Lisbon deal could change size of European Parliament

By Simon Taylor - 11.12.2008 / 17:32 CET

French proposal would result in a Parliament with 754 MEPs from 2010; deal also outlines means of managing transition to new form of presidency.

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Fact file

From the European Council's draft conclusions:

Treaty of Lisbon — Transitional measures concerning the Presidency of the European Council and the Presidency of the Foreign Affairs Council

In the event that the Lisbon Treaty enters into force at a date when a six-monthly Presidency of the Council has already begun, the European Council agrees that, as a matter of transition, in order to take into account the preparatory work and ensure an harmonious continuity of the work :

the competent authorities of the Member State holding the six-monthly Presidency of the Council at that time will continue to chair all the remaining meetings as regards the Council and the European Council as well as third country meetings until the end of the semester;
the following six-monthly Presidency of the Council will be in charge of taking the necessary specific measures relating to the organisational and material aspects of the Presidency of the European Council and of the Foreign Affairs Council during its semester, in conformity with the Treaty. On these issues, a close consultation will be established between this Presidency and the President (elect) of the European Council and the High Representative (designate) of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Annex IV

Declaration of the European Council

Treaty of Lisbon — Transitional measures concerning the composition of the European Parliament

In the event that the Lisbon Treaty would enter into force after the European elections of June 2009, transitional measures will be adopted as soon as possible, in accordance with the necessary legal procedures, in order to increase, until the end of the 2009-2014 parliamentary term, in conformity with the numbers provided for in the framework of the IGC which approved the Lisbon Treaty, the number of MEPs of the twelve Member States for which the number of MEPs was set to increase. Therefore, the total number of MEPs will pass from 736 to 754 until the end of the 2009-2014 parliamentary term. The objective is that this modification should enter into force, if possible, during the year 2010.