European Parliament Flashcards
What’s the role of the European Parliament?
Directly-elected EU body with legislative, supervisory, and budgetary responsibilities
Members of the European Parliament
751 MEPs (Members of the European Parliament)
European Parliament president
Antonio Tajani
When was the European Parliament established
1952
What was the European Parliament originally?
Common assembly of the European coal and steel community (1952)
European Parliament (1962)
First directed election in 1979
Where is the European Parliament located?
Strasbourg (France)
Brussels (Belgium)
Luxembourg
The European Parliament is
the EU’s law-making body.
The European Parliament is directly elected by
EU voters every 5 years
The European Parliament has three main roles
Legislative
Supervisory
Budgetary
European Parliament: Legislative
Passing EU laws, together with the Council of the EU, based on European Commission proposals
Deciding on international agreements
Deciding on enlargements
Reviewing the Commission’s work programme and asking it to propose legislation
European Parliament: Supervisory
Democratic scrutiny of all EU institutions
Electing the Commission President and approving the Commission as a body.
Granting discharge
Examining citizens’ petitions and setting up inquiries
Discussing monetary policy with the European Central Bank
Questioning Commission and Council
Election observations
European Parliament: Budgetary
Establishing the EU budget, together with the Council
Approving the EU’s long-term budget, the “Multiannual Financial Framework”
The number of MEPs for each country is
roughly proportionate to its population, but this is by degressive proportionality: no country can have fewer than 6 or more than 96 MEPs and the total number cannot exceed 751
MEP’s are grouped by
Political affiliation, not by nationality
The President represents Parliament to
other EU institutions and the outside world and gives the final go-ahead to the EU budget.
How does the Parliament work?
Parliament’s work comprises two main stages:
- Committees
- Plenary sessions
European Parliament: committees are there to
To prepare legislation
European Parliament: plenary sessions are there to
To pass legislation
Committees
The Parliament numbers 20 committees and two subcommittees, each handling a particular policy area. The committees examine proposals for legislation, and MEPs and political groups can put forward amendments or propose to reject a bill. These issues are also debated within the political groups.
Plenary sessions
This is when all the MEPs gather in the chamber to give a final vote on the proposed legislation and the proposed amendments. Normally held in Strasbourg for four days a month, but sometimes there are additional sessions in Brussels.
