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The European Parliament

Historic steps
1952 - Paris - The ECSC Treaty - Common Assembly
1958 Rome -The EEC and Euratom Treaties - Assembly
19 March 1958 Strasbourg - With 142 Members, the Assembly met for the first time the 'European Parliamentary Assembly'
30 March 1962 - changing the name to 'European Parliament'
9-10 December 1974 - The Summit Conference in Paris decided that direct elections
should take place in or after 1978' and asked Parliament to submit new proposals to replace its
draft Convention of 1960.
January 1975 - Parliament adopted a new draft, on the basis of which the Heads of State
or Government, after settling a number of differences, reached agreement at their meeting of 12-13
July 1976.
20 September 1976 - The Decision and Act on European elections by direct universal
suffrage were signed in Brussels on. After ratification by all the Member States, the text came into
force on 1 July 1978.
25 June and 23 September 2002 - The Decision and Act on European elections by direct
universal suffrage were amended by the Council Decision

Subsequent Enlargements
When Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom joined the European Communities on 1
January 1973 (the first enlargement), the number of MEPs was increased to 198.
The first elections took place on 7 and 10 June 1979.
For the second enlargement, with the accession of Greece on 1 January 1981, 24 Greek
Members were delegated to the EP by the Greek Parliament, to be replaced in October 1981 by
directly elected Members.
The second direct elections were held on 14 and 17 June 1984.
On 1 January 1986, with the third enlargement, the number of seats rose from 434 to 518
with the arrival of 60 Spanish and 24 Portuguese Members, appointed by their national
parliaments and subsequently replaced by directly elected Members.
The third direct elections were held on 15 and 18 June 1989. Following German
unification, the composition of the European Parliament was adapted to demographic change.
In accordance with Parliament's proposals in a resolution on a scheme for allocating the
seats of its Members, the number of MEPs elected in June 1994 increased from 518 to 567. After
the fourth EU enlargement, the number of MEPs increased to 626, with a fair allocation of seats
for the new Member States, in line with the resolution
The Intergovernmental Conference in Nice introduced a new distribution of seats in the
European Parliament which was applied at the European elections in 2004. The maximum number
of Members (previously set at 700) is now 732. The number of seats allocated to the 15 old
Member States was reduced by 91 (from 626 to 535). The 197 remaining were distributed among
all old and new Member States on a pro rata basis.1
When Bulgaria and Romania accede to the European Union - which is expected to take
place during the 2004-2009 term - the number of seats in the European Parliament will
temporarily rise to 786 in order to accommodate MEPs from these countries.
1

Since 1 May 2004, with effect from 20 July 2004, membership of the European Parliament has been as Annex 1

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Electoral procedures
Common Rules
1. Principles
The founding Treaties stated that Members of the European Parliament would initially be
appointed by the national parliaments but made provision for election by direct universal suffrage,
based on a project drawn up by Parliament itself. It was only in 1976 that the Council decided to
implement this provision by the Act of 20 September2
In 1992, the Maastricht Treaty inserted a provision into the EC Treaty3 stating that
elections must be held in accordance with a uniform procedure in all Member States and
Parliament should draw up a proposal to this effect, for unanimous adoption by the Council.
However, the Council was unable to agree on a uniform procedure, in spite of the various
proposals presented by Parliament.
To resolve this deadlock, the Treaty of Amsterdam introduced into the EC Treaty the
possibility, failing a uniform procedure, of common principles with a view to enhancing the
democratic legitimacy of the EP and the feeling of being a citizen of the European Union.
2. Application: common provisions in force
a) Right of non-nationals to vote and to stand as a candidate - According to Article 19
of the EC Treaty, every citizen of the Union residing in a Member State of which he is not a
national shall have the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in elections to the European
Parliament in the Member State in which he resides.4
b) Electoral system - The elections must be based on proportional representation and use
either the list system or the single transferable vote.5
c) A person can vote only once
d) The elections take place in all the State Members in the same week, (Thursday and
Sunday)
e) The mininum age of voting is 18

