EP reduces size after Brexit

Today, the European Parliament’s Constitutional Affairs Committee voted on the new distribution of the European Parliament’s seats for 27 Member States, after the UK’s departure, for the next legislative mandate from 2019-2024. The new agreement cuts 46 seats from the European Parliament after Brexit and brings the number of elected MEPs down from 751 to 705.

“One of the main challenges of this Report was how to deal with the legacy of Brexit. The EPP Group was able to achieve a key success, namely to reduce the size of the European Parliament. This will make our institution leaner whilst ensuring its political operability”, highlighted Danuta Hübner MEP, responsible for the Report on the Composition of the European Parliament.

"Through tough negotiations on a politically-sensitive dossier, we have managed to ensure an outcome that is both legally and politically feasible, whilst respecting the Treaty. Using a minimal number of the seats vacated by the United Kingdom post-Brexit, we have now corrected the imbalances in the current allocation of seats to Member States", concluded Hübner.

A majority of MEPs in the Constitutional Affairs Committee voted in favour of the creation of so-called transnational lists for the European elections which would be created by reforming the EU’s electoral law. The EPP Group rejects such a list for the upcoming elections, citing the need for the establishment of the relevant legal base first.

The next steps: the Report will be voted on by all MEPs in the February plenary session. Then the European Council will decide by unanimity. The EP must give its final consent to the European Council decision in the upcoming months in order for Member States to be able to make the necessary preparations in time for the European elections in 2019.