European Parliament, 2014-2019Proportion of Members in each political group TOTAL

NA

EFDD

ECR

EPP

ALDE

GREENS/EFA

S&D

GUE/NGL 6.9%

25.4%

6.7%

9.1%

29.2%

9.5%

6.4%

6.9%

Total751 seats

52

191

50

67

220

71

48

52

European Parliament by political groupsProportion and number of seats of Members by group

NI

EFDD

Greens/EFAALDE

ECRS&D

EPP

GUE/NGL 6.9%

25.3%

6.7%9.1%

29.2%

9.6%

6.3%

7.1%Total

751 seats

Size of the political groups

EPP (Group of the European People's Party)

Greens/EFA (The Greens/European Free Alliance)

S&D

ECR (European Conservatives and Reformists) ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe)

GUE/NGL (European United Left/Nordic Green Left)

EFDD (Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy Group) NI (Non-attached Members)

219 191

71 68

52 50 48 52

(Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament)

European Parliament by political groups

Number of Members in each group

NIEFDDGreens/EFA

ALDEECR

S&DEPP

GUE/NGL

53475052

6872

190219

MEPs751

Number of MEPs in each political group as of 15 April 2015.

Share of each political group in the total 751 seats in the Parliament.

The political groups in the current Parliament in order of size are: • Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) (EPP), • Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the EP (S&D), • European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR), • Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), • Confederal Group of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL), • Group of the Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA), • Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) group, and • Non-attached Members (Non-inscrits – NI).

This Briefing, published by the European Parliamentary Research Service, is designed to provide key facts and figures about the European Parliament, both today and in previous terms since direct elections were introduced in June 1979.

On the following pages you will find graphics of various kinds which:• detail the composition of the European Parliament now and in the past; • trace the increase in the number of parties represented in the Parliament and show the evolution of

political groups;• chart the rise in the number of women sitting in the Parliament;• explain the electoral systems used in elections to the Parliament across the Member States; • show how turnout in European elections compares with that in national elections; • summarise the activity of the Parliament in the last term from 2009 to 2014;• present the annual cost of the Parliament compared with other parliaments;• outline the composition of the Parliament’s main governing bodies.

The Briefing is being updated regularly during the 2014-19 parliamentary term to take account of latest developments.

European Parliament: Facts and Figures

EPRS | European Parliamentary Research ServiceAuthor: Giulio SabbatiMembers’ Research ServicePE 545.725

BriefingApril 2015

Size of political groups in the EP by Member State (as of 15 April 2015)

751219 190 68 5072 52 47 53

EPP S&D ALDE Greens/EFAECR GUE/NGL EFDD NI Total

0 10 20 30 40

EPP

MT

LU

CY

EE

SI

LV

LT

HR

IE

FI

SK

DK

BG

AT

SE

PT

HU

EL

CZ

BE

NL

RO

PL

ES

UK

IT

FR

DE342017

172313

5475

127457163452451233

0 10 20 30 40

S&D

MT

LU

CY

EE

SI

LV

LT

HR

IE

FI

SK

DK

BG

AT

SE

PT

HU

EL

CZ

BE

NL

RO

PL

ES

UK

IT

FR

DE2713312013

516

344448654342122111213

0 10 20 30 40

ECR

MT

LU

CY

EE

SI

LV

LT

HR

IE

FI

SK

DK

BG

AT

SE

PT

HU

EL

CZ

BE

NL

RO

PL

ES

UK

IT

FR

DE8

21

19

2421

24321111

0 10 20 30 40

ALDE

MT

LU

CY

EE

SI

LV

LT

HR

IE

FI

SK

DK

BG

AT

SE

PT

HU

EL

CZ

BE

NL

RO

PL

ES

UK

IT

FR

DE47

18

3764

23143

4123

13

1

DEFRITUKESPLRONLBECZELHUPTSEATBGDKSKFIIEHRLTLVSIEECYLUMT

EU 0 10 20 30 40

Greens/EFA

MT

LU

CY

EE

SI

LV

LT

HR

IE

FI

SK

DK

BG

AT

SE

PT

HU

EL

CZ

BE

NL

RO

PL

ES

UK

IT

FR

DE136

64

22

2

43

1

1

11111

1

0 10 20 30 40

GUE/NGL

MT

LU

CY

EE

SI

LV

LT

HR

IE

FI

SK

DK

BG

AT

SE

PT

HU

EL

CZ

BE

NL

RO

PL

ES

UK

IT

FR

DE8431

11

3

36

41

1

14

2

0 10 20 30 40

EFD

MT

LU

CY

EE

SI

LV

LT

HR

IE

FI

SK

DK

BG

AT

SE

PT

HU

EL

CZ

BE

NL

RO

PL

ES

UK

IT

FR

DE

11723

1

1

2

2

0 10 20 30 40

NI_OTHER

MT

LU

CY

EE

SI

LV

LT

HR

IE

FI

SK

DK

BG

AT

SE

PT

HU

EL

CZ

BE

NL

RO

PL

ES

UK

IT

FR

DE223

5113

41

53

4

1

Italy (IT)