National Rules
In addition to these common rules, the electoral arrangements are governed by national
provisions that are at times quite different.
a) Electoral system
Pursuant to the 2002 Council Decision, all of the Member States must now use a system
based on proportional representation. Lists failing to obtain 5% of the vote in Germany or France,
and 4% in Austria or Sweden, are excluded from the allocation of seats. Until the 1994 elections
the United Kingdom used the first-past-the-post system (except in Northern Ireland, where
proportional representation was already in use).
b)Constituency boundaries
Until 2003, in 11 Member States (Germany, Austria, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France,
Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden) the whole country formed a single
electoral area. In four Member States (Belgium, Ireland, Italy and the United Kingdom) the
national territory was divided into a number of constituencies.
Since the 2002 Council Decision, a number of national laws have been amended or are
being amended. France has abandoned the use of a single electoral constituency and has
established eight large regional constituencies: Northwest, West, East, Southwest, Southeast,
Massif Central, le-de-France and Overseas. In Great Britain the territory of Gibraltar, whose
2

now incorporated in the EC Treaty at Article 190(1)

Article 190(4)
4
The arrangements for implementing this right were adopted on 6 December 1993 in Directive 93/109/EC.
5
Council Decision of 25 June 2002 adopted following the EPs opinion.
3

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population does not vote in the European elections due to the disagreement on the issue between
the Spanish and British Governments, should be incorporated in one of the existing 12
constituencies. In Germany, although the electoral legislation will not be changed, parties are
allowed to present lists of candidates at either Land or national level. Similarly, in Finland parties
may present their lists at either constituency or national level.
c) Entitlement to vote
Vote of non-nationals in the host country
Voting age is 18 in all the Member States. Citizens of the Union residing in a Member
State of which they are not nationals now have the right to vote in elections to Parliament in the
Member State in which they reside6, under the same conditions as nationals of that state. However,
the concept of residence still varies from one national electoral system to another.
Some countries require voters either to have their domicile or customary residence on
electoral territory (Finland and France), or customarily to stay there (Germany, Luxembourg,
Belgium, Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy), or to be registered on the electoral roll (Austria,
Denmark, United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden).
To be entitled to vote in Luxembourg, Community citizens must also prove a minimum
period of residence. This was reduced, however, with the entry into force of the new electoral law
on 18 February 2003. Since then, the obligatory period of residence in the territory of Luxembourg
has been five years, although this period does not apply to Community electors who do not have
the right to vote in that state because they are resident outside their Member State of origin or
because of the period of that residence.
Vote of non-resident nationals in the countries of origin
On the right to vote of citizens resident abroad, in the United Kingdom this is confined to
civil servants, members of the armed forces and citizens who left the country less than five years
before, provided they submit a declaration to the appropriate authorities. Austria, Denmark,
Portugal and the Netherlands only grant the right to vote to their nationals living in an EU Member
State. Sweden, Belgium, France, Spain, Greece and Italy grant their nationals the right to vote
whatever their country of residence. Germany grants this right to citizens who have lived in
another country for less than ten years. In Ireland the right to vote is confined to EU citizens
domiciled on the national territory.
d) Right to stand for election
Minimum age
18 in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal, 19 in
Austria, 21 in Belgium, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom, 23 in France and
25 in Italy.
Residence
In Luxembourg, since the new electoral law of 18 February 2003, at least five years
residence is required (previously ten years) to enable a Community national to stand for election to
the European Parliament. Moreover, a list may not comprise a majority of candidates who do not
have Luxembourgish nationality.
Nominations
In five Member States (Denmark, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and Sweden) only
political parties and political organisations may submit nominations. In the other countries
nominations may be submitted if they are endorsed by the required number of signatures or
electors, and in some cases (Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) a deposit is also
required. In Ireland and Italy candidates may nominate themselves if they are endorsed by the
required number of signatures.
Election dates
In accordance with national traditions, the voting takes place on:
- Thursday in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom,
6

