Exhibition
In less than a year, Germany had regained its unity and its sovereignty. This was a source of great satisfaction for the European Parliament, backed up by the belief it had risen to these historic events. An urgent issue then emerged: German reunification raised the question of democratic representation for the 16 million new citizens of the European Community. The European Parliament accordingly agreed to grant seats to 18 observers from the five Länder of the former GDR.
Democratically elected to the East German Volkskammer (People’s Chamber) in March 1990 and sent by the German Bundestag in the meantime, these observers began to follow the work of the European Parliament and its parliamentary committees and political groups in 1991. Following a number of logistical modifications, they joined the German delegation without the right to vote. The delegation thereby grew from 81 to 99 MEPs pending a definitive regulation on representation for all Member States and the organisation of European elections in June 1994.
