2 research outputs found
Mathematical aspects of degressive proportionality
We analyze properties of apportionment functions in context of the problem of
allocating seats in the European Parliament. Necessary and sufficient
conditions for apportionment functions are investigated. Some exemplary
families of apportionment functions are specified and the corresponding
partitions of the seats in the European Parliament among the Member States of
the European Union are presented. Although the choice of the allocation
functions is theoretically unlimited, we show that the constraints are so
strong that the acceptable functions lead to rather similar solutions.Comment: several minor corrections, revised version 10 pages in two column
style, one figure and two tables include
The implications of possible enlargements of the European Union for the configuration of power in the European parliament
PURPOSE: The paper aims at simulating the composition of the European Parliament (EP)
after possible impending enlargements of the European Union. To this end, a number of
scenarios are considered to this end including the accession of the four countries with
current candidate status and the three countries which applied for admission to the
Community as of March 2022.APPROACH/METHODOLOGY/DESIGN: The analyzed simulations of EP composition were
developed using the methods most frequently proposed in the literature, i.e. the parabolic
method, the base+prop method and r-DP methods. These methods allocate the seats in
concordance with the condition of degressive proportionality.FINDINGS: All the scenarios of the EU enlargement discussed imply an increased total EP
representation of the group of countries with low income in terms of GDP per capita, hence
their role in the EP increases. This result complies with the idea of the harmonious
development of European countries based on cooperation as promoted by the Community.PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Eight different scenarios of possible enlargements of the European
Union were applied to determine the divisions of seats in the European Parliament. These
simulations can underlie the choice of a concrete method of finding the allocation of
mandates as an alternative to the current practice of determining the composition of seats by
negotiations. Grouping states according to GDP per capita makes it possible to compare the
methods employed in the context of their influence on the total quantity of the representation
of countries with different levels of affluence.ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The added value of this paper is the comparison of results from selected
methods in view of possible enlargements of the Community. In particular, it turns out that
the base+prop method is the most “neutral” for the countries with the highest GDP per
capita, as in the case of Ukraine’s accession.peer-reviewe