The European Parliament has 53 new members as of January 1, 2007, following the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the EU. The national parliaments of the two countries nominated 35 Romanians and 18 Bulgarians respectively to represent them in the EP until both nations are summoned for their first European elections later this year.
The numbers coincide with those of the observers Romania and Bulgaria have had in the European Parliament since September 2005. Many of these observers will keep their seats as full MEPs, while others are soon to be named.
The 53 brings the total number of MEPs to 785, which will go down to 736 after the 2009 European elections, when Romania will be represented by 33 MEPs and Bulgaria by 17.