Ireland (IE)

Belgium (BE)

Denmark (DK)

Luxembourg (LU)

Germany (DE)

France (FR)

Netherlands (NL)

United Kingdom (UK)

Sweden (SE)

Spain (ES)

Estonia (EE)

Malta (MT)

Austria (AT)

Greece (GR)

Cyprus (CY)

Latvia (LV)

Finland (FI)

Poland (PL)

Bulgaria (BG)

Slovenia (SL)

Hungary (HU)

Slovakia (SK)

Czech Republic (CZ)

Lithuania (LT)

Romania (RO)

Portugal (PT)

Croatia (HR)

EU

96747373545132262121212121201817131313111111

886666

Total100%

EPP29.2%

S&D25.3%

ALDE9.1%

Greens/EFA6.7%

ECR9.6%

GUE/NGL6.9%

EFDD6.3%

NI7.1%

Finland (FI)

Italy (IT)

Poland (PL)

Sweden (SE)

Bulgaria (BG)

Ireland (IE)

Netherlands (NL)

Spain (ES)

Belgium (BE)

Estonia (EE)

Malta (MT)

Slovenia (SI)

Austria (AT)

Denmark (DK)

Hungary (HU)

Slovakia (SK)

Czech Republic (CZ)

Greece (EL)

Luxembourg (LU)

Cyprus (CY)

Germany (DE)

Lithuania (LT)

Romania (RO)

Croatia (HR)

France (FR)

Latvia (LV)

Portugal (PT)

United Kingdom (UK)

Country codes and flags:

Data supplied by Members’ Administration Unit, European Parliament

Members’ Research Service Page 2 of 12

European Parliament: Facts and FiguresEPRS

Age of MEPs by Member State in 2014

BGDKROMTCZNLITPTHRHUIEATLVDESEESLTBEUKEUFIFRELCYSIPLSKLUEE

2826

2935

332828

3239

3637

3538

2735

2832

3529

2637

3335

4843

384039

37

0 20 40 60 80 100

Di�erence

Min

EELUSKPLSI

CYELFRFI

EUGBBELTESSEDELVATIE

HUHRPTIT

NLCZMTRODKBG 45

46474748484848495051515151525252535353545455555556565758

666971

667171

7065

5874

626464

7474

7966

7171

9169

8691

6171

7674

6478

Minimum MaximumAverage

The graph shows the average age of MEPs, together with the maximum and minimum age, per Member State. The average age of Members at the constituent session in July 2014 was 53 years, with the oldest member being 91 (from Greece) and the youngest one 26 (from Denmark).

New and re-elected MEPs in 2014 (as a percentage share of total MEPs)New MEPs are defined as those who did not sit in the EP either in the previous term or in a preceding one.Overall, of the 751 MEPs, 48.5% were new to the EP in 2014, whilst 51.5% were Members in a previous term. The highest proportion of new MEPs was in Greece (90.5%), whilst the lowest was in Luxembourg (16.7%).

Re-elected MEPs

New MEPs

0,0

0,5

1,0

New

MEP

s

Re-e

lect

ed M

EPs

LUFI

DE

HR

ROLVBEUKATLTFRSKDKPLHUEUSI

MTPTESNLIESEBGEE

CZCYITEL

EL IT CY CZ EE BG SE IE NL ES PT MT SI EU HU PL

DK SK FR LT AT UK BE LV RO HR DE FI

LU

0%

50%

100%

9.5%

32.9

%33

.3%

33.3

%33

.3%

41.2

%45

.0%

45.5

%46

.2%

46.3

%47

.6%

50.0

%50

.0%

51.5

%52

.4%

52.9

%53

.8%

53.8

%54

.1%

54.5

%55

.6%

57.5

%61

.9%

62.5

%62

.5%

63.6

%68

.8%

69.2

%83

.3%

90.5

%67

.1%

66.7

%66

.7%

66.7

%58

.8%

55.0

%54

.5%

53.8

%53

.7%

52.4

%50

.0%

50.0

%48

.5%

47.6

%47

.1%

46.2

%46

.2%

45.9

%45

.5%

44.4

%42

.5%

38.1

%37

.5%

37.5

%36

.4%

31.3

%30

.8%

16.7

%

Members’ Research Service Page 3 of 12

European Parliament: Facts and FiguresEPRS

National parties and political groups in the EPOver the eight terms the successive increases in the number of Member States and MEPs have been outpaced by growth in the number of national political parties represented in the EP. On the other hand, while the number of political groups has stabilised – the thresholds for forming a group have been raised over time – groups now tend to include Members from a greater number of Member States than in previous terms.

