Voorstellen voor aanpassing zetelverdeling Europees Parlement (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The four EU member states of Sweden, Austria, Slovenia and Malta will have a stronger representation in the EU assembly than they do now, under preliminary proposals on seat distribution by the European Parliament from 2009.
Each of the four would get one more MEP bringing their numbers up to 20, 19, 8 and 6 respectively.
In total, 17 member states are to get less MEPs with Italy (less six) and the UK (less five) losing the most eurodeputies.
The remaining six countries - Spain, Bulgaria, Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus and Luxembourg -will maintain the same number of MEPs as they have now during the next five-year legislature beginning in 2009.
The proposals - by French centre-right MEP Alain Lamassoure and Romanian socialist MEP Adrian Severin - cap the total number of MEPs at 750, down from the current 785.
The arrangements are based on the principle that the bigger the population of a member state, the higher the number of citizens each MEP represents.
The provisions do not take into account future enlargement of the EU, with Croatia already waiting in the wings and pushing to join in 2009.
But they suggest that the 750-seat ceiling can be "provisionally passed" in the case of EU expansion.
The exact division of MEPs seats between member states is set to be the subject of intense political wrangling as governments go into the final stages of drawing up the bloc's new treaty.
Some member states have indicated they only want to make commitments on the treaty once the seat distribution has been fixed.
In June, EU leaders asked parliament to come with a recommendation by October on the issue.
Any decision reached by EU leaders on seats must be approved by the European Parliament itself.