Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are elected by the population of the member states of the European Union (EU). The European Electoral Act 2002 allows member states the choice to allocate electoral subdivisions or constituencies (; ; ; ) for the European Parliament elections in several different ways.
Most EU countries operate a single national constituency which elects MEPs for the whole country. Belgium and Ireland are each subdivided into constituencies, with electoral results calculated separately in each constituency. Germany, Italy and Poland are each subdivided into electoral districts, with the number of representatives determined at the national level after each election in proportion to the votes cast in each district.
In Germany, political parties are entitled to present lists of candidates either at Länder or national level.
Currently, all constituencies use various forms of proportional representation (PR), except the single-seat German-speaking electoral college in Belgium, which uses first-past-the-post. The parliament as a whole is not PR, because seats are apportioned between member states by degressive proportionality.
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List of constituencies
Constituency Member State Area/Community Seats Seats country total Population, 2012 (thousands) Area (km2) At election Current Current Total Per cur. seat Total Per cur. seat Austria Austria (Full country) 18 19 19 Dutch-speaking electoral college Belgium Flemish Community 12 12 21 French-speaking electoral college French Community of Belgium 8 8 German-speaking electoral college German-speaking Community of Belgium 1 1 Bulgaria Bulgaria (Full country) 17 17 17 Croatia Croatia (Full country) 11 12 12 Cyprus Cyprus (Full country) 6 6 6 Czech Republic Czech Republic (Full country) 21 21 21 Denmark Denmark (Full country) 13 14 14 Estonia Estonia (Full country) 6 7 7 Finland Finland (Full country) 13 14 14 France France (Full country) 74 79 79 Germany Germany Full country, parties can opt for separate lists in the 16 Bundesländer 96 96 96 Greece Greece (Full country) 21 21 21 Hungary Hungary (Full country) 21 21 21 Dublin Ireland Dublin and counties Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin 3 4 14 Midlands–North-West Counties Cavan, Donegal, Galway, Kildare, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo and Westmeath; and the city of Galway 4 5 South Counties Carlow, Clare, Cork, Kilkenny, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow; and the cities of Cork, Limerick and Waterford 4 5 North-West Italy Aosta Valley, Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont 20 20 76 North-East Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Veneto 14 15 Central Latium, Marche, Tuscany, Umbria 14 15 Southern Abruzzo, Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise 17 18 Islands Sardinia, Sicily 8 8 Latvia Latvia (Full country) 8 8 8 Lithuania Lithuania (Full country) 11 11 11 Luxembourg Luxembourg (Full country) 6 6 6 Malta Malta (Full country) 6 6 6 Netherlands Netherlands (Full country) 26 29 29 Pomeranian Poland Pomeranian Voivodeship 3 3 52 Kuyavian-Pomeranian Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship 2 2 Podlaskie and Warmian-Masurian Podlaskie and Warmian-Masurian Voivodeships 3 3 Warsaw City of Warsaw and part of the Masovian VoivodeshipPowiats: Grodzisk, Legionowo, Nowy Dwór, Otwock, Piaseczno, Pruszków, Warsaw West and Wołomin 6 6 Masovian The rest of the Masovian VoivodeshipPowiats: Ciechanów, Gostynin, Mława, Płock, Płońsk, Przasnysz, Sierpc, Sochaczew, Żuromin, Żyrardów, Białobrzegi, Grójec, Kozienice, Lipsko, Przysucha, Radom, Szydłowiec, Zwoleń, Garwolin, Łosice, Maków, Mińsk, Ostrołęka, Ostrów, Pułtusk, Siedlce, Sokołów, Węgrów, Wyszków and the cities of Płock, Radom, Ostrołęka and Siedlce 3 3 Łódź Łódź Voivodeship 3 3 Greater Poland Greater Poland Voivodeship 5 5 Lublin Lublin Voivodeship 3 3 Subcarpathian Subcarpathian Voivodeship 3 3 Lesser Poland and Świętokrzyskie Lesser Poland and Świętokrzyskie Voivodeships 5 6 Silesian Silesian Voivodeship 7 7 Lower Silesian and Opole Lower Silesian and Opole Voivodeships 4 4 Lubusz and West Pomeranian Lubusz and West Pomeranian Voivodeships 4 4 Portugal Portugal (Full country) 21 21 21 Romania Romania (Full country) 32 33 33 Slovakia Slovakia (Full country) 13 14 14 Slovenia Slovenia (Full country) 8 8 8 Spain Spain (Full country) 54 59 59 Sweden Sweden (Full country) 20 21 21 Total 751 705 705
Former constituencies
Denmark
Denmark had a separate constituency for Greenland until 1985, when the autonomous territory withdrew from the EEC (later expanded to become the EU).
France
Between 2004 and 2019, France was divided into 8 constituencies: East Île-de-France Massif-central–Centre North-West Overseas Territories South-East South-West West
Ireland
Ireland's constituencies have changed several times: 1979 to 2004: Connacht–Ulster, Dublin, Leinster, Munster 2004 to 2014: Dublin, East, North-West, South 2014 to present: Dublin, Midlands–North-West, South
United Kingdom
Before the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU, there was a 3-member single transferable vote constituency covering Northern Ireland. The constituencies covering England, Scotland, and Wales changed several times: Between 1979 and 1994, there were 78 first-past-the-post single-member constituencies. Between 1994 and 1999, there were 84 first-past-the-post single-member constituencies. Between 1999 and 2020, there were 11 d'Hondt multi-member constituencies, one for each of Scotland, Wales, and the nine regions of England. From 2004, the South West England constituency also covered Gibraltar.
Proposed pan-European constituency On 3 May 2022 the European Parliament passed (323 votes to 262) a "legislative resolution on the reform of European electoral law".https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2022-0129_EN.html See Article 15 Union-wide constituency Among the proposals is the creation of a 28-member pan-Union constituency elected by party-list proportional representation on a list separate from elections for regional constituencies. However, in July 2023 the reference to it was removed by the European Council.
See also Member of the European Parliament Constituency Apportionment in the European Parliament
References
External links
Fact Sheets on the European Union European Parliament election, 2004 (Belgium) – electoral law European Parliament election, 2004 (Finland) – electoral law European Parliament election, 2004 (France) – electoral law European Parliament election, 2004 (Ireland) – electoral law European Parliament election, 2004 (Poland) – electoral law European Parliament election, 2004 (United Kingdom) – electoral law