ABSTRACT
Parliamentary representation systems and governmental decision schemes are always subject to debate and reform. They should permit efficient political operations and, in modern democracies, they should stay close to the citizens. When the citizens are taken as the starting point, the central question is which population database to use. In the long run the population figures need to be reconsidered and properly defined, whether they are based on the number of European citizens, nationals, residents, or voters. The author records how the AFCO+1 seat allocation deviates from the citizen-based Fix+Prop apportionment. However, during the European Council in Lisbon the heads of state and government granted an extra seat to Italy, thus putting a premature end to AFCO-degressivity. There are a number of apportionment formulas which reconcile the implicit goals integral to the composition of the European Parliament. The ideal of equality is also the guiding principle for the Jagiellonian Compromise voting system in the Council of Ministers.
