European Parliament

TheEuropean Parliament (EP) functions as one of the two legislative arms of the European Union, sharing equal responsibility with the Council of the European Union for adopting EU laws under the ordinary legislative procedure. It debates, amends, and votes on legislative proposals put forward by the European Commission, covering policy fields such as the internal market, agriculture, fisheries, transport, energy, climate action, digital regulation, and justice and home affairs. Beyond lawmaking, the EP possesses the authority to approve the EU’s long‑term financial framework and the annual budget, thereby influencing how union funds are allocated across member states and programmes. It also exercises democratic oversight of other EU institutions, most notably by having the power to censure and force the resignation of the European Commission as a whole. The EP’s work is prepared in twenty‑four specialised committees that examine draft legislation, hold hearings with experts, and produce reports that guide plenary deliberations. Plenary sessions, where all members convene to vote, are conducted in Strasbourg for the main part‑sessions and in Brussels for additional sessions, reflecting the split‑seat arrangement established by the EU treaties. The Parliament’s multilingual character ensures that all official documents are translated into the EU’s twenty‑four official languages, and simultaneous interpretation is provided during debates. Its political groups, which bring together MEPs from different national parties on the basis of shared ideological affinities, shape the parliamentary agenda and nominate candidates for key positions such as the President of the Parliament.

The European Parliament currently comprises 705 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) who are elected directly by voters in the twenty‑seven EU member states, giving it a democratic mandate that represents approximately 447 million EU citizens. Elections are held every five years using proportional representation, and the resulting parliament reflects a diverse spectrum of national political traditions translated into eight transnational political groups. The EP’s secretariat, which delivers administrative, linguistic, logistical, and technical support, is headquartered in Luxembourg, the city designated as the institution’s official headquarters under the EU treaties. As the only directly elected EU institution, the Parliament occupies a distinctive place in the Union’s institutional balance, combining legislative authority with direct accountability to the electorate. Its notable competencies include shaping legislation that directly affects the single market, setting standards for consumer protection, environmental sustainability, and digital rights, and influencing the EU’s external action through the approval of international agreements and the adoption of resolutions on foreign policy and human rights. The EP also possesses the right to petition, allowing any EU citizen or resident to submit complaints or requests for investigation, which are examined by the Committee on Petitions. In the realm of cybersecurity, the Parliament’s public website was temporarily disrupted by a distributed denial‑of‑service attack on 23 November 2022, claimed by a pro‑Kremlin hacktivist group linked to the Killnet collective, an incident that was mitigated by its internal IT teams within approximately two hours. These attributes underscore the EP’s role as a central, transparent, and responsive institution within the European Union’s governance structure.