs’ proposal on the distribution of seats among the Member States. Most notably it proves that the proposed solution respects the principle of degressive proportionality by meeting the following two criteria:

(1)  no less populous State shall receive more seats than a more populous State,

(2)  the ratio population/seats shall increase as population increases before rounding to whole numbers.

Regarding the issue of the joint constituency, the Rapporteurs underline that this issue should be settled in the framework of the reform of the European electoral law. The European Parliament resolution of 11 November 2015 on the reform of the electoral law of the European Union outlined the possibility of establishing a joint constituency in which lists are headed by each political family’s candidate for the post of President of the Commission. Therefore, once the legal basis has been adopted, the creation of a joint constituency and the setting aside of a portion of Parliament’s seats for this purpose should be considered for future elections.

ANNEX

Principle-based solution for the distribution of seats in Parliament for the 2019 - 2024 parliamentary term:

 

Population 2017[1]

Current distribution of seats

Population/ MEP

New Distribution

Population/ MEP

Germany

82064489

96

854838

96

854838

France

66661621

74

900833

79

854636

United Kingdom

65341183

73

895085

 

 

Italy

61302519

73

839761

76

806612

Spain

46438422

54

859971

59

800662

Poland

37967209

51

744455

52

744455

Romania

19759968

32

617499

33

617499

Netherlands

17235349

26

662898

29

615548

Belgium

11289853

21

537612

21

537612

Greece

10793526

21

513977

21

513977

Czech Republic

10445783

21

497418

21

497418

Portugal

10341330

21

492444

21

492444

Hungary

9830485

21

468118

21

468118

Sweden

9998000

20

499900

21

476095

Austria

8711500

18

483972

19

458500

Bulgaria

7153784

17

420811

17

420811

Denmark

5700917

13

438532

14

407208

Finland

5465408

13

420416

14

390386

Slovakia

5407910

13

415993

14

386279

Ireland

4664156

11

424014

13

358781

Croatia

4190669

11

380970

12

349222

Lithuania

2888558

11

262596

11

262596

Slovenia

2064188

8

258024

8

258024

Latvia

1968957

8

246120

8

246120

Estonia

1315944

6

219324

7

187992

Cyprus

848319

6

141387

6

141387

Luxembourg

576249

6

96042

6

96042

Malta

434403

6

72401

6

72401

TOTAL

510860699

751

 

705

 
  • [1]  As established by Council Decision 2016/2353

MINORITY OPINION (23.1.2018)

pursuant to Rule 52a(4) of the Rules of Procedure

Kazimierz Ujazdowski on behalf of the ECR Group

We do not agree with the decision to re-distribute seats after Brexit. The EP loses a massive opportunity to reduce its membership to 678 Members. A smaller European Parliament would be more efficient and reducing the budget would be greatly appreciated by our citizens. Moreover, the authors of the report, contrary to the previous EP resolutions, did not present the objective criteria for the new distribution, and therefore the allocation of seats is arbitrary.

The ECR also opposes the calls for the future creation of a transnational list. Transnational MEPs, whom would be beyond traditional electoral boundaries, will only serve to make citizens feel even more distant from the EU. It is naive to assume it will increase accountability and participation in European elections when it will unfortunately do the exact opposite.

INFORMATION ON ADOPTION IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

Date adopted

23.1.2018

 

 

 

Result of final vote

+:

–:

0:

20

4

1

Members present for the final vote

Michał Boni, Mercedes Bresso, Elmar Brok, Fabio Massimo Castaldo, Pascal Durand, Esteban González Pons, Danuta Maria Hübner, Diane James, Ramón Jáuregui Atondo, Alain Lamassoure, Jo Leinen, Morten Messerschmidt, Maite Pagazaurtundúa Ruiz, Markus Pieper, Paulo Rangel, Helmut Scholz, György Schöpflin, Pedro Silva Pereira, Barbara Spinelli, Claudia Țapardel, Josep-Maria Terricabras, Kazimierz Michał Ujazdowski, Guy Verhofstadt

Substitutes present for the final vote

Max Andersson, Pervenche Berès, Roberto Gualtieri, Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann, Jérôme Lavrilleux, Georg Mayer, Rainer Wieland

FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE I

on the draft Proposal for a decision of the European Council establishing the composition of the European Parliament

21

+

ALDE

Maite Pagazaurtundúa Ruiz, Guy Verhofstadt

EFDD

Fabio Massimo Castaldo

GUE/NGL

Helmut Scholz, Barbara Spinelli

PPE

Michał Boni, Elmar Brok, Esteban González Pons, Danuta Maria Hübner, Alain Lamassoure, Markus Pieper, Paulo Rangel, György Schöpflin

S&D

Pervenche Berès, Mercedes Bresso, Ramón Jáuregui Atondo, Jo Leinen, Claudia Țapardel, Pedro Silva Pereira

VERTS/ALE

Pascal Durand, Josep-Maria Terricabras

4

-

ECR

Morten Messerschmidt, Kazimierz Michał Ujazdowski

ENF

Georg Mayer

NI

Diane James

0

0

 

 

Key to symbols:

+  :  in favour

-  :  against

0  :  abstention

FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE II

on the draft Motion for a European Parliament Resolution

20

+

ALDE

Maite Pagazaurtundúa Ruiz, Guy Verhofstadt

EFDD

Fabio Massimo Castaldo

GUE/NGL

Helmut Scholz, Barbara Spinelli

PPE

Michał Boni, Elmar Brok, Esteban González Pons, Danuta Maria Hübner, Alain Lamassoure, Paulo Rangel, György Schöpflin

S&D

Pervenche Berès, Mercedes Bresso, Ramón Jáuregui Atondo, Jo Leinen, Claudia Țapardel, Pedro Silva Pereira

VERTS/ALE

Pascal Durand, Josep-Maria Terricabras

4

-

ECR

Morten Messerschmidt, Kazimierz Michał Ujazdowski

ENF

Georg Mayer

NI

Diane James

1

0

PPE

Markus Pieper

Key to symbols:

+  :  in favour

-  :  against

0  :  abstention

Last updated: 26 January 2018
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