Article 19 EC Treaty

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- Sunday in all the other countries.
The last elections were therefore held on 10 and 13 June 2004.
Voters' option to alter the order of candidates on lists
In five states (Germany, Spain, France, Greece and Portugal) voters cannot alter the order
in which candidates appear on a list. In eight states (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Italy,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden) the order on the list may be changed using transferable
votes. In Luxembourg voters may vote for candidates from different lists. In Sweden, voters may
also add names to the lists or remove them. Elections in Ireland and the United Kingdom do not
use the list system.
Allocating seats
Of the 14 Member States that use proportional representation, eight have adopted the
dHondt rule for allocating seats (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, the
Netherlands and Portugal). Germany uses the Hare-Niemeyer method and Luxembourg a variant
of this method, the Hagenbach-Bischoff method. In Italy seats are allocated by the whole
electoral quota and largest remainder method, in Ireland by the single transferable vote method, in
Greece by the weighted method of proportional representation known as Eniskhimeni Analogiki,
and in Sweden by the Sainte-Lagu
Verification of the result and rules on election campaigns
There is provision for the EP to verify the election results in Denmark, Germany and
Luxembourg, and for the courts to do so in Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, Ireland and
the United Kingdom, while both are provided for in Germany. In Spain the result is verified by the
Junta Electoral Central; in Portugal and Sweden a verification committee does so.
Contrary to the practice in national elections, no special rules on election campaigns have
been laid down, except for a restriction on campaign expenditure. Political parties receive no
government allowances for election campaigns. However, the Council and the EP recently agreed
to establish a system for the funding of political parties from 2004 which will include election
campaign expenditure (resolution of 19 June 2003 on European political parties: statute and
financing).
e) Filling of seats vacated during the electoral term
In eight Member States (Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands and Portugal) seats falling vacant following open resignation are allocated to the
first unelected candidates on the lists (possibly after permutation to reflect the votes obtained by
the various candidates). In Belgium, Ireland, Germany and Sweden vacant seats are allocated to
substitutes. In Spain and Germany, if there are no substitutes account is taken of the order of
candidates on the lists. In the United Kingdom by-elections are held. In Greece vacant seats are
allocated to substitutes on the same list; if there are not enough substitutes, by-elections are held.

The Representatives Mandate and Statute

Mandate
Representatives shall be elected for a term of five years.

Incompatibilities
The office of member of the European Parliament is incompatible with:
- member of the Commission,
- judge, advocate-general or registrar of the Court of Justice,
- member of the Court of Auditors,
- member of the Economic and Social Committee,
- member of committees or other bodies set up pursuant to the Community Treaties for the
purpose of managing the Communities funds or carrying out a permanent direct administrative
task,
- member of the Board of Directors, Management Committee or staff of the European Investment
Bank,

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- active official or servant of the institutions of the European Communities or of the specialised
bodies attached to them.
The 2002 Council Decision added further incompatibilities:
- member of the Court of First Instance,
- member of the Board of Directors of the European Central Bank,
- Ombudsman of the European Communities
- member of a national parliament.

Organisation and operation

Organisation
Management bodies
They comprise the Bureau (the President and 14 Vice-Presidents); the Conference of
Presidents (President and political group chairmen); the five Quaestors responsible for Members'
administrative and financial business; the Conference of Committee Chairmen; and the
Conference of Delegation Chairmen.
The term of office of the President, Vice-Presidents and Quaestors is two and a half
years.
Committees and delegations
Members are assigned to 20 committees, 2 subcommittees, interparliamentary
delegations and delegations to joint parliamentary committees. There is also the Joint
Assembly set up under the agreement between the African, Caribbean and Pacific States and the
EU.
Each committee or delegation elects its own bureau' comprising a chairman and two or
three vice-chairmen.
The political groups
Members do not sit in national delegations but according to their political affinities, in
transnational groups.
Under the Rules of Procedure the minimum number of Members required to form a
political group is 29 if they come from one Member State, 23 if from two, 18 if from three and 14
if from four or more Member States.
The political groups hold regular meetings during the week before the part-session and
during the part-session week, as well as seminars to determine the main principles of their
Community activity.
OPERATION
Under the Treaty, Parliament organises its work independently. It adopts its Rules of
Procedure, acting by a majority of its members7. If the Treaties do not provide otherwise,
Parliament acts by an absolute majority of the votes cast8. It decides the agenda for its partsessions, which primarily cover the adoption of reports by its committees, questions to the
Commission and Council, topical and urgent debates and statements by the Presidency. Plenary
sittings are held in public.
SEAT AND PLACES OF WORK
From 7 July 1981 onward, Parliament has adopted several resolutions on its seat, calling on
the governments of the Member States to comply with the obligation incumbent upon them under
the Treaties to establish a single seat for the Institutions. Since they failed to respond, it took a
series of decisions concerning its organisation and places of work (Luxembourg, Strasbourg and
Brussels).
7
8

Article 199 EC
Article 198

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At the Edinburgh European Council of 11 and 12 December 1992 the Member States'
governments reached agreement on the seats of the Institutions, whereby:: Parliament
should
have its seat in Strasbourg, where the 12 monthly part-sessions, including the budget session,
should be held. Additional plenary part-sessions should be held in Brussels; the parliamentary
committees should meet in Brussels; the Parliament's Secretariat and departments should
remain in Luxembourg.
This decision was criticised by Parliament. However, the Court of Justice (judgment of 1
October 1997 - C 345/95) confirmed that it had determined the seat of Parliament in accordance
with Article 289 EC. The substance of this decision was included in the Treaty of Amsterdam in a
protocol annexed to the Treaties, which Parliament regretted.
Parliament draws up its annual calendar of part-sessions on the proposal of the
Conference of Presidents. In 2004 Parliament had 11 one-week part-sessions in Strasbourg and 5
two-day part- sessions in Brussels and in 2005, 12 part-sessions in Strasbourg and 6 two-day partsessions in Brussels.

