From the next legislature we will go from 705 to 720 MEPs. Number unchanged for Italy, 76 European parliamentarians
The European elections are one month away. The electoral campaign is starting to heat up more and more every day. After the closing of the lists, which usually brings with it the aftermath of grumbling and stomachaches within the individual parties, we will witness the latest polls on the consensus of the various political forces and the various projections on the composition of the next European Parliament.
FROM JUNE THE EP GOES FROM 705 TO 720 MEPs
From the next legislature the European Chamber will have 15 more deputies. In fact, due to the demographic changes that have occurred in Europe since the beginning of the legislature, the European Parliament has established that the number of parliamentarians will increase from the current 705 to 720.
The last electoral round the European Parliament elected 751, the maximum allowed by the EU Treaties. In 2020, with the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU, of the 73 seats that became free, 27 were redistributed to other countries, while the remaining 46 were reserved for possible future enlargements. We therefore went from 751 seats to 705. In 2019, Italy had 73 MEPs, which rose to 76 after Brexit, with the entry of: Vincenzo Sofo, candidate on the League lists but then moved to FdI, Salvatore De Meo of Forza Italia and Sergio Berlato of Fratelli d’Italia.
The number of tenants in the house of European democracy is therefore growing but the change will not affect the electoral balance of all countries. For example, no change comes for Italy, where the MEPs will remain 76.
NUMBER UNCHANGED FOR ITALIAN REPRESENTATIVES
According to the average of the latest polls, as reported by LaPresse – the only ones to gain seats in the next legislature of the European Parliament are the Brothers of Italy and the Five Star Movement, in addition to the two new formations United States of Europe and Green/Left Alliance, which should exceed the threshold of 4%.
According to the Europe Elects poll aggregator published by Euractiv, Fratelli d’Italia is at 28% with 23 seats (it had obtained 5 in 2019, it had won one after Brexit and now has 10), the Democratic Party at 20 % (17 seats against the 19 taken in 2019, now down to 14), the M5S is given 16% (it would return to the 14 seats taken five years ago, but which during the legislature had been reduced to 5 due to exits), Forza Italia would take 8% (7 seats compared to 6 in 2019, plus one acquired after Brexit, the current seats are 10), to which must be added the seat for minorities assigned to Südtiroler Volkspartei (also from the EPP group).
The League would instead remain slightly above Forza Italia, but by dropping to 9% it would take the same number of seats as Forza Italia’s supporters: 7. A sharp drop compared to 34% in 2019, a result which had given it 28 seats, to which one must be added acquired after Brexit, up to 11pm now. United States of Europe would take 5% equal to 4 seats, of which 3 to Italia Viva and one to Più Europa. Finally, the Greens and Left Alliance would exceed the threshold and take home 2 seats for the Greens and one for the Italian Left.
VARIATIONS IN OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, WHO GAINS SEATS
As regards the distribution of seats among the other EU states, without variation – he recalls the Ansa – also Germany with 96 representatives, Poland with 53 or Sweden with 21. Instead, those who will grow by one seat thanks to their demographic change will be Belgium, which will thus move to 22, Denmark which rises to 15, Ireland with 14, Latvia at 9, Austria at 20, Poland at 53, Finland at 15, Slovenia at 9 and Slovakia at 15.
Spain was rewarded with two more seats, which thus moved to 61, the Netherlands which moved to 31 and France which flew to 81. The share of representatives of the EU microstates, Cyprus, Malta and Luxembourg remained unchanged, maintaining their quota of 6 MEPs .
As regards voting systems, Italy, Poland and Belgium are the only countries to have multiple electoral constituencies, with the country divided into 5: North East, North West, Centre, South and Islands. The other EU countries with a majority of states have a single constituency, including Spain, France and Germany, even with closed lists and without preferences.
