   #copyright

European Parliament

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Politics and government

   Sign in the entrance of the European Parliament building in Brussels,
   written in all the official languages used in the European Union as of
   July 2006
   Enlarge
   Sign in the entrance of the European Parliament building in Brussels,
   written in all the official languages used in the European Union as of
   July 2006
   The European Parliament building in Strasbourg
   Enlarge
   The European Parliament building in Strasbourg
   The debating chamber, or "hemicycle", in Strasbourg
   Enlarge
   The debating chamber, or "hemicycle", in Strasbourg
   The European Parliament building in Brussels
   Enlarge
   The European Parliament building in Brussels

   The European Parliament (formerly European Parliamentary Assembly) is
   the parliamentary body of the European Union (EU), directly elected by
   EU citizens once every five years. In fact, it is the only part of the
   E.U. body that is democratic. Together with the Council of Ministers,
   it composes the legislative branch of the institutions of the Union. It
   meets in two locations: Strasbourg and Brussels.

   The European Parliament has restricted legislative power. It cannot
   initiate legislation, but it can amend or veto it in many policy areas.
   In certain other policy areas, it has the right only to be consulted.
   Parliament also supervises the European Commission; it must approve all
   appointments to it, and can dismiss it with a vote of censure. It also
   has the right to control the EU budget.

   Other organisations of European countries, such as the OSCE, the
   Council of Europe, and the Western European Union, have parliamentary
   assemblies as well, but the members of these assemblies are appointed
   by national parliaments as opposed to direct election.

Composition

   The European Parliament represents around 457 million citizens of the
   European Union. Its members are known as Members of the European
   Parliament (MEPs). Since 13 June 2004, there have been 732 MEPs. (It
   was agreed that the maximum number of MEPs should be fixed at 750, with
   a minimum threshold of five per member state and no member state being
   allocated more than 99 seats.) Elections occur once in every five
   years, on the basis of universal adult suffrage. There is not a uniform
   voting system for the election of MEPs; rather, each member state is
   free to choose its own system subject to three restrictions^1:
     * The system must be a form of proportional representation, under
       either the party list or Single Transferable Vote system.
     * The electoral area may be subdivided if this will not generally
       affect the proportional nature of the voting system.
     * Any election threshold on the national level must not exceed five
       percent.

   The allocation of seats to each member state is based on the principle
   of degressive proportionality, so that, while the size of the
   population of each country is taken into account, smaller states elect
   more MEPs than would be strictly justified by their populations alone.
   As the number of MEPs granted to each country has arisen from treaty
   negotiations, there is no precise formula for the apportionment of
   seats among member states. No change in this configuration can occur
   without the unanimous consent of all governments.

   The most recent elections to the European Parliament were the European
   elections of 2004, held in June of that year. These elections were the
   largest simultaneous transnational elections ever held anywhere in the
   world, since nearly 400 million citizens were eligible to vote.
   Apportionment
   Member state Seats Member state Seats
   Flag of Germany  Germany 99 Flag of Denmark  Denmark 14
   Flag of France  France 78 Flag of Finland  Finland 14
   Flag of Italy  Italy 78 Flag of Slovakia  Slovakia 14
   Flag of United Kingdom  United Kingdom^1 78 Flag of Republic of Ireland
    Ireland 13
   Flag of Spain  Spain 54 Flag of Lithuania  Lithuania 13
   Flag of Poland  Poland 54 Flag of Latvia  Latvia 9
   Flag of Netherlands  Netherlands 27 Flag of Slovenia  Slovenia 7
   Flag of Belgium  Belgium 24 Flag of Cyprus  Cyprus 6
   Flag of Czech Republic  Czech Republic 24 Flag of Estonia  Estonia 6
   Flag of Greece  Greece 24 Flag of Luxembourg  Luxembourg 6
   Flag of Hungary  Hungary 24 Flag of Malta  Malta 5
   Flag of Portugal  Portugal 24 Observers Seats
   Flag of Sweden  Sweden 19 Flag of Romania  Romania 35
   Flag of Austria  Austria 18 Flag of Bulgaria  Bulgaria 18

   1. Includes Gibraltar, but not any other BOT, SBA or Crown dependency

Observers

   It is conventional for countries acceding to the European Union to send
   a number of observers to Parliament in advance. The number of observers
   and their method of appointment (usually by national parliaments) is
   laid down in the joining countries' Treaties of Accession.

