The citizens’ voice

The European Parliament is elected by the citizens of the European Union. The Members of the European Parliament defend the interests of the citizens and express the democratic will of some 495 million people. The Member of the European Parliament is their spokesperson and defends their interests in front of the European Commission, the Council of Ministers or the European Council. The current Parliament, which was officially elected in June 2009, counts 751 members coming from the 27 Member States of the EU. More than a third (35%) of the MEPs are women.

The Members of the European Parliament do not sit in national groups but in one of the 7 European political groups : Confederal Group of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left (35 MEPs), the Group of the Progressive Alliance of the Socialists and Democrats (184 MEPs), the Group of the Greens (55 MEPs), the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (84 MEPs), the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian democrats) (265 MEPs), the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (54 MEPs), Europe of Freedom and the Democracy Group (32 MEPs), and the non-attached (27 MEPs).

Robert Goebbels is a Member of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament (S&D), the second force of the EP.

The seat of the European Parliament?

The European Parliament has one official seat, namely Strasbourg, but three work places: Brussels (Belgium), Luxembourg and Strasbourg (France). The administrative departments are located in Luxembourg. The plenary sessions, in which all the MEPs take part, are held once a month in Strasbourg. Committee and parliamentary group meetings are organised in Brussels.

What are the main tasks of the European Parliament?

The Parliament has three vital roles:

1. To exert the legislative power. It shares this capacity with the Council in many political areas when adopting legislative acts. Its direct election contributes to guarantee the democratic legitimacy of the European law;

2. To perform a democratic control on all the European institutions and in particular on the Commission. It has the right to approve or refuse the nomination of the members of the Commission and it is entitled to reject the Commission as a whole;

3. To carry out budgetary power. It shares the financing power with the Council and is in this context able to influence the expenditure of the EU. At the end of the whole proedure, the EP adopts or refuses the budget in its entirety.

How does the European Parliament work?

The work of the European Parliament is composed of 2 major steps:

1. The preparation of the plenary session. The session is organised by the MEP’s, brought together in various standing committees specialised in different areas. The European Parliament currently counts 20 committees (e.g. Transport and Tourism, Culture and Education, Women’s rights and Gender Equality, International Trade ) and 2 sub-committees. A committee consists of between 24 and 76 MEP’s, and their political make-up reflects that of the plenary.

2. The plenary session itself. The plenary sessions take place in Strasbourg (one week per month) and in Brussels (two days per month, at the time of the mini-sessions). During these sessions, the Parliament examines the legislative proposals and adopts amendments before taking a decision on the whole text (such as amended) during the plenary.