The European parliament building in Brussels, Belgium

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

Table of contents
1 Introduction
2 Party Groups in the European Parliament
3 Representation
4 External Link

Introduction

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.

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.

Party Groups in the European Parliament

The parties and makeup of the Parliament as of its fifth term (1999-2004):

Note: the 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
Relative influence of voters from different countries according to the Treaty of Nice after new member countries joined (Source: Spiegel Online):
Country population (mio.)  MEPs  population/MEP  rel. influence
Luxembourg 0,4     6 66667 12.42
Malta 0,4     5 80000 10.53
Cyprus 0,8     6 133333 6.21
Estonia 1,4     6 233333 3.54
Slovenia 2,0     7 285714 2.89
Latvia 2,4     9 266667 3.10
Ireland 3,7     13 284615 2.91
Lithuania 3,7     13 284615 2.91
Finland 5,2     14 371429 2.22
Denmark 5,3     14 378571 2.18
Slovakia 5,4     14 385714 2.14
Austria 8,1     18 450000 1.84
Sweden 8,9     19 468421 1.76
Portugal 9,9     24 412500 2.00
Hungary 10,0     24 416667 1.98
Belgium 10,2     24 425000 1.94
Czech Republic 10,3     24 429167 1.92
Greece 10,6     24 441667 1.87
Netherlands 15,8     27 585185 1.41
Poland 38,6     54 714815 1.15
Spain 39,4     54 729630 1.13
Italy 57,7     78 739744 1.11
France 59,1     78 757692 1.09
United Kingdom 59,4     78 761538 1.08
Germany 82,1     99 828283 1.00
Total 450,8     732 615846 1.35
The European parliament represents 374 million citizens of the European Union; starting with the eastern expansion in 2004 this will increase to 450 million people. There are at the moment 626 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), with a proportionally larger representation for smaller member states. This number will increase in 2004 as well.

As of 2003 (pre-accession), the member states have the following representation:

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

The next elections will be held on 10-13 June 2004. Following the enlargement of the Union on 1 May, they will be the largest simultaneous transnational elections ever held in the world, with approaching 400 million citizens eligible to vote. See: European Parliament Election 2004.

External Link