   Observers may attend debates and take part by invitation, but they may
   not vote or exercise other official duties. When the countries then
   become full member states, these observers become full MEPs for the
   interim period between accession and the next European elections.

   In this way, the agreed maximum of 750 parliamentary seats may
   temporarily be exceeded. For instance, in 2004, the number of seats in
   the European Parliament was temporarily raised to 788 to accommodate
   representatives from the ten states that joined the EU on 1 May, but it
   was subsequently reduced to 732 following the elections in June.

   Since 26 September 2005, Bulgaria has 18 observers in Parliament and
   Romania has 35. These are selected from government and opposition
   parties as agreed by the countries' national parliaments. In 2007 these
   observers will become MEPs, but their number is expected to decrease
   when the number of seats assigned to each country is reassessed,
   according to the Treaty of Nice.

Constituencies

Powers and functions

   The debating chamber, the 'hemicycle' of the European Parliament in
   Brussels. Translation booths are on the front-side walls.
   Enlarge
   The debating chamber, the 'hemicycle' of the European Parliament in
   Brussels. Translation booths are on the front-side walls.

   In some respects, the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers
   resemble the upper and lower houses of a bicameral legislature. Neither
   the European Parliament nor the Council of Ministers may initiate EU
   legislation, this power being reserved by the Commission, and the fact
   that no member of the European Parliament can propose laws makes it
   different from most national legislative assemblies.

   However, once a proposal for an EU law or directive has been introduced
   by the Commission, it must usually receive the approval of both
   Parliament and Council in order to come into force. Parliament may
   amend and block legislation in those policy areas that fall under the
   codecision procedure, which currently make up about three-quarters of
   EU legislative acts. Remaining policy areas fall under either the
   assent procedure or (in a very few cases) the consultation procedure;
   under the former Parliament has power to veto but not formally amend
   proposals, while under the latter it has only a formal right to be
   consulted. The European Parliament controls the EU budget, which must
   be approved by the Council in order to become law.

   The President of the European Commission is chosen by the European
   Council, but must be approved by Parliament before she or he can assume
   office. The remaining members of the Commission are then appointed by
   the President, subject to approval of Parliament. Other than its
   president, members of the Commission are not confirmed by the European
   Parliament individually; rather, Parliament must either accept or
   reject the whole Commission en bloc.

   The European Parliament exerts a function of democratic supervision
   over all of the EU's activities, particularly those of the Commission.
   In the event that Parliament adopts a motion of censure, the entire
   Commission must resign (formally, Commissioners cannot be censored
   individually). However, a motion of censure must be approved by at
   least a two-thirds majority in order to have effect.

   Parliament also appoints the European Ombudsman.

   Under the proposed new Constitution for Europe, Parliament's powers
   would be enhanced, with almost all policy areas coming under
   co-decision, greater powers of democratic scrutiny for Parliament, and
   control over the whole EU budget.

Location

   The European Parliament tower in Strasbourg
   Enlarge
   The European Parliament tower in Strasbourg

   Although Brussels is generally treated as the 'capital' of the European
   Union, and the two institutions of the EU's executive, the European
   Commission and the Council of Ministers, both have their seats there, a
   protocol attached to the Treaty of Amsterdam requires that the European
   Parliament have monthly sessions in Strasbourg. Thus the European
   Parliament is sometimes informally referred to as the 'Strasbourg
   Parliament' and Strasbourg as the democratic (opposed to bureaucratic)
   capital of Europe. For practical reasons, however, preparatory
   legislative work and committee meetings take place in Brussels.
   Moreover, the European Parliament's secretariat (administration),==
   which employs the majority of its staff==, is located in Luxembourg,
   which itself used to host plenary sessions of the parliament.

   Parliament only spends four days of each month in Strasbourg in order
   to take its final, plenary votes. Additional plenary meetings are held
   in Brussels. On several occasions, the European Parliament has
   expressed a wish to be granted the right to choose for itself the
   location of its seat, and eliminate the two-seat system, but in the
   successive treaties, EU member state governments have continued to
   reserve this right for themselves. While they did abandon the third
   seat of Parliament, Luxembourg, two decades ago, the rival demands of
   Belgium (Brussels) and France (Strasbourg) to base parliament in their
   state has prevented a final agreement as to which city would become the
   sole seat of parliament.

