The European Parliament will shrink from 751 to 705 MEPs when the United Kingdom leaves the EU, leaving room for new countries that may join in the future.
Besides reducing the European Parliament’s size from 751 to 705 elected representatives, a proposed re-distribution of seats, approved by the full House on Wednesday, will also place 46 of the 73 seats, to be freed up by the departure of the UK, in a reserve.
Some or all of the 46 seats in the reserve can then be allocated to new countries joining the EU or remain empty, thus reducing the size of Parliament. The remaining 27 seats will be re-distributed among the 14 EU countries that are slightly under-represented.
