ABSTRACT
Up to the present, the composition of the European Parliament (EP) has been established by means of negotiations and agreements, sometimes linked to the power distribution in the Council of Ministers of the EU. The latest negotiation was to decide upon seat distribution for the period 2009–2014. The Intergovernmental Conference held in Lisbon on 19 October 2007 concluded with a one-seat increase in the allocation for Italy, stemming from the proposal elaborated by the Commission for Constitutional Affairs of the EP (EP 2007). This modification could be ratified on 13 December 2009, despite the fact that it overrides two of the criteria imposed for such solutions; namely, an EP size of 750, and a ratio of population to seats that is degressive with respect to the population of each member state. More precisely, the additional seat for Italy makes the value of a one seat for 804,818 people (58,751,700:73), while for Spain it is slightly lower, at one seat for 810,339 people (44,758,300:54).
