Commission Opinion pursuant to the first subparagraph of Article 48(3) of the Treaty on European Union on a European Council Decision in favour of examining amendments to the Treaties concerning the composition of the European Parliament, as proposed by the Government of Spain
Date: 2010-04-27
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European Parliament, composition of parliament, intergovernmental conference (EU), operation of the Institutions

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 27.4.2010 
COM(2010) 189 final 

COMMISSION OPINION 

pursuant to the first subparagraph of Article 48(3) of the Treaty on European Union 

on a European Council decision in favour of examining amendments to the Treaties 
concerning the composition of the European Parliament, as proposed by the 
Government of Spain 

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COMMISSION OPINION 

pursuant to the first subparagraph of Article 48(3) of the Treaty on European Union 

on a European Council decision in favour of examining amendments to the Treaties 
concerning the composition of the European Parliament, as proposed by the 
Government of Spain 

The Commission welcomes the Spanish government's initiative to amend Protocol No 36 to 
the  Treaty  of  Lisbon  on  Transitional  Provisions.  It  shares  the  position  that  the  transitional 
measures  concerning  the  composition  of  the  European  Parliament  to  which  the  European 
Council has given its political agreement should be adopted as soon as possible, in accordance 
with the necessary legal procedures. 

The Commission recalls that the Spanish initiative aims to put into practice a long-standing 
political agreement of the European Council. The initiative is the consequence of the fact that 
the European elections in June 2009 did not take place, as initially foreseen, according to the 
rules of the Treaty of Lisbon. 

Following a request from the European Council, the European Parliament had already adopted 
a resolution1 on 11 October 2007 including a draft European Council decision on the future 
composition of the Parliament. The draft decision provided numbers of representatives in the 
European Parliament in view of Article 14(2) of the Treaty on European Union as amended 
by  the  Treaty  of  Lisbon.  The  European  Council  gave  its  political  agreement  to  the  draft 
decision  at  the  time  of  the  Intergovernmental  Conference  20072,  including  one  additional 
amendment  to  the  numbers  put  forward  (namely,  one  additional  seat  for  a  member  from 
Italy)3. 

At its meeting on 11 and 12 December 2008 the European Council declared that in the event 
of  the  Treaty  of  Lisbon  only  entering  into  force  after  the  European  elections  in  June  2009, 
transitional measures would be adopted as soon as possible in order to increase the number of 
Members  of  the  European  Parliament  (MEPs)  until  the  end  of  the  2009-2014  legislative 
period,  in  conformity  with  the  numbers  agreed  at  the  time  of  the  Intergovernmental 
Conference  2007.  The  declaration  explicitly  states  that  the  total  number  of  MEPs  will 
therefore rise from 736 to 754 until the end of the 2009-2014 legislative period. It also states 
that the modification should enter into force, if possible, in 2010. 

After the European elections in June 2009, the European Council again recalled its declaration 
at  its  meeting  on  18  and  19  June  2009,  explicitly  listing  the  numbers  agreed  during  the 
Intergovernmental Conference 2007. It was also specified how Member States could fill the 
additional  seats,  namely  by  an  ad  hoc  election,  by  reference  to  the  results  of  the  European 
elections  in  June  2009  or  by  having  the  respective  national  parliament  appoint  the  requisite 
number of members from its midst. Following the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 

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European  Parliament  Resolution  of  11  October  2007  on  the  composition  of  the  European  Parliament 
{2007/2169(INI)}. 
Declaration No 5 annexed to the Final Act of the Intergovernmental Conference. 
Declaration No 4 annexed to the Final Act of the Intergovernmental Conference. 

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1 December 2009, the Spanish government put forward its initiative on which the European 
Council has now consulted the Commission.  

Since the proposal reflects the political agreement among Member States that was reached in 
view of the Treaty entering into force after the June 2009 European elections, the Commission 
recommends opening an Intergovernmental Conference as soon as possible, remaining strictly 
limited  to  discussion  of  the  Spanish  proposal  for  a  protocol  amending  Protocol  No  36  on 
Transitional Provisions. 

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