The European Parliament powers

As an institution representing the citizens of Europe , Parliament forms the democratic
basis of the Community. If the Community is to have full democratic legitimacy, Parliament must
be fully involved in the Community's legislative process and exercise political control on the
public behalf over the other Community institutions.
GRADUAL INCREASE IN POWERS
Replacement of Member States contributions by the Community's own resources led to a
first extension of Parliament's budgetary powers under the Treaty of Luxembourg, signed on
22 April 1970. A second treaty on the same subject, strengthening Parliament's powers, was
signed in Brussels on 22 July 1975.
The Single Act enhanced Parliament's role in certain legislative areas (cooperation
procedure) and made accession and association treaties subject to its consent.
The Maastricht Treaty, by introducing the codecision procedure in certain areas of
legislation and extending the cooperation procedure to others, marked the beginning of
Parliament's metamorphosis into the role of co-legislator. It gave Parliament the power of final
approval over the membership of the Commission, which was an important step forwards in
Parliament's political control over the European executive.
The Treaty of Amsterdam extended the codecision procedure to most areas of legislation
and reformed the procedure, putting Parliament as co-legislator on an equal footing with the
Council. With the appointment of the President of the Commission being made subject to
Parliament's approval, Parliament further increased its control over the executive power.
The Treaty of Nice extended the scope of the codecision procedure in seven provisions of
the EC Treaty: measures to support antidiscrimination action of the Member States (Art 13 EC),
certain measures for issuing visas (Article 62 (2) (b) (ii) and (iv) EC) measures on asylum and on
certain refugees matters (Article 63 EC), measures in the field of judicial cooperation in civil
matters (Article 65 EC), support measures in the industrial field (Art 157 EC), actions in the field
of economy and social cohesion (Article 159 EC) and regulations governing political parties at
European level and in particular the rules regarding their funding (191 EC).
CONSTITUTIONAL-TYPE POWERS AND POWERS OF RATIFICATION
Since the Single European Act (SEA), all treaties marking the accession of a new Member
State and association treaties are subject to Parliament's assent. The SEA also established this
procedure for international agreements having important budgetary implications for the
Community (replacing the conciliation procedure established in 1975). The Maastricht Treaty
introduced it for agreements establishing a specific institutional framework or entailing
modifications to an act adopted under the codecision procedure. Parliament must also give its

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assent to acts relating to the electoral procedure (since the Maastricht Treaty). Since the
Amsterdam Treaty, its assent is further required if the Council wants to declare that a clear danger
exists of a Member State committing a serious breach of the European Union's fundamental
principles, before addressing recommendations or penalties to this Member State.

PARTICIPATION IN THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS

Parliament takes part in the drafting of Community legislation to varying degrees,
according to the individual legal basis. It has progressed from a purely advisory role to codecision
on an equal footing with the Council. The Maastricht Treaty also gives Parliament the right of
legislative initiative, but this is limited to asking the Commission to put forward a proposal.
BUDGET POWERS
Parliament is one of the two arms of the budgetary authority, and has the last word on noncompulsory expenditure (Article 272 EC).
It is involved in the budgetary process from the preparation stage, notably in laying down
the general guidelines and the type of spending (Articles 269 et seq. EC).
When debating the budget it has the power to table amendments to non-compulsory
expenditure but only to propose modifications to compulsory expenditure (Article 272 EC).
It finally adopts the budget and monitors its implementation (Articles 272, 275, 276 EC)
It discusses the annual general report (Article 200 EC).
It gives a discharge on implementation of the budget (Article 276 EC).
CONTROL OVER THE EXECUTIVE
Investiture of the Commission
Parliament began informally approving the investiture of the Commission in 1981 by
approving its programme. However, it was only when the Maastricht Treaty came into force
(1992) that its approval was required before the Member States could appoint the President and
Members of the Commission as a collegiate body. The Amsterdam Treaty has taken matters
further by requiring Parliament's specific approval for the appointment of the Commission
President, prior to that of the other Members.
The motion of censure
The Treaty of Rome made provision for a motion of censure against the Commission
(Article 201 EC). It requires a two-thirds majority of the votes cast, representing a majority of
Parliament's component members, in which case the Commission must resign as a body. There
have been only seven motions of censure since the beginning and none has been adopted, but the
number of votes in favour of censure has steadily increased. The last motion (vote on 14 January
1999) obtained 232 votes to 293, with 27 abstentions.
Parliamentary questions
These take the form of written and oral questions with or without debate (Article 197 EC)
and questions for Question Time. The Commission and Council are required to reply.
Committees of inquiry
Parliament has the power to set up a temporary committee of inquiry to investigate alleged
contraventions or maladministration in the implementation of Community law (Article 193 EC).
Control over common foreign and security policy and police and judicial cooperation
Parliament is entitled to be kept informed in these areas and may address questions or
recommendations to the Council. It must be consulted on the main aspects and basic choices of the
common foreign and security policy and on any measure envisaged apart from the common
positions on police and judicial cooperation (Articles 21 and 39 EU). Implementation of the
interinstitutional agreement on financing the CFSP, attached to the Amsterdam Treaty, is expected
to improve CFSP consultation procedures.