1979

-198

4

1984

-198

9

1989

-199

4

1994

-199

9

1999

-200

4

2004

-200

9

2009

-201

4

2014

-201

9

Number of MEPs 410 434 518 567 626 732 736 751Number of Member States 9 10 12 12 15 25 27 28Number of political groups 7 8 10 9 8 7 7 7Number of national political parties 57 67 103 97 127 168 176 191Number of national delegations in political groups 37 42 64 58 74 109 116 129

European Parliament, 1979-2014Strengths of the political groups in each parliamentary termThe relative size of the political groups in the European Parliament is shown for each of the eight parliamentary terms since the first direct elections in 1979. The data, in percentages of total seats, refer to the constituent session (in July) at the beginning of each parliamentary term.

The group colours in the current parliamentary term are also used for groups in previous terms, where the history of today’s groups can be traced back. However, it should be understood that the names and constitutions of political groups, and indeed their membership, can change frequently. So, whilst we can identify substantial common ele-ments between current groups and their predecessors, they cannot in all cases be regarded as the same group with an unbroken history. The category ‘others’ includes a number of groups which no longer exist.

0,0

0,1

0,2

0,3

0,4

0,5

0,6

0,7

0,8

0,9

1,0

0,0

0,1

0,2

0,3

0,4

0,5

0,6

0,7

0,8

0,9

1,0

NA

TDI

UEN

EDN->I-EDN

ARE

FE

CG

DR

ARC

RDE

CDI

DEP

EFDD

Greens/EFA

GUE/NGL

ALDE

ECR

S&D

EPP

2014-20192009-20142004-20091999-20041994-19991989-19941984-19891979-19841979-1984 1984-1989 1989-1994 1994-1999 1999-2004 2004-2009 2009-2014 2014-2019

100%

50%

0%

29.4%

25.4%

9.3%

8.9%

6.9%6.7%6.4%6.9%

36.0%

25.0%

7.3%

11.4%

4.8%7.5%4.3%3.7%

36.6%

27.3%

12.0%

5.6%5.7%5.1%

4.0%3.7%

37.2%

28.8%

8.0%

6.7%7.7%2.6%

1.4%

4.8%2.9%

27.5%

34.9%

7.8%4.9%4.1%

4.8%

4.6%4.8%3.4%3.4%

23.4%

34.7%

6.6%

9.5%

5.4%

3.9%2.5%3.3%2.7%2.3%

5.8%

25.3%

30.0%

11.5%

7.1%

9.4%

6.7%

4.6%3.7%1.6%

26.3%

27.3%

15.4%

9.8%

10.7%

5.4%2.7%2.4% 100%

50%

0%

NIEFDDGreens/EFAALDEECRS&DEPP GUE/NGL Others

Source: Directorate-General for Communication, European Parliament

Members’ Research Service Page 4 of 12

European Parliament: Facts and FiguresEPRS

Women MEPs by Member State

MT SE IE FI EE HR AT FR NL UK ES IT DK PT LV SI EU DE LU RO SK BG BE CZ EL PL HU CY LT

6 20 11 13 6 11 18 74 26 73 54 73 13 21 8 8 751 96 6 32 13 17 21 21 21 51 21 6 11

66.7

%

55.0

%

54.5

%

53.8

%

50.0

%

45.5

%

44.4

%

43.2

%

42.3

%

41.1

%

40.7

%

39.7

%

38.5

%

38.1

%

37.5

%

37.5

%

36.9

%

36.5

%

33.3

%

31.3

%

30.8

%

29.4

%

28.6

%

23.8

%

23.8

%

23.5

%

19.0

%

16.7

%

9.1%

Non

e

Non

e

Non

e

Non

e

Non

e

40%

Non

e

50%

Non

e

Non

e

40%

33%

Non

e

33%

Non

e

40%

Non

e

Non

e

> 0

Non

e

Non

e

50%

Non

e

Non

e

35%

Non

e

Non

e

Non

e

Total seats

Percentage of women Members in the EP (Constituent session, July 2014)

Gender quotas applicable to EP in the 2014 elections

The percentage of women MEPs elected in the 2014 European elections varied between 66.7% in Malta and 9.1% in Lithuania. At those elections, nine Member States had gender quotas, which mostly concern the make-up of elector-al lists, with gender proportions applying to both sexes, to avoid the under-representation of either women or men.

