HC Deb 19 March 1993 vol 221 cc430-1W
Mr. Spearing

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish a table showing the number of members of the European Parliament elected currently, an as proposed, by each member state together with the respective member to electorate ratios, the number of constituencies and the methods of election in each current or future election proposed or decided.

Mr. Goodlad

The following table sets out the information. The numbers of seats and proportion of population per MEP following the 1994 election are given in brackets:

Country Seats Total Population (million) population per MEP Constituencies/voting system
Netherlands 25 (31) 14.7 588,000 (474,194) Proportional representation in single constituency (national list)
Portugal 24 (25) 10.2 425,000 (408,000) Proportional representation in single constituency (national list)
United Kingdom 81 (87) 56.9 702,469 (654,023) Simple majority in 78 constituencies in England, Wales and Scotland. Proportional representation (STV) in single constituency in Northern Ireland

We are discussing the allocation of the United Kingdom's six extra seats and will take discussions soon. So far as we are aware, other member states have not announced how they intend to allocate their additional seats.