ABSTRACT
The European Union’s 2007 Intergovernmental Conferences in Brussels and Lisbon agreed on a new composition of the European Parliament and on a new voting system for the Council of Ministers. For the legislative period 20092014, the EP seats are assigned to the 27 Member States based on a proposal of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, with Italy’s total incremented by one additional seat. This allocation is herein referred to as the ‘AFCO+1’ seat allocation.1 Starting in 2014, the Council of Ministers will use a ‘double majority’ voting system, whereby an act is adopted if carried by at least 55 per cent of the member states representing 65 per cent of the EU population.
