Presently, the European Parliament has 705 members (not including the President). As a rule, the number of seats to which the individual member states of the European Union (EU) are entitled depends on population size and is based on the principle of degressive proportionality. Accordingly, the small EU member states have more seats in relation to the number of their population than large Member States. At the 2009 European Election, Germany accounted for the former maximum number of 99 seats while Malta received the minimum number of 5 seats. This had been laid down in the Treaty establishing the European Community as revised by the Treaty of Nice and last amended by the Acts of Accession of Bulgaria and Romania. The EU Reform Treaty of Lisbon, which entered into force on 1 December 2009, now provides for an upper limit of 751 seats (including the President) with a maximum of 96 seats (Germany) and a minimum of 6 seats (Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta) per member state.
Since the withdrawal of the United Kingdom on 31 January 2020 the European Parliament has only 705 seats. 27 of the United Kingdom’s 73 seats were redistributed among 14 Member States which had been slightly underrepresented. The remaining 46 seats were set aside to provide for future enlargements of the EU. Germany kept its 96 seats.
| Member State |
Distribution of seats in the European Parliament |
| 2004 - 2009 |
after the |
| 2009 European Election |
entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty 1 |
accession of Croatia |
2014 European Election 1 |
withdrawahl of United Kingdom 1 |
| Austria |
18 |
17 |
19 (+2) |
19 |
18 (-1) |
19 (+1) |
| Belgium |
24 |
22 |
22 |
22 |
21 (-1) |
21 |
| Bulgaria |
18 |
17 |
18 (+1) |
18 |
17 (-1) |
17 |
| Croatia |
– |
– |
– |
12 |
11 (-1) |
12 (+1) |
| Cyprus |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
| Czech Republic |
24 |
22 |
22 |
22 |
21 (-1) |
21 |
| Denmark |
14 |
13 |
13 |
13 |
13 |
14 (+1) |
| Estonia |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
7 (+1) |
| Finland |
14 |
13 |
13 |
13 |
13 |
14 (+1) |
| France |
78 |
72 |
74 (+2) |
74 |
74 |
79 (+5) |
| Germany |
99 |
99 |
96/99 2 |
99 2 |
96 |
96 |
| Greece |
24 |
22 |
22 |
22 |
21 (-1) |
21 |
| Hungary |
24 |
22 |
22 |
22 |
21 (-1) |
21 |
| Ireland |
13 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
11 (-1) |
13 (+2) |
| Italy |
78 |
72 |
73 (+1) |
73 |
73 |
76 (+3) |
| Latvia |
9 |
8 |
9 (+1) |
9 |
8 (-1) |
8 |
| Lithuania |
13 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
11 (-1) |
11 |
| Luxembourg |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
| Malta |
5 |
5 |
6 (+1) |
6 |
6 |
6 |
| Netherlands |
27 |
25 |
26 (+1) |
26 |
26 |
29 (+3) |
| Poland |
54 |
50 |
51 (+1) |
51 |
51 |
52 (+1) |
| Portugal |
24 |
22 |
22 |
22 |
21 (-1) |
21 |
| Romania |
35 |
33 |
33 |
33 |
32 (-1) |
33 (+1) |
| Slovakia |
14 |
13 |
13 |
13 |
13 |
14 (+1) |
| Slovenia |
7 |
7 |
8 (+1) |
8 |
8 |
8 |
| Spain |
54 |
50 |
54 (+4) |
54 |
54 |
59 (+5) |
| Sweden |
19 |
18 |
20 (+2) |
20 |
20 |
21 (+1) |
| United Kingdom |
78 |
72 |
73 (+1) |
73 |
73 |
– |
| Total |
785 |
736 |
751/754 |
766 |
751 |
705 |
1 Figure in brackets: change on the previous number.
2 Germany kept the 99 seats it had been assigned in the European election.
A database containing the biographies, photos and addresses of members is available on the website of the European Parliament.
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