The Constitutional Affairs committee voted in favour of placing 46 of the UK’s 73 seats in reserve, effectively reducing the Parliament’s size from 751 to 705 seats in the 2019 European elections.

The other 27 British seats will “be shared out among 14 under-represented EU countries”, which includes Ireland.

The countries that will benefit most from the reallocation are France and Spain, each getting five extra MEPs. The Netherlands and Italy are next with three extra seats each.

European Parliament first vice-president Mairead McGuinness said: “This is a time of change, arising from Brexit and with the UK leaving it is positive that there will be two additional Irish voices in the European Parliament.”

The reallocation of British seats could favour majorities supporting Ireland’s views on agricultural issues. While the UK was often opposed to high levels of farm support under CAP and farmer-friendly regulation, its seats are mostly being redistributed to western and southern countries traditionally allied with Ireland rather than northern and eastern ones usually aligned with the British position.

Such policies, as well as the reallocation of seats itself, must be agreed by the Parliament and the council representing EU national governments before they come into force.

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