The number of seats in the European Parliament hemicycle in Strasbourg may be cut from 751 to 705 post-Brexit European Parliament

The number of seats in the European Parliament hemicycle in Strasbourg may be cut from 751 to 705 post-Brexit European Parliament

European Parliament seats under review

The European Parliament has been discussing the redistribution of Britain’s 73 EP seats once it leaves the European Union in March next year. Under review is a plan to cut the total number of seats in the parliament from its current maximum of 751 to 705. An EP committee has proposed that 27 of Britain’s 73 seats in the parliament should be shared across the 14 member states that are currently under-represented in terms of seats proportionate to their population. Spain and France could each gain five more seats, with Italy and the Netherlands gaining three. It proposed that some seats could in the future be reserved for pan-European lists. Luxembourg is over-represented in proportion to its population and currently has the minimum of six seats in the parliament. Interestingly, the proposal stresses “that this allocation would apply only if the UK actually leaves the EU. Otherwise the current arrangements would stay.”

 

A new Hanseatic League

British MEP Rupert Matthews has launched Projekt Hansa, a new sort of Hanseatic League, to promote trade, tourism and develop cultural links across northern Europe. The new initiative has the support of Matthews’s fellow European Conservatives and Reformists MEPs from across northern Europe. “We are using an old idea to bring new life to northern Europe's trade and cultural connections which I hope will strengthen the economies of all our countries,” Matthews said. In a column written for the "Telegraph", Matthews said that: “Unlike the ongoing negotiations in Brussels, Projekt Hansa is not led by governments, states or bureaucrats. Instead we are bringing together influential individuals, business organisations and community groups who are united in a desire to make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead.”

 

Mind your language

On the day that Liz Wenger’s online Luxembourg language course was granted ministerial accreditation, Chicago TV station WGN9 presenter Larry Potash had a go at pronouncing some of the language’s more amusing words. The results can be heard, here.