   Moving various files and equipment between the two cities takes 10
   large trucks and the costs for two locations are estimated at € 200
   million a year. A force of 30 men loads the trucks for the 400 km
   journey between the two locations. Around 5,000 people attached to the
   European Parliament, such as parliamentarians, advisors, clerks and
   journalists, also move between Brussels and Strasbourg. Most of the
   parliamentarians are against using Strasbourg and various initiatives
   have been taken over the years to have Brussels as the sole location.
   The latest of these initiatives is a EU wide online petition which can
   be signed on oneseat.eu.

Organisation

   The European Parliament has a number of governing bodies and
   committees, and a number of delegations from external bodies.

   The main offices and governing bodies are:
     * President - duties
     * Vice-Presidents - duties
     * Bureau - duties
     * Conference of Presidents - duties
     * Quaestors - duties
     * Conference of Committee Chairmen - description
     * Conference of Delegation Chairmen - description
     * Political Groups

List of committees

   Internal affairs
     * BUDG - Committee on Budgets
     * CONT - Committee on Budgetary Control
     * ECON - Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
     * EMPL - Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
     * ENVI - Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
     * ITRE - Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
     * IMCO - Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection
     * TRAN - Committee on Transport and Tourism
     * REGI - Committee on Regional Development
     * AGRI - Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development
     * PECH - Committee on Fisheries
     * CULT - Committee on Culture and Education
     * JURI - Committee on Legal Affairs
     * LIBE - Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
     * AFCO - Committee on Constitutional Affairs
     * FEMM - Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality
     * PETI - Committee on Petitions

   External affairs
     * AFET - Committee on Foreign Affairs
          + DROI - Subcommittee on Human Rights
          + SEDE - Subcommittee on Security and Defence
     * DEVE - Committee on Development
     * INTA - Committee on International Trade

Political groups and parties

   The EP groups as of April 8, 2006
   Enlarge
   The EP groups as of April 8, 2006

   The political parties in the European Parliament are organised into a
   number of political groupings as well as a number of registered
   European political parties. However most continue to be members of
   separate national political parties and discipline within European
   parties and groupings is not rigid. The makeup of the parliament's
   groups is fluid, and both national delegations and individual MEPs are
   free to switch allegiances as they see fit.

   European Parliament party groups are distinct from the corresponding
   European political parties, although they are intimately linked.
   Usually, the European parties also have member parties from European
   countries which are not members of the European Union. At the start of
   Parliament's sixth term in 2004 there were seven groups, as well as a
   number of non-aligned members, known as non-inscrits.
   European Parliament seats by political groups, from 1979 to 2004
   Enlarge
   European Parliament seats by political groups, from 1979 to 2004

   As of 8 April 2006 the composition of the European Parliament is:
                   Group Component parties/subgroups Seats
                          (without observers) Seats
                             (with observers^1)
   European People's Party–European Democrats (EPP-ED) European People's
   Party (EPP)
   European Democrats (ED) 264 278
   Group of the Party of European Socialists Party of European Socialists
   (PES)
   EUDemocrats (EUD) (part) 201 219
   Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) European Liberal
   Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR)
   European Democratic Party (EDP) 90 106
   European Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens-EFA) European Green
   Party (EGP)
   European Free Alliance (EFA) 42 42
   European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE-NGL) Party of the European
   Left
   Nordic Green Left Alliance (NGLA)
   other unaffiliated leftist parties 41 41
   Union for Europe of the Nations (UEN) Alliance for Europe of the
   Nations (AEN)
   EUDemocrats (EUD) (part) 34 34
   Independence and Democracy (IND/DEM) Alliance of Independent Democrats
   in Europe (AIDE)
   European Christian Political Movement (ECPM)
   EUDemocrats (EUD) (part)
   other unaffiliated rightist Eurosceptic parties 28 28
   Non Affiliated / Non-Inscrits (NI) Euronat
   EUDemocrats (EUD) (part)
   other unaffiliated parties 32 37

History

   Entrance to the European Parliament in Brussels
   Enlarge
   Entrance to the European Parliament in Brussels

   The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) established a 'Common
   Assembly' in September 1952, its 78 members drawn from the six national
   Parliaments of the ECSC's constituent nations. This was expanded in
   March 1958 to also cover the European Economic Community and Euratom,
   and the name European Parliamentary Assembly was adopted. The body was
   renamed to the European Parliament in 1962. In 1979 the parliament's
   membership was expanded again and its members began to be directly
   elected for the first time. Thereafter the membership of the European
   Parliament has simply expanded whenever new nations have joined; the
   membership was adjusted upwards in 1994 after German reunification.
   Recent treaties, including the Treaty of Nice and the proposed Treaty
   establishing a Constitution for Europe, set a cap on membership at 750.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Parliament"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