Proportion of men and women in the EPThe evolution of the proportion of women among all MEPs at the beginning of each parliamentary term shows steady growth, starting at 16.3% in the first term and reaching the highest percentage yet in the current term (36.9%).

0,0

0,2

0,4

0,6

0,8

1,0

Male

Female

2014-20192009-20142004-20091999-20041994-19991989-19941984-19891979-19841979-84 1984-89 1989-94 1994-99 1999-2004 2004-09 2009-14 2014-19

100%

80%

0%

60%

40%

20%16.3%

36.9%

Male

Female

1979-1984

16%

2014-2019

37%

Women in EP and EU national parliamentsComparison of the average representation of women in national parliaments in Member States and in the European Parliament shows that both have increased over time. The line for national parliaments up to 1996 is illustrative only, as it is based on data available for a limited number of Member States. A marked increase in the percentage of women in national parliaments can be seen in the mid-2000s, which is partly a consequence of the introduction of electoral gender quotas in several Member States around this time (France - 2000, Belgium - 2002, Portugal - 2006, Spain - 2007).

0,0

0,1

0,2

0,3

0,4

EU

2014199719791979 1984 1989 1994 20142009200419990%

10%

20%

30%

40%European Parliament

Member States’ national parliaments

Members’ Research Service Page 5 of 12

European Parliament: Facts and FiguresEPRS

Annual cost of the EP per inhabitant

The above graphic shows the annual running cost, divided by the number of inhabitants, for the European Parliament, German Bundestag, French Assemblée nationale, UK House of Commons and US House of Representatives, for the year 2011 (House of Commons, April 2011-March 2012; House of Representatives, October 2010 to September 2011).

USA

UK

FR

DE

EP

Germany

France

UK

USA

EP € 3.10

€ 8.20

€ 8.10

€ 7.30

€ 5.80

Electoral systems for the European ParliamentVoting system and number of MEPs

The EP now has 751 MEPs, a reduction from the pre-vious Parliament (2009-14) in which there were 766 MEPs (754 plus 12 for Croatia, which joined in 2013).

MEPs are elected under national electoral systems, but these have to observe certain common principles established in EU law, notably proportional represen-tation. As a general rule, voters can choose between political parties, individual candidates or both. Whilst in some Member States, voters can only vote for a list, with no possibility of changing the order of candidates (closed list), in others voters can express their prefer-ence for one or more of the candidates (preferential voting). Instead of a list system, some Member States achieve the latter possibility of preferential voting by using the single transferable vote (STV).

Cyprus 6

6Malta

Slovenia 8

Luxembourg 6

Preferen�al vo�ngSTV

Closed lists

96 Number of MEPs

Mul�ple cons�tuencies

74

7354

32

26

21

21

21

21

21

20

18

17

13

13

13

5196

11

1186

3 +11 70

Cyprus

Malta

Slovenia

Luxembourg

Closed listsPreferential votingSTV

Multiple constituencies

Number of MEPs

Electoral threshold

****

Thre

shol

d ap

plie

s to

**

**ea

ch c

onst

ituen

cy

5% 4% 3% 1.8% None

* Threshold applies to each constituency

*

5% 4% 3% 1.8% None

EU law allows Member States to establish thresholds of up to 5% of votes cast for the allocation of seats in the European Parliament. In 14 Member States, there are formal thresholds. Even in those Member States without a formally established threshold, there is an ‘effective’ threshold, which can exceed 5%, particu-larly in countries with a small number of seats in Par-liament.

Members’ Research Service Page 6 of 12

European Parliament: Facts and FiguresEPRS

The trend lines for turnout in four different types of election in the period since the first EP direct elections took place in 1979 show that voter turnout has been on a consistently downward path, both within the European Union and in the United States. Indeed, these trends are consistent with a general decline in turnout at elections in most G20 democracies since 1945 – from around 80% in the immediate post-war period to just over 60% today.

The graph highlights the remarkably close relationship between the (downward) paths of turnout in EP elections and (mid-term) US Congressional elections, in both absolute values and trends, which correspond almost exactly. The parallel declines in turnout at Member States’ parliamentary elections and at European Parliament elections demonstrate that voters treat EP elections in the same way as their national elections, but with an average turnout at national elections around 15 to 20% higher. In general, elections in which voters decide who runs the executive branch of government, as well as who controls the legislature, attract a higher turnout than other elections.

