The European Parliament is the only institution directly elected and legitimised by the citizens of the Union through the European elections. In total, the EP comprises a maximum of 750 MEPs, plus the President of the Parliament, who is elected by the Parliament itself from among its members. Together with the Council of Ministers and the Commission, the EP constitutes the most important actors in legislation. Together with the Council, the EP has budgetary powers and, in many cases, an advisory role. It also exercises control over the other European institutions, especially in the case of the Commission, as it is elected by the European Parliament.
President
The President is elected for a renewable term of two and a half years, i.e. half the regular term of the Parliament. The President represents the European Parliament vis-à-vis the outside world and in its relations with the other EU institutions.
Current President of the ninth European Parliament: Roberta Metsola.
Distribution of seats
Since the United Kingdom (UK) leaves the EU on 31 January 2020, the European Parliament has 705 MEPs (previously 751 members). 26 of the 73 UK seats will be allocated to other EU Member States. France will receive five additional seats, Spain four, Italy and the Netherlands three, Ireland two. Poland, Romania, Sweden, Austria, Denmark, Slovakia, Finland, Croatia and Estonia will each be allocated one seat. The remaining 47 seats will not be reallocated for the time being and will be put in reserve for future EU enlargements.
The redistribution of the new seats aims to alleviate the representation deficit of EU citizens from EU member states with a high population in the European Parliament. The cause of the distortion in favour of the member states with smaller populations is the principle of "degressive proportionality" codified in Article 14 (2) of the Treaty on European Union. It states that more populous states generally receive more seats in parliament than less populous states, but have fewer representatives per inhabitant. Less populous states therefore have more seats per inhabitant than more populous ones. For this imbalance, the Council of Ministers of the EU has a compensation mechanism (principle of qualified majority) modelled on federal states. This is intended to make it easier for governments from more populous EU countries to form a majority (65 per cent of EU citizens and 55 per cent of states).
705
Members of Parliament
27.000
Reconcilations (2018)
38,9 %
Proportion of women
Parliamentary Groups
European People's Party (EPP)
Parliamentary Party Leader: Manfred Weber (CSU/Germany)
Seats in Parliament: 175
Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament (S&D)
Parliamentary Party Leader: Iratxe García Pérez (PSOE/Spain)
Seats in Parliament: 145
Renew Europe
Parliamentary Party Leader: Stéphane Séjourné (LREM/France)
Seats in Parliament: 97
Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA)
Parliamentary Party Leader: Ska Keller (Die Grünen/Germany) und Philippe Lamberts (Ecolo/Belgium)
Seats in Parliament: 73
Identity and Democracy (ID)
Parliamentary Party Leader: Marco Zanni (Lega/Italy)
Seats in Parliament: 74
European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR)
Parliamentary Party Leader: Ryszard Legutko (PiS/Poland) und Raffaele Fitto (Direzione/Italy)
Seats in Parliament: 63
Confederal Group of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL)
Parliamentary Party Leader: Martin Schirdewan (Die LINKE/Germany)
Seats in Parliament: 39
Non-Inscrits (NI)
Seats in Parliament: 39
Tasks and Objectives
Art.14 (1) TEUV: "The European Parliament shall, jointly with the Council, exercise legislative and budgetary functions. It shall exercise functions of political control and consultation as laid down in the Treaties. It shall elect the President of the Commission."
Members
Art. 14 (2) TEUV: "The European Parliament shall be composed of representatives of the Union’s citizens. They shall not exceed seven hundred and fifty in number, plus the President. Representation of citizens shall be degressively proportional, with a minimum threshold of six members per Member State. No Member State shall be allocated more than ninety-six seats. The European Council shall adopt by unanimity, on the initiative of the European Parliament and with its consent, a decision establishing the composition of the European Parliament, respecting the principles referred to in the first subparagraph."
- AFET - Foreign Affairs: David McAllister (EPP, Germany)
- Subcommitee SEDE - Security and Defence: Nathalie Loiseau (Renew, France)
- Subcommitee DROI - Human Rights: Maria Arena (S&D, Belgium)
- DEVE - Development: Tomas Tobé (EPP, Sweden)
- INTA - International Trade: Bernd Lange (S&D, Germany)
- BUDG - Budgets: Johan van Overtveldt (ECR, Belgium)
- CONT - Budgetary Control: Monika Hohlmeier (EPP, Germany)
- ECON - Economic and Monetary Affairs: Irene Tinagli (S&D, Italy)
- EMPL - Empoyment and Social Affairs: Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová (Renew, Slowakia)
- ENVI - Environment, Public Health and Food Safety: Pascal Canfin (Renew, France)
- ITRE - Industry, Research and Energy: Cristian Silviu Bușoi (EPP, Romania)
- IMCO - Internal Market and Consumer Protection: Anna Cavazzini (Greens/EFA, Germany)
- TRAN - Transport and Tourism: Karima Delli (Greens/EFA, France)
- REGI - Regional Development: Younous Omarjee (GUE/NGL, La Reunion - France)
- AGRI - Agriculture and Rural Development: Norbert Lins (EPP, Germany)
- PECH - Fisheries: Pierre Karleskind (Renew, France)
- CULT - Culture and Education: Sabine Verheyen (EPP, Germany)
- JURI - Legal Affairs: Adrián Vásquez Lázara (Renew, Spain)
- LIBE - Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs: Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D, Spain)
- AFCO - Constitutional Affairs: Antonio Tajani (EPP, Italy)
- FEMM - Women's Rights and Gender Equality: Evelyn Regner (S&D, Austria)
- PETI - Petitions: Dolors Montserrat (EPP, Spain)
- BECA - Beating Cancer: Bartosz Arlukowicz (EPP, Poland)
- INGE - Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation: Raphael Glucksmann (S&D, France)
- AIDA - Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age: Dragos Tudorache (Renew, Rumania)
- ANIT - Protection of Animals during Transport: Tilly Metz (Greens/EFA, Luxemburg)