The European Parliament: Status Quo Vs. Degressive Proportionality

Abstract

The principle of degressively proportional representation in the European Parliament recorded in the Treaty of Lisbon has not been respected so far. According to the current proposals, neither it is applied in the 2014-2019 term of office. A political compromise has led to the dominance of another principle, that is "nobody gains and nobody loses more than one", which again by its assumption cannot be degressively proportional. This paper shows some examples of the allocations of seats according to this rule, which emphasize the need for the further discussion on the precise rules for the composition of the European Parliament in the future.