Turnout in European Parliament elections is calculated as the total number of votes cast in all Member States as a percentage of the total number of registered voters in those countries. Turnout for national parliamentary elec-tions in Member States is calculated on the same basis, totalling all elections taking place in each year to create an annual whole-EU aggregate. Turnout in elections to the US Congress is also based on total votes as a percentage of registered voters. They are split into two series, one for the years (1980, 1984, 1988 and so on) in which voters also elected the President on the same day (when turnout is normally significantly higher) and a second for the mid-term years, in which the Presidency was not contested (1982, 1986, 1990 and so on).

Caution is inevitably needed in making comparisons between the costs of parliaments, as each has its own history, traditions and organisational form: budget allocations for a given purpose in one parliament may have no parallel in another, while very different levels of resources may be dedicated to apparently similar tasks. The EP budget includes the costs of translation and interpreting into and out of 24 languages, and of operating in three centres – Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg – whereas other parliaments do not have these dimensions to their work.

Figures for the EP and the three Member State parliaments are taken from the EP’s internal study ‘Parliamentary Democracy in Action’ of March 2013. Figures for the House of Representatives are the FY2011 out-turn figures for the US federal ‘legislative branch’ budget. Since there is no accepted means of dividing costs between the House and Senate, the figure used is simply 50% of all items which are not specifically House only. Whilst this does include costs which have no counterpart in the EP – such as the Library of Congress which also acts as national depository library – it can also be argued that the House, with more than four times the number of members of the Senate, should bear a greater than half share of the supporting services. (US$ to € conversion is calculated at the 2011 rate of 1.38.)

Turnout in European ElectionsTrends in turnout at national and EP elections

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

United Kingdom

Sweden

Spain

Slovenia

Slovakia

Romania

Portugal

Poland

Netherlands

Malta

Luxembourg

Lithuania

Latvia

Italy

Ireland

Hungary

Greece

Germany

France

Finland

Estonia

Denmark

Czech Republic

Cyprus

Croatia

Bulgaria

Belgium

Austria

2009200419991994198919841979

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

European Parliament

US Congress (mid-terms)

Parliamentary elections in EU Member States

US Congress (Presidential election years)

1979 1989 1999 20091984 1994 2004 2014

Members’ Research Service Page 7 of 12

European Parliament: Facts and FiguresEPRS

Activity in all EP plenary sessions over five years

Texts2 790

Texts adopted

1 071

Legislative acts

of which

Votes23 553

Written questions tabled

58 840?

Amendments adopted21 298

Amendments rejected22 692

Plenary sitting days

260Days

Hours of sittings

12

9

6

32 160Hours

Activity in the seventh parliamentary term (2009-14)The European Parliament adopts its positions by voting in plenary session on legislative and budgetary texts, as well as on own-initiative reports and other resolutions. The Parliament’s 20 standing committees prepare the ground, undertaking detailed consideration of draft legislation and holding public hearings on key issues. In the course of the legislative process, representatives of EP committees meet frequently with their counterparts in the Council of Ministers and the European Commission, in so-called ‘trilogue’ negotiations.

Turnout in Member States at European Parliament elections since 1979

! Compulsory voting (Voting was also compulsory in Italy at the 1979, 1984 and 1989 elections.)

Lowest turnout Highest turnout without compulsory voting Highest turnout with compulsory voting

1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014BE 91.4% 92.1% 90.7% 90.7% 91.0% 90.8% 90.4% 89.6%LU 88.9% 88.8% 87.4% 88.5% 87.3% 91.3% 90.8% 85.5%MT 82.4% 78.8% 74.8%EL 77.2% 79.9% 73.2% 71.5% 63.2% 52.6% 60.0%IT 84.9% 83.4% 81.0% 73.6% 69.8% 71.7% 65.1% 57.2%DK 47.8% 52.4% 46.2% 52.9% 50.4% 47.9% 59.5% 56.3%IE 63.6% 47.6% 68.3% 44.0% 50.2% 58.6% 57.6% 52.4%SE 38.8% 37.9% 45.5% 51.1%DE 65.7% 56.8% 62.3% 60.0% 45.2% 43.0% 43.3% 48.1%LT 48.4% 21.0% 47.4%AT 49.0% 42.4% 46.0% 45.4%CY 72.5% 59.4% 44.0%ES 54.6% 59.1% 63.0% 45.1% 44.9% 43.8%EU 61.8% 59.0% 58.3% 56.7% 49.5% 45.6% 43.0% 42.6%FR 60.7% 56.7% 48.7% 52.8% 46.8% 42.8% 40.6% 42.4%FI 30.1% 39.4% 40.5% 41.0%NL 58.1% 50.6% 47.2% 35.7% 30.0% 39.3% 36.8% 37.3%EE 26.8% 43.9% 36.5%BG 38.9% 36.1%UK 32.3% 32.6% 36.2% 36.4% 24.0% 39.2% 34.5% 35.4%PT 51.2% 35.5% 39.9% 38.6% 36.8% 33.7%RO 27.7% 32.4%LV 41.3% 53.7% 30.2%HU 38.5% 36.3% 29.0%HR 25.2%SI 28.4% 28.3% 24.5%PL 20.9% 24.5% 23.8%CZ 28.3% 28.2% 18.2%SK 17.0% 19.6% 13.0% Slovakia (SK)

