European Parliament - Location, Political groups and parties, History

The representative assembly of the European Union (EU). Created in 1952 as the Common Assembly, its title as the European Parliament was formalized by the 1987 Single European Act. Despite its name, it has few legislative powers, but it does have the right to be consulted by the Council of Ministers, to dismiss the Commission (a right so far never used, but effective as a threat), and to reject or amend the European Union's budget (exercised increasingly frequently). The more forceful role played by the Parliament in recent years reflects the fact that it has been directly and democratically elected since 1979. European-wide elections for the 732 seats (626 before 1 May 2004) are held every five years. Seats are distributed among the EU members on their respective populations, and members do not sit in national blocs. Until the Maastricht Treaty (1991), its legislative powers were largely advisory. Among its new powers are the joint decision-making on accession of new EU member's treaties, and association agreements with non-EU countries, as well as the authority to investigate the maladministration of European law. The bulk of the Parliament's administration is located in Luxembourg; its plenary sessions are normally held in Strasbourg, and most of its committees meet in Brussels, where the European Union is based and the Councils meet.

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The European Parliament (formerly European Parliamentary Assembly) is the parliamentary body of the European Union (EU), directly elected by EU citizens once every five years. These elections were the largest simultaneous transnational elections ever held anywhere in the world, since nearly 400 million citizens were eligible to vote.

Apportionment
Member state	Seats		Member state	Seats
Germany	99		Denmark	14
France	78		Finland	14
Italy	78		Slovakia	14
United Kingdom1	78		Ireland	13
Spain	54		Lithuania	13
Poland	54		Latvia	9
Netherlands	27		Slovenia	7
Belgium	24		Cyprus	6
Czech Republic	24		Estonia	6
Greece	24		Luxembourg	6
Hungary	24		Malta	5
Portugal	24		Observers	Seats
Sweden	19		Romania	35
Austria	18		Bulgaria	18

1.

Location

Although Brussels is generally treated as the 'capital' of the European Union, and the two institutions of the EU's executive, the European Commission and the Council of Ministers, both have their seats there, a protocol attached to the Treaty of Amsterdam requires that the European Parliament have monthly sessions in Strasbourg.

The main offices and governing bodies are:

President - duties Vice-Presidents - duties Bureau - duties Conference of Presidents - duties Quaestors - duties Conference of Committee Chairmen - description Conference of Delegation Chairmen - description Political Groups

List of committees

Internal affairs

BUDG - Committee on Budgets CONT - Committee on Budgetary Control ECON - Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs EMPL - Committee on Employment and Social Affairs ENVI - Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety ITRE - Committee on Industry, Research and Energy IMCO - Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection TRAN - Committee on Transport and Tourism REGI - Committee on Regional Development AGRI - Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development PECH - Committee on Fisheries CULT - Committee on Culture and Education JURI - Committee on Legal Affairs LIBE - Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs AFCO - Committee on Constitutional Affairs FEMM - Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality PETI - Committee on Petitions

External affairs

AFET - Committee on Foreign Affairs DROI - Subcommittee on Human Rights SEDE - Subcommittee on Security and Defence DEVE - Committee on Development INTA - Committee on International Trade

Political groups and parties

The political parties in the European Parliament are organised into a number of political groupings as well as a number of registered European political parties.

As of 8 April 2006 the composition of the European Parliament is:

Group	Component parties/subgroups	Seats (without observers)	Seats (with observers1)
European People's Party–European Democrats (EPP-ED)	European People's Party (EPP) European Democrats (ED)	264	278
Group of the Party of European Socialists	Party of European Socialists (PES)	201	219
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)	European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR) European Democratic Party (EDP)	90	106
European Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens-EFA)	European Green Party (EGP) European Free Alliance (EFA)	42	42
European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE-NGL)	Party of the European Left Nordic Green Left Alliance (NGLA) other unaffiliated leftist parties	41	41
Union for Europe of the Nations (UEN)	Alliance for Europe of the Nations (AEN)	34	34
Independence and Democracy (IND/DEM)	Alliance of Independent Democrats in Europe EUDemocrats other unaffiliated rightist Euroskeptic parties	28	28
Non-Inscrits		32	37

History

The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) established a 'Common Assembly' in September 1952, its 78 members drawn from the six national Parliaments of the ECSC's constituent nations.