EUROPEAN COUNCIL DECISION (EU) 2023/2061

of 22 September 2023

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 Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 106a(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Parliament (1),

Having regard to the consent of the European Parliament (2),

Whereas:

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

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

(3) Article 14(2) TEU 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.

(4) By the end of 2026 and in advance of the proposal on its composition, the European Parliament should propose an objective, fair, durable and transparent seat distribution method implementing the principle of degressive proportionality, without prejudice to the institutions’ prerogatives under the Treaties. Taking into account the impact of possible future developments, such a method should safeguard a sustainable maximum number of members of the European Parliament.

(5) The budgetary authority and the Commission, in the exercise of their prerogatives under the annual budgetary procedure, should ensure that the increase in the number of seats foreseen by this Decision is budgetary neutral within Section 1 of the general budget of the Union,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

In the application of Article 14(2) TEU, the following principles shall be respected:

— the total number of seats in the European Parliament shall not exceed 750 in number, plus the President;

— the allocation of seats to Member States shall be degressively proportional with a minimum threshold of six seats and a maximum threshold of 96 seats per Member State, while reflecting as closely as possible the sizes of the respective populations of the Member States;

— degressive proportionality is defined as follows: the ratio between the population and the number of seats of each Member State before rounding up or down to the nearest whole number is to 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 of the European Parliament 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 in the European Parliament;

— the allocation of seats in the European Parliament is to consider demographic developments in the Member States.

Article 2

The total population of the Member States is calculated by the Commission (Eurostat) on the basis of 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 (3).

Article 3

The number of representatives in the European Parliament elected in each Member State for the 2024–2029 parliamentary term is set as follows:

Article 4

Sufficiently far in advance of the beginning of the 2029–2034 parliamentary term, and if possible by the end of 2027, the European Parliament shall submit to the European Council, in accordance with Article 14(2) TEU, a proposal for an updated allocation of seats in the European Parliament.

Article 5

This Decision shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the

Official Journal of the European Union

.

Done at Brussels, 22 September 2023.

For the Council

The President

C. MICHEL

(1)  Proposal adopted on 15 June 2023 (not yet published in the Official Journal).

(2)  Consent of 13 September 2023 (not yet published in the Official Journal).

(3)  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

).