Wednesday, February 7, 2018

European Parliament votes against transnational lists

MEPs rejected the idea of a transnational list for the 2019 European elections on Wednesday (7 February), though they agreed to change the composition of the Parliament in light of Brexit. 
The much-debated project of transnational lists did not win over MEPs. During a plenary session in Strasbourg, European representatives made their choice by voting against the creation of a transnational list for the 2019 elections.
Clearly divided on the issue, the outcome was still uncertain until the end of the vote. The initial proposal, put forward by MEPs Danuta Hübner and Pedro Silva Pereira, mentioned keeping 46 of the 79 seats vacated by the UK for a pan-European list. The additional seats would have been redistributed to under-represented member states in the Parliament.
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Following the end of the vote, the European Parliament finally decided to reduce the number of MEPs from 751 to 705 for the next elections and to remove the MEP reserve initially made for the constitution of a transitional list.
The remaining 27 seats, however, were granted by a large majority to the rebalancing of the Parliament’s composition. According to the text adopted with 552 votes for, 109 against and 17 abstentions, countries that experienced an increase in population will get additional seats for the next elections. France notably gains the most by winning 5 more seats and going from 74 to 79 MEPs.
This new distribution now has to be approved by the heads of governments and states, who will meet for an informal summit in Brussels on 23 February.
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Euractiv

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