In the next election for the European Parliament, scheduled for June 6-9 next year, citizens of the European Union will choose 720 legislators, 15 more than in the present Parliament, the Jutarnji List daily reported on Wednesday.

The number of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) is modified before each election to take into account any demographic changes in the member states. In the next European Parliament the number of Croatian MEPs will remain unchanged at 12.

To ensure “positive discrimination” of smaller member states, the lowest number of MEPs per country is six (Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta) and the highest is 96 (Germany).

Under the EU’s founding treaties, the European Parliament can have a maximum of 750 members plus President of Parliament. However, this number is always lower to leave room for any increases in case the EU expands during a five-year term.

According to diplomatic sources, the EU member states have already prepared a decision to increase the number of seats in the 2024-2029 term to 720. The extra 15 seats will be allocated to countries that have recorded population increases. France, the Netherlands and Spain will each receive two more seats, while Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia will get one each.

At the start of its present term, the European Parliament had 751 members, but with the United Kingdom’s departure from the Union their number was reduced to 705 and the vacancies were distributed among member states. Croatia received one seat, increasing its representation from 11 to 12 seats.

Croatia is among the member states with the largest population decreases. On the other hand, its neighbour Slovenia has seen a steady rise in the population, as a result of which it will be allocated one more seat in the next European Parliament, increasing its representation from eight to nine, Jutarnji List said.