How many MEPs will each EU country get in 2024?
The number of MEPs will increase in 2024 to reflect demographic changes in the EU since 2019.
In September 2023, MEPs approved the European Council’s decision to increase the number of European Parliament seats by 15 to 720 for the 2024-2029 legislative term.
The Council’s proposal was based on a report from the Parliament recommending an additional 11 seats.
Seats per country for the 2024 elections to the European Parliament
Distribution of seats in the European Parliament
Seats per country for the 2024 elections
|
Countries
|
Current number of MEPs
|
Number of MEPs in 2024
|
Comparison between both columns
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
96
|
96
|
Unchanged
|
|
FR
|
79
|
81
|
+2
|
|
IT
|
76
|
76
|
Unchanged
|
|
ES
|
59
|
61
|
+2
|
|
PL
|
52
|
53
|
+1
|
|
RO
|
33
|
33
|
Unchanged
|
|
NL
|
29
|
31
|
+2
|
|
BE
|
21
|
22
|
+1
|
|
EL
|
21
|
21
|
Unchanged
|
|
CZ
|
21
|
21
|
Unchanged
|
|
SE
|
21
|
21
|
Unchanged
|
|
PT
|
21
|
21
|
Unchanged
|
|
HU
|
21
|
21
|
Unchanged
|
|
AT
|
19
|
20
|
+1
|
|
BG
|
17
|
17
|
Unchanged
|
|
DK
|
14
|
15
|
+1
|
|
FI
|
14
|
15
|
+1
|
|
SK
|
14
|
15
|
+1
|
|
IE
|
13
|
14
|
+1
|
|
HR
|
12
|
12
|
Unchanged
|
|
LT
|
11
|
11
|
Unchanged
|
|
SI
|
8
|
9
|
+1
|
|
LV
|
8
|
9
|
+1
|
|
EE
|
7
|
7
|
Unchanged
|
|
CY
|
6
|
6
|
Unchanged
|
|
LU
|
6
|
6
|
Unchanged
|
|
MT
|
6
|
6
|
Unchanged
|
|
Total
|
705
|
720
|
|
How is the number of MEPs per country decided?
EU law allows for a maximum of 750 MEPs, plus the President. The number of seats per country is decided before each European election.
The distribution of seats takes into account the size of the population of member states as well as the need for a minimum level of representation for European citizens from smaller countries. This principle of “degressive proportionality”, which is enshrined in the Treaty on the European Union, means that while smaller countries have fewer MEPs than bigger countries, MEPs from larger countries represent more people than their counterparts from smaller countries.
The minimum number of seats per country is six and the maximum is 96.