The European Parliament
This section gives an overview of the European Parliament
The European Parliament is the elected body that represents the EU’s citizens. Since 1979, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have been directly elected, by universal suffrage, every five years.
The UK has 79 MEPs out of a total 754 (751 from 2014).
The European Parliament
- normally holds its plenary sessions in Strasbourg and any additional sessions in Brussels
- has 20 committees which do the preparatory work for plenary sessions, and a number of political groups that usually meet in Brussels. The General Secretariat is based in Luxembourg and Brussels
- shares, with the Council, equal responsibility for adopting the EU budget. The Parliament can reject the proposed budget, and it has already done so on several occasions. When this happens, the entire budget procedure has to be re-started. The European Commission proposes the draft budget, which is then debated by the Council and the European Parliament
- exercises democratic supervision over the Union. It has the power to dismiss the Commission by adopting a motion of censure