Bulgaria Likely to Lose 1 European Parliament Seat in 2014

Bulgaria is likely to lose one European Parliament seat in 2014, it has been made clear.

The Balkan country will remain with just 17 MEPs if the proposed new redistribution of seats in the European Parliament after the 2014 elections is accepted at the plenary session in March.

According to the method adopted by the Constitutional Affairs Committee, the reallocation should be viewed in two steps: first is the redistribution of seats in line with the principle of degressive proportionality and taking advantage of the lower (6 MEPs/Member State) and upper (96 MEPs/Members State) limits set by the Lisbon Treaty; second step is a political compensation between the gains and losses according to the principle that no-one gains and no-one loses more than one.

Therefore the Member States that will lose seats are: Germany, Romania, Greece, Belgium, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Bulgaria, Ireland, Croatia, Lithuania and Latvia.