Italy (IT)

Sweden (SE)

Ireland (IE)

Spain (ES)

Belgium (BE)

Estonia (EE)

Malta (MT)

Austria (AT)

Denmark (DK)

Greece (GR)

Luxembourg (LU)

Cyprus (CY)

Germany (DE)

France (FR)

Latvia (LV)

Finland (FI)

Poland (PL)

Bulgaria (BG)

Netherlands (NL)

Slovenia (SL)

Hungary (HU)

Czech Republic (CZ)

Lithuania (LT)

Romania (RO)

Portugal (PT)

United Kingdom (UK)

EU

Croatia

!

!

!

!

For each of the eight European elections held since 1979, the table shows the lowest turnout among all Member States, the highest in a Member State without compulsory voting, and finally the highest overall. The EU average at each election is highlighted in light blue.

Members’ Research Service Page 8 of 12

European Parliament: Facts and FiguresEPRS

The European Parliament’s legislative activity

1994-99 2004-09 2009-141999-2004

1 000

800

600

400

200

00

200

400

600

800

1000Consent

Codecision

Consultation

Cooperation

2009-20142004-20091999-20041994-1999

217

960

462

56

076

177

5

657

681

2 0

633

200

19068 63

ConciliationCouncil 2nd reading

EP 2nd reading1st reading

1994-99 2004-09 2009-141999-2004

0

100

200

300

400

500

600Conciliation

CSL second reading agreement

Early second reading agreement

First reading agreement

2009-20142004-20091999-20041994-19990

500

400

300

200

100

600

The core work of the European Parliament lies in amending and passing EU legislation. Three procedures are used, with the most common now being the ‘ordinary legislative procedure’ (often referred to as co-decision). The Parlia-ment may also be required to give (or withhold) its consent to certain Council decisions, or may simply be consulted on certain Commission proposals. (A fourth procedure, cooperation, is no longer in use.) Under co-decision and consent, the EP has a right of veto over EU law. The two graphs together show the rise in the use of co-decision, reflecting greater EP power from successive Treaty changes, and the growing trend for the EP and Council to agree on legislative texts at the first reading of that process.

The bar chart below shows all legislative resolutions adopted in plenary by parliamentary term – that is, including all readings for co-decision and the cooperation procedure. The graph shows the stage of the co-decision procedure at which the EP and Council reached agreement on each legislative text.

Average duration and number of concluded ordinary legislative procedures

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Conciliation

CSL second reading agreement

Early second reading agreement

First reading agreement

Conciliation

Council 2nd reading

EP 2nd reading

1st reading 17 months

32 months

33 months

30 months

Duration Number of procedures

8

30

40

448

ConciliationCSL second reading agreem

entEarly second reading agreem

entFirst reading agreem

ent

The bar chart below shows the average duration in months of each completed ordinary legislative procedure, and the stage at which the procedure was concluded. The circles, in proportion, show the numbers of ordinary legislative procedures concluded at each stage of the procedure, during the seventh parliamentary term.

The graph below shows the stage of the co-decision procedure at which the EP and Council reached agreement on each legislative text during each parliamentary term.

ConsentCo-decision

ConsultationCooperation

Legislative procedures:

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Source: Many of the figures in this section are sourced from the Committee Statistical Report (Star Report) produced by the Legislative Coordination Unit, Directorate-General for Internal Policies, European Parliament, in October 2014.

ECON: 331

ENVI: 165

LIBE: 163

AGRI: 103

ITRE: 100

Others: 695

Other committees

ITRE

AGRI

LIBE

ENVI

ECON

Trilogue meetings:

1 557

21.3%

10.6%

10.5%

6.6%6.4%

44.6%

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

2014201320122011201020092009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

0

200

400

600

800

15 95

249

371

695

132

Number of trilogues per year and per committeeDuring the last term (2009-14), the EP participated in 1 557 trilogue meetings on legislative texts with the Council of Ministers and European Commission. The bar graph below shows the number of trilogues held each year, with a peak in the last full year, which coincided with the key decisions on programmes for the 2014-20 Multiannual Financial Framework. The pie chart below shows which committees were most involved in trilogues in the 2009-14 term. It highlights the five most active committees in terms of trilogues held, as a percentage of the total 1 557 such meetings.