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APPEALS TO THE COURT OF JUSTICE

Parliament has the right to institute proceedings before the Court of Justice in cases of
violation of the Treaty by another Institution.
It has the right to intervene , i.e. to support one of the parties to the proceedings, in cases
before the Court. It exercised this right in the 'Isoglucose' judgement (Cases 138 and 139/79 of 29
October 1980). In its ruling, the Court declared a Council regulation invalid because it was in
breach of its obligation to consult Parliament.
In an action for failure to act (Article 232 EC), Parliament may institute proceedings
against an Institution before the Court for violation of the Treaty, as in Case 13/83, in which
judgment was found against the Council because it had failed to take measures relating to the
common transport policy.
Under the Treaty of Amsterdam the Parliament could bring an action to annul an act of
another Institution only for the purpose of protecting its prerogatives. The Treaty of Nice amended
Article 230 EC: the Parliament doesn't have to demonstrate specific concern and therefore is able
to institute proceedings in the same way as the Council, the Commission and the Member States .
The Parliament may be the defending party in an action against an act adopted under the
codecision procedure or when one of its acts is intended to produce legal effects vis--vis third
parties. Article 230 EC thus upholds the Court's rulings in Cases 320/81, 294/83 and 70/88.
It is finally now able to seek a prior opinion from the Court of Justice on the compatibility of an
international agreement with the Treaty (Article 300 EC, modified by the Treaty of Nice).
PETITIONS
When EU citizens exercise their right of petition, they address their petitions to Parliament.
(Article 194 EC)
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
Since the 1960s Parliament has repeatedly voiced its opinion on issues of electoral law in
reports, resolutions and in written and oral questions and has put forward proposals in accordance
with Article 138 of the EEC Treaty. Parliament adopted three resolutions, in 1991, 1992 and 1993,
on establishing a uniform electoral procedure, but the Council did not consider them as proposals
within the meaning of Article 138 and in any case adopted only the proposal concerning the
allocation of seats among the Member States.
Article 190 of the EC Treaty, modified by the Amsterdam Treaty, provides for Parliament
to draw up a proposal for elections in accordance with a uniform procedure in all Member States
or in accordance with principles common to all Member States. In 1997, Parliaments Committee
on Institutional Affairs decided to draw up a report which resulted in a resolution on a proposal for
a uniform electoral procedure. The Councils decision of 25 June 2002 incorporates the substance
of the EPs proposal, with two exceptions:
- the Council does not take over the proposal for the establishment of a single European
constituency for the election of 10% of the seats,
- the decision does not make reference to the principle of parity between men and
women.
The continuing lack of a genuine uniform procedure for election to the European
Parliament shows how difficult it is to harmonise different national traditions. The Amsterdam
Treatys option of adopting common principles has to some extent made it possible to overcome
these difficulties.

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Annex 1

Belgium
Czech
Republic
Denmark
Germany
Estonia
Greece
Spain
France
Ireland
Italy
Cyprus
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Hungary
Malta
Netherlands
Austria
Poland
Portugal
Slovenia
Slovakia
Finland
Sweden
United
Kingdom
Total

24
24
14
99
6
24
54
78
13
78
6
9
13
6
24
5
27
18
54
24
7
14
14
19
78
732 (absolute
majority: 367)