E.U.

Law_Course 10_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 Parliaments 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 acceded to the European Union, the number of seats in the European
Parliament, temporarily, rose to 786 in order to accommodate MEPs from these countries.
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 September[2]
In 1992, the Maastricht Treaty inserted a provision into the EC Treaty[3] 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 minimum 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-deFrance and Overseas. In Great Britain the territory of Gibraltar, whose 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 reside[6], 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 organizations 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,
- 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 HagenbachBischoff 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,
- 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.
Organization and operation
Organization
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 vicechairmen.
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 organizes its work independently. It adopts its Rules of Procedure, acting
by a majority of its members[7]. If the Treaties do not provide otherwise, Parliament acts by an
absolute majority of the votes cast[8]. It decides the agenda for its part-sessions, 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 organization and places of work (Luxembourg, Strasbourg and Brussels).
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

inStrasbourg, 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 inBrussels; the Parliaments Secretariat and departments should
remain in Luxembourg.
This decision was criticized 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 partsessions in Brussels and in 2005, 12 part-sessions in Strasbourg and 6 two-day part-sessions 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 Communitys 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 Communitys own resources

led to a first

extension of Parliaments budgetary powers under the Treaty of Luxembourg, signed on 22

April 1970. A second treaty on the same subject, strengthening Parliaments powers, was signed in
Brussels on 22 July 1975.
The Single Act enhanced Parliaments role in certain legislative areas (cooperation procedure)
and made accession and association treaties subject to its consent.
The Maastricht Treaty, by introducing the co-decision procedure in certain areas of legislation and
extending the cooperation procedure to others, marked the beginning of Parliaments 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 Parliaments political control over the
European executive.
The Treaty of Amsterdam extended the co-decision 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 Parliaments approval,
Parliament further increased its control over the executive power.
The Treaty of Nice extended the scope of the co-decision 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 Parliaments 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 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 Unions 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
It is involved in the budgetary process from the preparation stage, notably in laying down the general
guidelines and the type of spending
When debating the budget it has the power to table amendments to non-compulsory expenditure but
only to propose modifications to compulsory expenditure
It finally adopts the budget and monitors its implementation
It discusses the annual general report
It gives a discharge on implementation of the budget
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 Parliaments
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 Parliaments 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.
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, 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 doesnt 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. The treaty thus upholds
the Courts 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.

PETITIONS
When EU citizens exercise their right of petition, they address their petitions to Parliament.
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 harmonize different national traditions. The Amsterdam Treatys option of adopting
common principles has to some extent made it possible to overcome these difficulties.
[1] Since 1999 membership of the European Parliament has been as Annex 1
[2] now incorporated in the EC Treaty at Article 190(1)
[3] 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.
[6] Article 19 EC Treaty
[7] Article 199 EC
[8] Article 198