Number of legislative opinions and own-initiative reports

BUDG

AFCO

PECH

PETI

INTA

CONT

TRAN

LIBE

AGRI

CULT

REGI

EMPL

ENVI

DEVE

ITRE

JURI

FEMM

IMCO

ECON

AFETAFETECONIMCOFEMMJURIITREDEVEENVIEMPLREGICULTAGRILIBE

TRANCONTINTAPETIPECHAFCOBUDG

258220

356182

417467

282361

401298

145204

225209

96239

91114122

313

81563837363535343430302322181815151412

6

Legislative opinionOwn-initiative report

The graph shows the number of legislative opinions (blue bars), as well as the number of own-initiative reports (or-ange bars), adopted by each committee during the whole seventh term (2009-14). The order is that of the number of own-initiative reports in each committee.

AFET: Foreign AffairsDEVE: DevelopmentINTA: International TradeBUDG: BudgetsCONT: Budgetary ControlECON: Economic and Monetary AffairsEMPL: Employment and Social AffairsENVI: Environment, Public Health and Food SafetyITRE: Industry, Research and EnergyIMCO: Internal Market and Consumer ProtectionTRAN: Transport and TourismREGI: Regional DevelopmentAGRI: Agriculture and Rural DevelopmentPECH: FisheriesCULT: Culture and EducationJURI: Legal AffairsLIBE: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home AffairsAFCO: Constitutional AffairsFEMM: Women's Rights and Gender EqualityPETI: Petitions

Committee names and codes

Members’ Research Service Page 10 of 12

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EP Bureau

Martin SCHULZ President S&D

Antonio TAJANI Vice-President EPPMairead McGUINNESS Vice-President EPPRainer WIELAND Vice-President EPPRamón Luis VALCÁRCEL Vice-President EPPIldikó GÁLL-PELCZ Vice-President EPPAdina-Ioana VĂLEAN Vice-President EPPSylvie GUILLAUME Vice-President S&DIoan Mircea PAŞCU Vice-President S&DDavid-Maria SASSOLI Vice-President S&DOlli REHN Vice-President ALDEAlexander Graf LAMBSDORFF Vice-President ALDEUlrike LUNACEK Vice-President GREENS/EFADimitrios PAPADIMOULIS Vice-President GUE/NGL Ryszard CZARNECKI Vice-President ECR

Elisabeth MORIN-CHARTIER Quaestor EPPBogusław LIBERADZKI Quaestor S&DCatherine BEARDER Quaestor ALDEAndrey KOVATCHEV Quaestor EPPKarol KARSKI Quaestor ECR

Germany (DE)

Italy (IT)

Ireland (IE)

Germany (DE)

Spain (ES)

Hungary (HU)

Romania (RO)

France (FR)

Romania (RO)

Italy (IT)

Finland (FI)

Germany (DE)

Austria (AT)

Greece (GR)

Poland (PL)

France (FR)

United Kingdom (UK)

Bulgaria (BG)

Poland (PL)

Poland (PL)

President1

Vice-Presidents14

Quaestors(non-voting)

5

The Bureau is the body responsible for financial, organisational and administrative matters within the Parliament. It is composed of the President and the 14 Vice-Presidents, elected by an absolute majority of the votes in plenary, with the order in which they attained that majority determining their order of precedence. The five Quaestors, elected in plenary to manage administrative and financial matters directly concerning Members, also attend the Bureau in an advisory capacity, but cannot vote.

The Bureau, the Conference of Presidents and the Conference of Committee Chairs presented below are comple-mented by other governing and coordination bodies, including the Conference of Delegation Chairs, the STOA Panel and the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group.

EP Conference of Presidents

Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Co-chairs Co-Chairs Observer

