IRELAND will lose just two MEPs because of EU enlargement, rather than the three originally planned. The Government has agreed that Ireland's representation at the European Parliament will be cut from 15 to 13 instead of the proposed 12, and the decision will be formally ratified at the Treaty Accession meeting in April.
By Marie O'Halloran
There are currently 626 members of the European Parliament and when enlargement is completed with 27 member-states, the number will rise to a maximum of 732.
The Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, has welcomed the development as a "significant plus for Ireland" and said that "proportionately the outcome for Ireland is very positive. We still have a very strong representation at EU level."
In the negotiations which resulted in the Nice Treaty, the original proposal was for Ireland's representation to be cut to eight, a move strongly resisted by the Government.
Eventual agreement was reached at 12 but this was raised to 13.
At existing levels each German MEP represents some 829,000 electors while every Irish MEP represents just 249,000.
Mr Cullen will establish a boundary commission later this year, which will determine the new boundaries and where the two seats will be lost, in advance of the European elections in May next year.
Its membership will also include the secretary general of the Department of the Environment, Mr Niall Callan, the clerk of the Dáil, Mr Kieran Coughlan, the clerk of the Seanad, Ms Deirdre Lane, and the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr John Purcell.Once established, the commission will operate independently and the public will be entitled to make submissions.
Based on current MEP levels, the accession of the 12 central and eastern European countries would have swelled the number to 963. With a 732 ceiling, Germany will have the largest number of MEPS at 99, while the UK, France and Italy will each have 78. Countries such as Spain and the largest incoming member-state, Poland, will be represented by 54 MEPS.
The Netherlands will have 27, while Greece, the Czech Republic, Portugal and Austria will have 24, Sweden 19, Austria 18, and Slovenia, Denmark and Finland 14. Ireland and Lithuania will have 13 MEPs, while Estonia is among the member-states with six MEPs.
The smallest EU member, Malta, will have five MEPs, should its electorate vote yes in its forthcoming referendum on membership.