Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Role

The European Parliament is the European body that has had the most impressive history. After all, every time the Treaties have been revised, the powers of the European Parliament have been extended. Today the European Parliament has three specific powers: legislative powers, supervisory powers and budgetary powers.

• legislative powers
  The European Parliament adopts legislative proposals together with the Council. Since the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force, the procedure whereby both bodies decide on an equal footing (standard legislative procedure) has applied to the vast majority of fields. The Treaty of Lisbon also gives the Parliament the right to propose draft treaty amendments.
• supervisory powers
  The European Parliament exercises democratic and political control over the other European bodies and in particular, over the Commission:
  • The Council represents the Plenary as a college in the European Parliament. The Commission cannot be appointed without the approval of the Parliament.
  • Throughout its full term of office the Commission is politically accountable to the Parliament, which can force the whole Commission to resign in a motion of censure
  • Members of the European Parliament regularly ask the Commission questions which the commissioners are obliged to answer under treaty legislation.
  • The European Parliament deals with reports from the Commission.
  • Finally, the European Parliament can also set up Committees of Inquiry and receives petitions from citizens.
• budgetary powers
  The European Parliament adopts the annual budget together with the Council. This only comes into force after being signed by the President of the Parliament. Every year the European Parliament also decides whether the Commission has duly implemented the budget of the previous financial year. If this is the case, it grants a discharge.

Composition

Current composition:

The European Parliament currently comprises 736 members from the 27 Member States. The number of Members of the European Parliament that the Member States are allocated depends on the number of inhabitants. The composition of the European Parliament is to be amended on the basis of the Treaty of Lisbon. The countries with the highest populations have proportionally fewer seats than the countries with the lowest populations. Thus, Germany currently has 99 seats while Malta has 5 seats.

The Members of the European Parliament do not sit in national blocks but according to political affinity. The European Parliament has 7 political groups.

President

Polish Christian Democrat, Jerzy Buzek, has been President of the European Parliament since 14 July 2009. The President of the European Parliament is elected by the Members of the European Parliament. His mandate is for two and a half years. The President of the European Parliament may be re-elected.

The President manages all the activities of the Parliament, adopts the budget and presides over plenary meetings. He also represents the European Parliament to the outside world.

Term of office

Since 1979 the citizens of the European Union have elected the Members of the European Parliament every five years in direct elections. The current European Parliament was elected on 4 June 2009. The next elections are in 2014.

Seat

The European Parliament works in three locations: Strasbourg, Brussels and Luxembourg. Monthly plenary meetings take place in Strasbourg, with all members present. Additional plenary sessions are held in Brussels. The parliamentary committees also have their seat in Brussels. The administrative services (Secretariat-General) are in Luxembourg.

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