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ital

y (IT

)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Belg

ium

(BE)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Belg

ium

(BE)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Ital

y (IT

)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ital

y (IT

)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Belg

ium

(BE)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Belg

ium

(BE)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Ital

y (IT

)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ital

y (IT

)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Belg

ium

(BE)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Belg

ium

(BE)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Ital

y (IT

)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ital

y (IT

)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Belg

ium

(BE)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Belg

ium

(BE)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Ital

y (IT

)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ital

y (IT

)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Belg

ium

(BE)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Belg

ium

(BE)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Ital

y (IT

)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ital

y (IT

)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Belg

ium

(BE)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Belg

ium

(BE)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Ital

y (IT

)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ital

y (IT

)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Belg

ium

(BE)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Belg

ium

(BE)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Ital

y (IT

)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ital

y (IT

)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Belg

ium

(BE)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Belg

ium

(BE)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Ital

y (IT

)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ital

y (IT

)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Belg

ium

(BE)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Belg

ium

(BE)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Ital

y (IT

)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ital

y (IT

)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Belg

ium

(BE)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Belg

ium

(BE)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Ital

y (IT

)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Manfred WEBER

Gianni PITTELLA

Syed KAMALL

Guy VERHOFSTADT

Gabriele ZIMMER

Rebecca HARMS

Philippe LAMBERTS

Nigel FARAGE

David BORRELLI

Diane DODDS

NA_OTHEREFDDGREENS/EFAGUE/NGLALDEECRS&DEPP

GREENS/EFA

EPP S&D ECR ALDE GUE/NGL EFDD NI

President of the EP: Martin SCHULZS&D

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ital

y (IT

)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Belg

ium

(BE)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Ger

man

y (D

E)

Belg

ium

(BE)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

Ital

y (IT

)

Uni

ted

Kin

gd

om (U

K)

The Conference of Presidents (CoP) is composed of Parliament’s President and the chairs of the seven political groups. It sets the agenda of the plenary and determines the general political orientations of the institution.The table below shows the current members of the CoP. It is ordered by size of the groups, in terms of their seats in Parliament. Two groups have co-chairs. The non-attached (NI) Members are represented by a non-voting observer.

Main governing bodies in the EP

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GUE/NGL

GREENS/EFA

ECR

ALDE

S&D

EPP

20 40%

30%

15%

5%5% 5%

Share of chairs in committees by political group

Parliament’s committees

Number of MEPs Name of Chair

AFCO

JURI

PECH

DEVE

CONT

CULT

PETI

FEMM

IMCO

BUDG

INTA

REGI

AGRI

TRAN

EMPL

LIBE

ECON

ITRE

ENVI

AFETAFETENVIITRE

ECONLIBE

EMPLTRANAGRIREGIINTA

BUDGIMCO

FEMMPETI

CULTCONTDEVEPECHJURI

AFCO

EPPEPPEPPS&DS&DGUE/NGL GREENS/EFAEPPALDES&DALDEECRS&DALDES&DEPPS&DEPPEPPEPP

7169

6761

6055

4945

434141

403535

3130

28252525

Elmar BROKGiovanni LA VIAJerzy BUZEKRoberto GUALTIERIClaude MORAESThomas HÄNDELMichael CRAMERCzesław Adam SIEKIERSKIIskra MIHAYLOVABernd LANGEJean ARTHUISVicky FORDIratxe GARCÍA PÉREZCecilia WIKSTRÖMSilvia COSTAIngeborg GRÄSSLELinda McAVANAlain CADECPavel SVOBODADanuta Maria HÜBNER

Italy (IT)

Sweden (SE)

Spain (ES)

Germany (DE)

France (FR)

Poland (PL)

Czech Republic (CZ)

United Kingdom (UK)

Italy (IT)

Poland (PL)

Bulgaria (BG)

United Kingdom (UK)

Italy (IT)

United Kingdom (UK)

Poland (PL)

France (FR)

Germany (DE)

Germany (DE)

Germany (DE)

Germany (DE)

There are 20 standing committees (and two sub-committees) in the EP, each with a different set of responsibilities. The committees prepare the work of the plenary session, drawing up reports, in particular on legislative proposals from the Commission, and own-initiative reports.

The bar chart below shows the committees of the EP ordered by the number of MEPs who sit on them. It shows the chairs, elected by the members of each committee, together with their political group and nationality. The chairs of the committees meet together in the Conference of Committee Chairs, and have elected Jerzy Buzek, chair of the Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee, as their president. The pie chart shows the distribution of commit-tee chairs between the political groups, using the same colour code as before.

Notes

Data used in this publication are taken from a range of sources within and outside the European Parliament. Data on Members in the current term are from the Members’ Administration Unit of DG PRES and the Public Opinion Monitoring Unit of DG COMM; Figures comparing the current term with previous terms are from the Public Opinion Monitoring Unit of DG COMM. Data on turnout are taken from the IDEA database. Figures on activity in plenary in the 2009-14 term are from the Plenary Organisation and Follow-up Unit and the Members’ Activities’ Unit of DG PRES, and figures on the Committee’s activity in that term are from the Legislative Coordination Unit of DG IPOL.

Disclaimer and Copyright. The content of this document is the sole responsibility of the author and any opinions expressed therein do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Parliament. It is addressed to the Members and staff of the EP for their parliamentary work. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and the European Parliament is given prior notice and sent a copy. © European Union, 2015.

eprs@ep.europa.eu – http://www.eprs.ep.parl.union.eu (intranet) – http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank (internet) – http://epthinktank.eu (blog)

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