European Parliament

By Diogo Martins
  History
 Three communities, one assembly
 From appointed assembly to elected parliament
 Powers
Index  Organisation
 Objectives
  When it first met, on the 10th September 1952, the
Parliament began as the Common Assembly of
the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), which
was a consultative assembly of 78 appointed
History parliamentarians drawn from the national parliaments of
member states.

ECSC flag
  The Parliament's two seats, which have switched several
times, are a result of various agreements. Although
most MEPs* would prefer to only be based in Brussels,
France engineered a treaty amendment to maintain
Parliament's plenary seat permanently at Strasbourg.

EP building in Brussels EP building in Strasbourg

*MEPs- Members of European Parliament

  After the establishment of the European Economic
Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy
Community (Euratom), the ECSC Common Assembly
Three was expanded to cover all three communities.
communities,
one assembly
 With 142 members, the new assembly met for the first
time in Strasbourg on 19 March 1958 as the ‘European
Parliamentary Assembly’, changing its name to the
‘European Parliament’ on 30 March 1962.
  MEPs, before direct elections, were appointed by each
of the Member States’ national parliaments. Each
member had a dual mandate.
From
appointed  The Summit Conference held in Paris on 9 and
10 December 1974 determined that direct elections
assembly to ‘should take place in or after 1978’.
elected
parliament  The Decision and Act on European elections by direct
universal suffrage were signed in Brussels on
20 September 1976. Following ratification by all
Member States, the Act entered into force on July 1978
and the first elections took place on 7 and 10 June 1979.
 -Passing EU laws, together with the Council of the EU,
based on European Commission proposals;
-Deciding on international agreements;
-Deciding on enlargements;
Legislative
-Reviewing the Commission's work programme and
Power asking it to propose legislation.

Plenary voting time

 -Democratic scrutiny of all EU institutions;
-Electing the Commission President and approving
the Commission as a body. Possibility of voting a motion of
censure, obliging the Commission to resign;
Supervisory -Granting discharge, i.e. approving the way EU budgets
Power have been spent;
-Examining citizens' petitions and setting up inquiries;
-Discussing monetary policy with the European Central
Bank;
-Questioning Commission and Council;
-Election observations.
 -Establishing the EU budget, together with the
Budgetary Council;
Power -Approving the EU's long-term budget, the
"Multiannual Financial Framework“.
 1. The President:
The President of Parliament is elected from amongst its
Members for a renewable term of two-and-a-half years and
represents Parliament vis-à-vis the outside world and in its
relations with the other EU institutions. The President
oversees the debates in plenary and ensures that Parliament’s
Rules of Procedure are adhered to. David Sassoli is the
Organisation actual president, elected on 3rd July 2019.

David Sassoli
2. The plenary:
The plenary is the European Parliament sensu stricto
and its sittings are chaired by the President. It meets in
Strasbourg every month (except August).
The European Commission and the EU Council take
part in the sittings so the cooperation between the
institutions in the decision-making process is easier.

European Parliament plenary session

3. Political bodies:
Parliament’s political bodies comprise the Bureau (the
President and 14 Vice-Presidents), the Conference of
Presidents (the President and the political group chairs), the
five Quaestors (responsible for Members’ administrative
and financial business), the Conference of Committee
Chairs and the Conference of Delegation Chairs. 
4. Committees and delegations:
Members sit on 20 committees, two subcommittees
and 39 delegations. Parliament also sends a delegation to
the Joint Assembly set up under the agreement between
the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states and the
EU. On the basis of Rule 204, each committee or
delegation elects its own Bureau, consisting of a Chair
and up to four Vice-Chairs.
5. Political groups:
Members do not sit in national delegations, but
according to their political affinities in transnational
groups. A political group must comprise Members elected
from at least one quarter of the Member States and must
consist of at least 25 Member.

The political groups hold regular meetings during the

week before the part-session and in part-session weeks, as
well as seminars to determine the main principles of their
activity.
 Renew Europe group
Group of the European People's
Group of the Party (EPP)
Greens/European Free
Alliance (Greens/EFA)

Group of the Progressive

Alliance of Socialists and
Democrats in the European
Parliament (S&D)

Identity and
Democracy
(ID)
Confederal Group of
the European United
Left - Nordic Green
Left (GUE/NGL)

Seat distribution by political group. NI stands for Non-Inscrits, French for non-attached 
6. European political parties and foundations:
Parliament recommends the creation of an
environment that is conducive to the development of truly
European political parties and foundations, including the
adoption of framework legislation.

European Parliament in session

7. Parliament’s Secretariat
Headed by the Secretary-General, who is appointed by
the Bureau , where the Secretariat’s composition and
organization are also determined.
Its task is to coordinate legislative work and organise
the plenary sittings and meetings. It also provides
technical, legal and expert assistance to parliamentary
bodies and MEPs to support them in the exercise of their
mandates. The Secretariat provides interpretation and
translation for all meetings and formal documents.
  The European Parliament is an institution that represents
Europe citizens. It forms the democratic basis of the
European Union. If the EU is to have democratic
legitimacy, Parliament must be fully involved in the
Union’s legislative process and exercise political
scrutiny over the other EU institutions on behalf of the
Objectives public.

 The European Parliament decides upon EU

legislation, including the multiannual budget, together
with the Council of the European Union (EU Member
State governments). The EP holds other EU institutions,
like the European Commission, to account.
  https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/institutions-bodies/e
uropean-parliament_en
Sources  https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/19/the-euro
pean-parliament-powers
 https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/faq/16/what-is-the-euro
pean-parliament