European Parliament constituency
Electoral district for a European Parliament seat
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Through Electoral district, Proportional representation and First-past-the-post voting
Most EU countries operate a single national constituency which elects MEPs for the whole country. Belgium and Ireland are each subdivided into constituencies, with electoral results calculated separately in each constituency. Germany, Italy and Poland are each subdivided into electoral districts, with the number of representatives determined at the national level after each election in proportion to the votes cast in each district.
In Germany, political parties are entitled to present lists of candidates either at Länder or national level.
Currently, all constituencies use various forms of proportional representation (PR), except the single-seat German-speaking electoral college in Belgium, which uses first-past-the-post. The parliament as a whole is not PR, because seats are apportioned between member states by degressive proportionality.
List of constituencies
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Former constituencies
Denmark
Denmark had a separate constituency for Greenland until 1985, when the autonomous territory withdrew from the EEC (later expanded to become the EU).
France
Between 2004 and 2019, France was divided into 8 constituencies:
- East
- Île-de-France
- Massif-central–Centre
- North-West
- Overseas Territories
- South-East
- South-West
- West
Ireland
Ireland's constituencies have changed several times:
- 1979 to 2004: Connacht–Ulster, Dublin, Leinster, Munster
- 2004 to 2014: Dublin, East, North-West, South
- 2014 to present: Dublin, Midlands–North-West, South
United Kingdom
Before the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU, there was a 3-member single transferable vote constituency covering Northern Ireland. The constituencies covering England, Scotland, and Wales changed several times:
- Between 1979 and 1994, there were 78 first-past-the-post single-member constituencies.
- Between 1994 and 1999, there were 84 first-past-the-post single-member constituencies.
- Between 1999 and 2020, there were 11 d'Hondt multi-member constituencies, one for each of Scotland, Wales, and the nine regions of England. From 2004, the South West England constituency also covered Gibraltar.
Proposed pan-European constituency
On 3 May 2022 the European Parliament passed (323 votes to 262) a "legislative resolution on the reform of European electoral law". Among the proposals is the creation of a 28-member pan-Union constituency elected by party-list proportional representation on a list separate from elections for regional constituencies. However, in July 2023 the reference to it was removed by the European Council.