The distribution of seats in the Parliament is set to change after the next European elections as a result of Brexit. Check out Parliament’s proposal in our infographic.
The proposal, adoptedin Parliament on 7 February, calls for a reduction in the overall number of seats after the UK’s withdrawal from the EU comes into force, but also suggests to allocate additional MEPs to some EU countries.
The new rules would come into force in time for the European elections in 2019, but will have to be approved by member states.
At the moment the Parliament boasts 751 seats, which is the maximum number allowed by the EU treaties. The report proposes to redistribute 27 of the UK’s 73 seats to other countries, while keeping the remaining 46 seats for future enlargements. This would mean the number of MEPs to be elected would be 705.
Distribution of seats: no losers
The redistribution of seats proposed by MEPs ensures that no EU country would lose any seats, while some would gain anything from one to five seats to redress under-representation following demographic changes.
source: europarl.europa.eu
