PARLAMENTAR EUROPEAN.

ASPECTE
DE RASPUNDERE

MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT.

ASPECTS OF LIABILITY

RALUCA OCTAVIA NEACSA*

PROF. UNIV. DR. LUCRETIA DOGARU

A MEPs is a person who has been elected to serve as a popoluar

representative in the European Parliament. Election are held once
every five years on the basis of universal adult suffrage.

MEPs also elect the President of the Commission, on the basis of a

proposal by the European Council and following public hearings
of the candidates, approve the appointement of the Commission as
a whole. The Parliament may also block certain Commission
decesions when there has been a delegation of powers to the
Commissions.

In additional, an MEP may be a part of an international delegation

and have meetings with outside delegation coming to Brussels or
Strasbourg or visiting committiees or parliaments of external
countries or regions. Also, there is the need to keep in touch with
constituents in the home state.

*MASTERAND AL UNIVERSITATII PETRU MAIOR

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Under the protocol on the provilages and immunities of the
European Union , MEPs in their home state receive the same
immunities as their own national parliamentarians.

In conclusion it is convetional for countries acceding to the

European Union, to send a number of observers to Parliament in
advance.

CONTENTS

1. History

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2. Election
3. The MEPs Powers
4. The Job of MEPs
5. Payment and Privileges
 Salary
 Financial interest
 Immunities
6. Conclusion

1. History

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 A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a
person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in
the European Parliament.1 When the European Parliament was
first established, MEPs were directly appointed by the
governments of member states from among those already sitting in
their own national parliaments.

Since 1979, however, MEP have been elected by

direct universal suffrage. Each member stateestablishes its own
method for electing MEPs – and in some states this has changed
over time – but the system chosen must be a form ofproportional
representation. In some member states the MEPs are elected to
represent a single national constituency; in others they are elected
from sub-national regions.

2. Election
Elections are held once every five years, on the basis
of universal adult suffrage. There is no uniform voting system for
the election of MEPs; rather, each member state is free to choose
its own system, subject to three restrictions.

The system must be a form of proportional representation,

under either the party list or Single Transferable Vote system.The
electoral area may be subdivided if this will not generally affect
the proportional nature of the voting system. Any election
threshold on the national level must not exceed five percent.

The allocation of seats to each member state is based on the

principle of degressive proportionality, so that, while the size of

1
"Rule 1 in Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament". Europarl.europa.eu. 20 September
1976. Retrieved 2011-11-28.

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the population of each nation is taken into account, smaller states
elect more MEPs than would be strictly justified by their
populations alone. As the number of MEPs granted to each
member state has arisen from treaty negotiations, there is no
precise formula for the apportionment of seats. No change in this
configuration can occur without the unanimous consent of all
national governments.

3. MEPs Powers

Since the ratification and entry into force of the Treaty of

Lisbon the adoption of nearly all European Union laws requires the
approval of both the European Parliament and theCouncil of the
European Union. Under the co-decision procedure, they each have
up to three readings of legislative proposals put forward by
the European Commission in which they can each amend the
proposal, but must ultimately approve a text in identical terms for
it to be passed. This amounts to bicameralism.

MEPs also elect the President of the Commission, on the basis of a

proposal by the European Council and, following public hearings
of the candidates, approve the appointment of the Commission as a
whole. The Parliament may also dismiss the Commission in a vote
of no-confidence. The EU's annual budget is adopted jointly by

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Parliament and the Council of the European Union, within overall
limit on EU spending decided on by unanimous agreement of all
Member States and a multilateral Financial Framework laid down
by Council with Parliament's consent.

The Parliament may also block certain Commission

decisions where there has been a delegation of powers to the
Commission and may repeal such delegation of powers.

The Parliament also elects the European Ombudsman and holds

hearings with candidates for the President and Board members
of European Central Bank, the Court of Auditors and various EU
agencies.

