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(1) There shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament—
(a) any expenditure incurred by a Minister of the Crown in consequence of this Act;
(b) any increase attributable to this Act in the sums so payable by virtue of paragraph 14 of Schedule 1 to the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c. 41) (expenditure of the Electoral Commission in the performance of its functions); and
(c) any other increase attributable to this Act in the sums payable out of money so provided by virtue of an Act other than this Act.
(2) There shall be charged on and paid out of the Consolidated Fund any increase attributable to this Act in the sums to be charged on and paid out of that Fund under any other Act.
(3) Subordinate legislation to which this subsection applies may make provision—
(a) for sums required to meet any expenditure (other than expenditure to be met from funds provided by Gibraltar) to be—
(i) paid out of money provided by Parliament; or
(ii) charged on and paid out of the Consolidated Fund; and
(b) for the payment of sums into the Consolidated Fund.
(4) Subsection (3) applies to—
(a) an order under section 12;
(b) regulations under section 17; and
(c) regulations under section 7 of the 2002 Act.
The functions of the Lord Chancellor under this Act are exercisable concurrently with the Secretary of State.
(1) In this Act—
“combined region” means the electoral region which includes Gibraltar;
“electoral region” means an electoral region of the United Kingdom established under the 2002 Act for the purposes of European Parliamentary elections;
“existing electoral region” means an electoral region existing immediately before the passing of this Act;
“MEP” means a member of the European Parliament; and
“the 2002 Act” means the European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 (c. 24).
(2) In this Act “enactment” means (subject to subsection (3))—
(a) a provision of an Act (whether passed before or after this Act), including a provision modified by this Act; or
(b) a provision of subordinate legislation (whenever made).
(3) In sections 13(4) and 18(3)(c) “enactment” also includes a provision of law passed or made in or for Gibraltar (whenever passed or made) and in section 13(4) it also includes a provision of Part 1 or 3 of this Act.
(1) This Act may be cited as the European Parliament (Representation) Act 2003.
(2) This Act extends to each part of the United Kingdom and to Gibraltar.
(3) Part 1, sections 9 and 10 and this Part come into force in each part of the United Kingdom on the passing of this Act but shall not come into force in Gibraltar until such day as the Lord Chancellor may appoint by order made by statutory instrument.
(4) Sections 11 to 24 shall not come into force until such day as the Lord Chancellor may appoint by order made by statutory instrument.
(5) Different days may be appointed under this section for different purposes.
Section 7
1 (1) As soon as possible after 1st May in a pre-election year the Electoral Commission (“the Commission”) must, subject to paragraph 2—
(a) carry out a review (“the periodic review”) of the distribution of MEPs between the electoral regions; and
(b) report its conclusions to the Secretary of State.
(2) In carrying out the periodic review the Commission must consider whether (assuming that each region is entitled to be allocated at least three MEPs) the ratio of electors to MEPs is as nearly as possible the same for every electoral region.
(3) If the Commission concludes that the result mentioned in sub-paragraph (2) is not achieved by the current distribution of MEPs, it must include in its report a recommendation specifying a distribution that would achieve that result.
(4) The report must be published by the Commission and laid before Parliament by the Secretary of State.
2 (1) The Commission may not take any step (or further step) under paragraph 1 if a 2003 Act order is made or a suspension notice is given to the Commission—
(a) within the period of 12 months ending with 1st May in the pre-election year in question or,
(b) after the end of that period but before the Commission makes its report,
unless and until the duties under paragraph 1 revive by virtue of sub-paragraph (2).
(2) If the Secretary of State withdraws a suspension notice more than nine months before the date of the poll for the next general election of MEPs, the duties under paragraph 1 revive (but subject again to this paragraph).
(3) In this Schedule—
“2003 Act order” means an order under section 5 of the European Parliament (Representation) Act 2003 (orders implementing changes in the number of United Kingdom MEPs) which takes effect in relation to the next general election of MEPs after it is made; and
“suspension notice” means a notice stating that the Secretary of State considers it likely that a 2003 Act order will be made before the next general election of MEPs.
3 (1) Where a recommendation under paragraph 1(3) is made to him, the Secretary of State must—
(a) lay before Parliament a draft of an order giving effect to the recommendation by amending any of the numbers specified in section 1(3); and
(b) if the draft is approved by resolution of each House, make an order in the terms of the draft.
(2) An order under this paragraph may make consequential, transitional or saving provision.
(3) Provision made under sub-paragraph (2) may modify any enactment.
(4) The Secretary of State must consult the Commission before laying an order under this paragraph before Parliament.
(5) This paragraph has effect subject to paragraphs 4 and 5.
4 (1) If a motion for the approval of a draft of an order under paragraph 3 is rejected by either House or withdrawn by leave of the House, the Secretary of State may, after consulting the Commission, alter the draft order and lay it before Parliament for approval.
(2) But the Secretary of State may not, without the consent of the Commission, alter a draft order so as to propose a distribution of MEPs other than that recommended under paragraph 1(3).
(3) The Commission may not give its consent under sub-paragraph (2) unless it is satisfied that the distribution of MEPs could have been recommended under paragraph 1(3).
(4) If an altered draft order is approved by both Houses the Secretary of State must make an order under paragraph 3 in the terms of the altered draft.
(5) This paragraph has effect subject to paragraph 5.
5 (1) The Secretary of State may not take any step (or further step) under paragraph 3 or 4 if a 2003 Act order is made before he would otherwise have taken it.
(2) Subject to that, the Secretary of State is not required to take any step (or further step) under paragraph 3 or 4 if and so long as he is of the opinion that it is likely that a 2003 Act order will be made before the next general election of MEPs.
(3) But if he ceases to be of that opinion, the Secretary of State—
(a) may not make an order under paragraph 3 on or after the relevant day; and
(b) is not required to take any other step under paragraph 3 or 4 if he does not consider that it will be practicable to make an order under paragraph 3 before the relevant day.
(4) In sub-paragraph (3) “the relevant day” means the first day of the period of four months ending with the day on which the poll for the next general election of MEPs is to be held.
6 (1) In this Schedule—
“general election of MEPs” means an election required to be held in the United Kingdom by virtue of Article 10(2) of the Act annexed to Council Decision 76/787;
“pre-election year” means a year (including 2003) which immediately precedes a year in which a general election of MEPs is to be held; and
“relevant register” means—
a register of parliamentary electors;
a register of local government electors;
a register of peers maintained under section 3 of the Representation of the People Act 1985 (c. 50) (peers resident outside the United Kingdom); and
a register maintained under regulation 5 of the European Parliamentary Elections (Franchise of Relevant Citizens of the Union) Regulations 2001 (SI 2001/1184) (citizens of the European Union other than Commonwealth and Republic of Ireland citizens).
(2) For the purposes of paragraph 1(2) a person is an “elector”, in relation to an electoral region, if his name appears on 1st May in the pre-election year concerned in (or in any part of) a relevant register which relates to the region.
(3) In calculating the total number of electors for any electoral region—
(a) persons who are registered but have not attained the age of 18 are to be counted as electors;
(b) a citizen of the European Union (not being a Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland) who is registered only for the purposes of local government elections is to be disregarded; and
(c) the Electoral Commission may assume that each relevant register is accurate and that names appearing more than once on registers (or parts of registers) which relate to an electoral region are the names of different electors.”
European Parliament (Representation) Act 2003