The European Parliament is the parliamentary body of the European Union.
| Table of contents |
|
2 Party Groups in the European Parliament 3 Representation 4 External Link |
Introduction
Other organisations of European countries, like 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.
The parties and makeup of the Parliament as of its fifth term (1999-2004):
As of 2003 (pre-accession), the member states have the following representation:
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.
Party Groups in the European Parliament
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
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.
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
Slowenia
2,0
7
285714
2.89
Lativa
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
Slowakia
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
Elections
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.
