43 Facts About European Parliament

European Parliament is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions.

President of the European Parliament is the body's speaker, and presides over the multi-party chamber.

European Parliament is headquartered in Strasbourg, France, and has its administrative offices in Luxembourg City.

The change since its foundation was highlighted by Professor David Farrell of the University of Manchester: "For much of its life, the European Parliament could have been justly labelled a 'multi-lingual talking shop'.

In 1970 the European Parliament was granted power over areas of the Communities' budget, which were expanded to the whole budget in 1975.

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Furthermore, the European Parliament began holding votes on proposed Commission Presidents from the 1980s, before it was given any formal right to veto.

Since it became an elected body, the membership of the European Parliament has simply expanded whenever new nations have joined.

In 1985 the European Parliament, wishing to be closer to these institutions, built a second chamber in Brussels and moved some of its work there despite protests from some states.

European Parliament gained more powers from successive treaties, namely through the extension of the ordinary legislative procedure, and in 1999, the European Parliament forced the resignation of the Santer Commission.

The European Parliament had refused to approve the Community budget over allegations of fraud and mis-management in the Commission.

In 2004, following the largest trans-national election in history, despite the European Council choosing a President from the largest political group, the Parliament again exerted pressure on the Commission.

That was the first time the European Parliament had ever voted against an incoming Commissioner and despite Barroso's insistence upon Buttiglione the European Parliament forced Buttiglione to be withdrawn.

In voting on the Bolkestein directive in 2006, the European Parliament voted by a large majority for over 400 amendments that changed the fundamental principle of the law.

European Parliament's only had the support of the EPP which began to retaliate on left wing candidates before Jeleva gave in and was replaced.

European Parliament will have a seat in the EU's Commission-led international negotiations and have a right to information on agreements.

European Parliament did not secure a say over the appointment of delegation heads and special representatives for foreign policy.

One major internal power was that European Parliament wanted a pledge from the Commission that it would put forward legislation when parliament requests.

Finally, European Parliament holds a non-binding vote on new EU treaties but cannot veto it.

President of the European Commission is proposed by the European Council on the basis of the European elections to Parliament.

In practice, the European Parliament has never voted against a President or his Commission, but it did seem likely when the Barroso Commission was put forward.

European Parliament has the power to censure the Commission if they have a two-thirds majority which will force the resignation of the entire Commission from office.

European Parliament has other powers of general supervision, mainly granted by the Maastricht Treaty.

The European Parliament can call other institutions to answer questions and if necessary to take them to court if they break EU law or treaties.

All member states hold elections to the European Parliament using various forms of proportional representation.

MEPs in European Parliament are organised into eight different parliamentary groups, including thirty non-attached members known as non-inscrits.

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Nevertheless, the European Parliament groups were actually more cohesive than their US counterparts between 2004 and 2009.

Our work shows that politics in the European Parliament is becoming increasingly based around party and ideology.

The European Parliament has the power to meet without being convened by another authority.

The first head of protocol in the European Parliament was French, so many of the duties in the European Parliament are based on the French model first developed following the French Revolution.

President is essentially the speaker of the European Parliament and presides over the plenary when it is in session.

The President is responsible for representing the European Parliament externally, including in legal matters, and for the application of the rules of procedure.

The current President of the European Parliament is Roberta Metsola, who was elected in January 2022.

In most countries, the protocol of the head of state comes before all others; however, in the EU the Parliament is listed as the first institution, and hence the protocol of its president comes before any other European, or national, protocol.

European Parliament has 20 Standing Committees consisting of 25 to 73 MEPs each including a chair, a bureau and secretariat.

Nature of the committees differ from their national counterparts as, although smaller in comparison to those of the United States Congress, the European Parliament's committees are unusually large by European standards with between eight and twelve dedicated members of staff and three to four support staff.

Speakers in the European Parliament are entitled to speak in any of the 24 official languages of the European Union, ranging from French and German to Maltese and Irish.

European Parliament is based in three different cities with numerous buildings.

The European Parliament is one of at least two assemblies in the world with more than one meeting place and one of the few that does not have the power to decide its own location.

In 2006, there were allegations of irregularities in the charges made by the city of Strasbourg on buildings the European Parliament rented, thus further harming the case for the Strasbourg seat.

In early 2011, the European Parliament voted to scrap one of the Strasbourg sessions by holding two within a single week.

However, as European Parliament's seat is fixed by the treaties, it can only be changed by the Council acting unanimously, meaning that France could veto any move.

Article 17 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Parliament Union lays the juridical foundation for an open, transparent dialogue between European Parliament institutions and churches, religious associations, and non-confessional and philosophical organisations.

In defining the agreement, the European Parliament offers the parties the juridical support necessary to reach a sound, lawful agreement based on legality and equity.