European Parliament

The European Parliament is elected by direct universal suffrage. 751 MEPs represent nearly
500 million citizens and are elected every five years by voting in the 28 EU Member States.

Together with the Council of the Union, Parliament legislates in most policy areas which are
increasingly affecting Europeans in their daily lives, including the environment, consumer
rights, equal opportunities, transport and the free movement of workers, capital, services and
goods.

Laws that affect people's lives must be available to them in the language of their country. As
an employer, the European Parliament must ensure that the texts it adopts are of the highest
quality in all 24 official languages of the Union.

At present, 660 translators and 280 assistants are employed, all contributing to Parliament's
translation needs. They work in individual language departments using technologically
advanced tools and applications including the latest translation memory software.