4. The Job of MEPs

Every month except August the Parliament meets in Strasbourg for
a four-day plenary session, six times a year it meets for two days
each in Brussels,2 where the Parliament's committees, political
groups and other organs also mainly meet.3 The obligation to
spend one week a month in Strasbourg was imposed on Parliament
by the Member State governments at the Edinburgh summit in
1992.4 In addition, an MEP may be part of an international

2
European Parliament – Work in Session Retrieved 20 May 2010
3
Indeed, Brussels is de facto the main base of the Parliament, as well as of the Commission and the
Council. European Parliament in brief. Retrieved 20 May 2010
4
A Protocol on the seats of the institutions will be annexed to the various Treaties, confirming the
agreement reached at the Edinburgh European Council (December 1992) and stating that the
European Parliament is to have its seat "in Strasbourg where the twelve periods of monthly plenary
sessions, including the budget session, shall be held". Any additional plenary sessions are to be held

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delegation and have meetings with outside delegations coming to
Brussels or Strasbourg or visiting committees or parliaments of
external countries or regions.

MEPs may employ staff to help them, typically three or

four split between their constituency office and office in
Parliament. Because MEPs sit in a parliament with powers over
fewer high profile subjects than national parliaments their public
profile in their home state is typically lower than that of national
parliamentarians, at least those of the latter who are ministers or
opposition spokesmen.

5. Payment and Privilages

The total cost of the European Parliament is approximately

€1.756 billion euros per year according to its 2014 budget, about
€2.3 million per member of parliament.5 As this cost is shared by
over 500 million citizens of 27 countries, the cost per taxpayer is
considerably smaller than that of national parliaments. However it
is sometimes characterized as expensive, because for example of
the costs of translating all documents and interpreting debates in 21
languages.

in Brussels, as are the meetings of the various Parliamentary committees. "The General Secretariat
of the European Parliament and its departments shall remain in
Luxembourg."http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/institutional_affairs/treaties/amsterdam_treaty/
a21000_en.htm
5
"The budget of the European Parliament". European Parliament web site. Retrieved26 Jul 2015.

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 Until 2009, MEPs were paid (by their own Member State)
exactly the same salary as a member of the lower House of their
own national parliament. As a result, there was a wide range of
salaries in the European Parliament.

However, in July 2005, the Council agreed to a single

statute for all MEPs, following a proposal by the Parliament. Thus,
since the 2009 elections, all MEPs receive a basic yearly salary of
38.5% of a European Court judge's salary – being around
€84,000.6

Members declare their financial interests, which are

published annually in a register and are available on the Internet.
Under the protocol on the privileges and immunities of
the European Union, MEPs in their home state receive the same
immunities as their own national parliamentarians. In other
member states, MEPs are immune from detention and from legal
proceedings, except when caught in the act of committing an
offence.

6. Conclusion

6
Fresh start with new Members' Statute: The salary – a judgmental question. European Parliament
Press Release. 7 January 2009.

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 It is conventional for countries acceding to the European
Union to send a number of observers to Parliament in advance. The
number of observers and their method of appointment (usually by
national parliaments) is laid down in the joining countries' Treaties
of Accession.

Observers may attend debates and take part by invitation,

but they may not vote or exercise other official duties. When the
countries then become full member states, these observers become
full MEPs for the interim period between accession and the next
European elections.

Bibliography

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1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_of_the_European_P
arliament
2. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/plenary/en/home.html-
European Parliament – Work in Session Retrieved 20 May
2010
3. Indeed, Brussels is de facto the main base of the
Parliament, as well as of the Commission and the
Council. European Parliament in brief. Retrieved 20 May
2010.
4. http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/institutional_affairs/
treaties/amsterdam_treaty/a21000_en.htm
5. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-
//EP//TEXT+IM-
PRESS+20090626STO57497+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&la
nguage=EN - Fresh start with new Members' Statute: The
salary – a judgmental question. European Parliament Press
Release. 7 January 2009.

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