The European treaty stipulates that the European Parliament may have a maximum of 750 members and a president. Currently 705 seats are occupied, but MEPs want to increase that to 716 after the June 2024 elections to take into account the most recent population figures. In the parliament’s proposal, the Netherlands and Spain would each receive two additional European representatives. Austria, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia, Ireland, Slovenia and Latvia would receive one additional seat. Our country would get stuck at 21.
However, the composition of the European Parliament is not decided by Parliament itself, but by the Heads of State and Government in the Council. Belgium is now contesting the formula according to which Parliament wants to distribute the additional seats. According to a diplomat, the population growth here is sufficient to claim one or two extra European seats.
Belgium is not alone in its resistance. France is demanding up to four additional seats in the European Parliament. That in turn makes Germany nervous, which wants to safeguard its numerical superiority in the hemisphere.