Parliament's Place in the EU

The three main sections of the EU are: 1. the Council of Ministers, consisting of the appropriate minister from each member state: 2. the Commission, which is a kind of super civil service, with members of member states in charge of departments: 3. the Parliament with members elected every five years.

It is the Commission's job to implement the various treaties accepted by member states. Only the Commission can propose legislation, which has to be agreed by both the Council and the Parliament, and which member states will then apply in their own countries.

Powers of the Parliament

The Parliament has to agree to most (not yet quite all ) legislation. It may amend the budget and must agree its final version. It may accept or reject the Council's recommendation for Commission President. The Parliament cannot force a Commissioner to resign, but it can force the resignation of all Commissioners, and once did!

Political Groupings in the Parliament

There are altogether 785 MEPs. They come from a large number of national parties, but in the Parliament divide into eight groups. The group which is roughly centre right (Christian Democrats) has 288 MEPs. The Centre Left (Socialists) have 217 MEPs. The Liberals have 104. The other five groups, including the Greens, have some 40 or fewer MEPs each. The groups are important not only because they help to build up support or opposition to proposed legislation. They play a key role in choosing the Parliament's President and committee chairmen. They also largely determine the rules under which Parliament operates.

What sort of laws and policies does the Parliament help to promote?

All the issues are obviously Europe-wide in nature and application. The main international subjects are; free trade, crime, health and safety, the environment, climate change and rights of workers. The following are some legislative decisions supported by Labour MEPs They have:

- reduced car prices in the UK by scrapping the "block exemption" which allowed car manufacturers to sell new cars exclusively through agreed dealerships.
- new legislation to ensure all fireworks have high safety standards.
- adopted new legislation that will drastically cut sulphur fuel emissions from ships, which causes chronic diseases such as asthma, bronchitis and heart failure.
- set up a European-wide scheme protecting vulnerable habitats with rare species of animals and plants.
- approved a plan to cut the average emissions of new cars by 2012.
- banned dangerous chemicals, which have been scientifically identified as cancer causing and toxic, from use in the manufacture of children's toys and children's articles.
- approved a scheme that will introduce compensation for people who are victims of crime while travelling in other EU countries.


For a full list of such examples click here


To see our European candidates and their views click here