"The arms that you wield now are not such as your forefathers wielded; but they are infinitely more effective, and infinitely more irresistable" ~ Cymru Fydd leaflet, 1890

Friday 3 February 2012

Wales' representation in the EU.

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The European Parliament has 754 MEPs. These represent the 27 member states of the EU. Wales is not a member as it is a region of the UK. The UK has 72 MEPs. Of this 72 only 4 represent the 3 million people that live in Wales. That's 0.5% of the total number of EU MEPs.


The minimum number of MEPs that each member state has is 6. Remember Wales is a region so it has as many MEPs as Westminster allows it to have, even then they are still representing interests of the UK first and Wales second.
  • Malta has 400,000 people and are represented in the EU by 6 MEPs.
  • Luxembourg has 500,000 people and are represented in the EU by 6 MEPs.
  • Cyprus has 800,000 people and are represented in the EU by 6 MEPs.
  • Estonia has 1.3 million people and are represented in the EU by 6 MEPs.
  • Slovenia has 2 million people and are represented in the EU by 7 MEPs.
  • Latvia has 2.2 million people and are represented in the EU by 8 MEPs.
  • Wales has 3 million people and as a region of the UK it has 4 MEPs.
  • Lithuania has 3.3 million people and are represented in the EU by 12 MEPs

    So we have the raw data, how do they look as a graph?

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    Here we have a graph showing the countries (and region) listed above. The graph clearly shows the countries increasing in population.
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    Now when we take those same countries (and region) and compare the number of MEPs each one has you see one sticks out like a sore thumb. If you divide the population (1st graph) by the amount of MEPs (2nd graph) you will see how many people are represented by each MEP.
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    It's quite clear that an independent Wales would have somewhere between 8 and 12 MEPs. (or 1-1.5% of the total number of MEPs in Europe).

    So that's either double or treble what the UK government allows us to have. And not only would we have far more MEPs fighting our corner in the EU. They would also be representing only Wales and not the interests of their UK bosses.

    I've created this basic video to make it easier and quicker to share with the masses.



    To tweet this article (and video) click here
    Facts and figures can be checked here and here.
    Thanks to bcnsco for the idea behind this video and article, if only mine was half as funky as his Lord Rockingham / Lego video.

    6 comments:

    1. For every region in Europe that at present do not have the minimum number of MEP's. By how much would the size of the EU have to be expanded to if every region was represented?

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      Replies
      1. Well I don't know about other countries but as for those that make up the UK, Wales has 4 but it should be around 10-12. N Ireland has 3 but that should be at the minimum of 6 if it were independent. If it were unified with Ireland then Irelands 12 would have to increase to around 15. So that's no change overall.

        Scotland has 7 but would increase to around 13 at least so that's another 6. England however has 58 so based on their population they would slot in somewhere between Spain (50) and Italy (72). They would probably only lose a few. So in the scope of Wales, Scotland and England there wouldn't be a huge difference overall but it would be a fairer spread based on population.

        At some point I have planned to run the numbers over the rest of the EU states and see where our "regions" would fit in just to see if we are all under represented. But that's for another time.

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    2. It's not the UK government you should be blaming....

      UK MEPs - 78 (Note that individual regions i.e Northern Ireland Wales, Scotland and England can not be given their own MEPs. Just like Bavaria or Catalonia can't. Therefore )

      Populations:

      Northern Ireland - 1,810,900 (Has 3 MEPs)
      Wales - 3,064,000 (Has 4 MEPs)
      Scotland - 5,254,800 (Has 7 MEPs)
      England - 53,013,000 (Has 64 MEPs)

      Total - 63,142,700

      63,142,700 Divided (/) by 78 = 809,521 (1 MEP for 809,521 people)

      1,810,900 / 809,521 = 2.2 (2 MEPs for Northern Ireland)
      3,064,000 / 809,521 = 3.78 (4 MEPS for Wales)
      5,254,800 / 809,521 = 6.5 (7 MEPs for Scotland)
      53,013,000 / 809,521 = 65.4 (65 MEPs for England)

      Total MEPs = 78 (In actual fact England seem to lose one and Northern Ireland gains 1)



      Malta Population - 400,000 (Has 6 MEPs, you say)
      400,000 / 6 = 1 MEP per 66,666 people

      Lithuania Population - 3,300,000 (Has 12 MEPs, you say)
      3,300,000 / 12 = 1 MEP per 275,000 people

      Therfore, the UK is not given enough MEPs or other countries are given too many MEPs, your choice.

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. I don't believe I have attributed any blame to anyone. All I have done is highlight the fact that an independent Wales would have a far greater say as part of the EU as it currently does as part of the UK.

        Around three times the say in fact. But if you consider the fact that three of our current four MEPs are all unionists, then really it could be as high as 12 times the amount. Since in an independent Wales ALL of our MEPs would be fighting for Wales.

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      2. Indeed, you are correct.

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    3. Yes but!
      For the EU to reach its full democratic potential, the citizens of an independent Wales, as with any other nation, should be voting for MEPS who best represent the vision of European Union they identify with - green, conservative, social democratic , federalist or what ever. We need to be able to vote for MEPS as Europeans.

      And fight like hell for the interests of Wales in the Council of Ministers which is supposed to articulate the interests of nations.

      ReplyDelete