An additional seat in the European Parliament increases the opportunities to influence the decision-making process and to co-shape EU policies, which have a huge impact on our daily lives. "Slovenia's ninth seat in the European Parliament brings better representation of Slovenian citizens and of the interests of EU citizens. As a former MEP, I am well aware of how important it is to strengthen Slovenia's voice within the Union," said Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon on the news of Slovenia's additional seat.

The total number of seats in the European Parliament will increase from 705 to 720. The 15 new seats have been divided among 12 member states, based on demographic changes in the EU since the 2019 European Parliament elections. Besides Slovenia, additional seats have been allocated to Austria, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia, Ireland, Latvia, Belgium and Poland, while Spain, the Netherlands and France have each been allocated two additional seats. This will not only ensure a more consistent application of the principle of degressive proportionality, which allocates more seats per capita to countries with smaller populations than to larger ones, but also an appropriate representation of smaller member states.

The final adoption of the decision requires unanimous approval of the proposal at the European Council level, the written procedure taking place in the coming days.