Trwały system podziału mandatów w Parlamencie Europejskim – uwarunkowania prawne i polityczne

Abstract

The article analyses the issue of introducing a permanent system of distribution of seats in the European Parliament, taking into account the existing legal and political conditions. It points out that as a result of the entry into force of the provisions of the Treaty of Lisbon, and then Brexit, the indirect voting power of citizens of the largest Member States, especially Germany, France and Italy, in the decision-making process in the EU, has increased. At the same time, most of the proposed methods of distribution of seats in this institution lead to a significant increase in the number of parliamentary seats for the Member States with the largest populations. The paper presents the original concept of a permanent system of distribution of seats in the European Parliament, which ensures that when it is first applied, no Member State will have a smaller number of seats than it resulted from European Council Decision of 28 June 2013 establishing the composition of the European Parliament. It, therefore, meets the important political requirement that the introduction of the new method of distribution of parliamentary seats does not result in a reduction in the number of seats for any Member State.