The European Parliament is the parliamentary body of the European Union.

The European Parliament building in Brussels

Other organisations of European countries such as NATO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, and the Western European Union have parliamentary assemblies as well, but the European Parliament is unique in that it is directly elected by the people and has legislative power. The members of the parliamentary assemblies of the OSCE, the Council of Europe, and the Western European Union are appointed by national parliaments.

Location

The European Parliament tower in Strasbourg

Although the two institutions of the EU's executive, the European Commission and the European Council, both have their seats in Brussels, a protocol attached to the Treaty of Amsterdam requires the European Parliament to have monthly sessions in Strasbourg. For practical reasons, however, all preparatory legislative work and committee meetings of the parliament take place in Brussels. The parliament only spends four days per month in Strasbourg in order to take the final, plenary votes. Additional plenary meetings are held in Brussels. On several occasions parliament has expressed a wish to choose itself the location of its seat, but in the successive treaties, including the newest Treaty of Nice, European governments keep reserving this right for themselves.

History

The European Coal and Steel Community established a Common Assembly in September, 1952, its members drawn from the six national Parliaments of the ECSC's constituent nations. This was expanded in March 1958 to cover also the European Economic Community and Euratom, immediately adopted the name European Parliamentary Assembly, and used the name European Parliament from 1962. In 1979 it was expanded again with its members being directly elected. Thereafter it was simply expanded whenever new nations joined, and the membership was adjusted (upwards) in 1994 after German Reunification, until the Treaty of Nice set a cap on membership at 732.

Growth of membership

Party Groups in the European Parliament

The debating chamber, the 'hemicycle' of the European Parliament in Brussels; translation booths are provided near where the banners are

At the commencement of Parliament's sixth term (2004-2009), there were seven groups, plus Non-Inscrits (non-aligned members). As of July 21, 2004 the composition of the Parliament was:

• EPP-ED (European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats)
  • 268 seats
• PSE (Party of European Socialists)
  • 198 seats
• ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe)
  • 88 seats
• Greens-EFA (European Federation of Green Parties/European Free Alliance)
  • 42 seats
• GUE-NGL (European United Left / Nordic Green Left)
  • 41 seats
• IND/DEM (Independence and Democracy)
  • 37 seats
• UEN (Union for a Europe of Nations)
  • 27 seats
• Some of the members of the European Parliament prefer not to belong to any political group. These independent members are referred to as NI (Non-Inscrits).
  • 29 seats

The makeup of Parliament's groups is fairly fluid, and delegations (or indeed individual Members) are free to switch allegiances as they see fit.

European Parliament party groups are distinct from the corresponding 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.

Representation

Entrance to the European Parliament in Brussels

The European Parliament represents 450 million citizens of the European Union. Since 13 June 2004, there are 732 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), with a proportionally larger representation for smaller member states. This number was temporarily raised to 788 to accommodate representatives from the ten states that joined the EU on 1 May 2004, but will remain fixed at 732 even after the accession of Romania and Bulgaria in 2007.

Elections

Elections to the parliament are held using various forms of proportional representation, as selected by the member states. These forms include regional and national lists and Single Transferable Vote.

• European Parliament election, 1979
• European Parliament election, 1984
• European Parliament election, 1989
• European Parliament election, 1994
• European Parliament election, 1999
• European Parliament election, 2004

The most recent elections were held on 10-13 June 2004. Following the enlargement of the Union on 1 May, they were the largest simultaneous transnational elections ever held in the world, with nearly 400 million citizens eligible to vote.

See also

• President of the European Parliament
• Member of the European Parliament
• Members of the European Parliament 2004-2009
• European Parliament election 2004

External links

• Official web site of the European Parliament (http://www.europarl.eu.int/home/default_en.htm)
• Detailed description of the Parliament's role, written by an MEP specialising in constitutional affairs (http://www.corbett-euro.demon.co.uk/job_parl.htm)
• European Parliament Office in Ireland (http://www.europarl.ie/)
• UK Office of the European Parliament (http://www.europarl.org.uk)
• BBC News: European Parliament guide (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/europe/04/eu_parliament_guide/html/introduction.stm)
• DEsite (http://drcwww.kub.nl/dbi/instructie/eu/en/T1.htm): Info page of the European Parliament (http://drcwww.kub.nl/dbi/instructie/eu/en/T13.htm)
• Attendance and voting records (unofficial site) (http://www.europarliament.net/)