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handle is hein.crs/govedll0001 and id is 1 raw text is: rcpssional Research $ervieq Updated May 26, 2021 The European Parliament and U.S. Interests A Key EU Institution The European Parliament (EP) is the only directly elected institution of the 27-country European Union(EUI). The EP's 705 members representthe EU's roughly 445 million citizens. The most recent EP elections were in May 2019. The EP has accumulatedmore power over time as part of EU efforts to improve democratic accountability and transparency in EU policymaking. Enhancedpowers since the 2009 Lisbon Treaty have made the EP a more important actor on severalis sues of U.S. concern, including trade, data privacy, and counterterrorism. Congress-EP ties are long-standing, and Congress may be interested in EP activities given the EP's potentialto influence key aspects of U.S.-EU relations. Role and Responsibilities The EP plays a role in the EU's legislative and budget processes andhas a degree of oversightresponsibility. The EP works closely with the two other main EU institutions: the European Commission, which represents the interests of the EU as a whole and functions as the EU's executive, and the Councilofthe European Union (orthe Council of Ministers), which represents the interests of the EU's national governments. Althoughthe European Commissionhas therightof legislative initiative, the EP shares legislative power with the Council of Ministers in most policy areas, giving the EP the right to accept, amend, or reject the vast majority of EU laws (with some exceptions, such as taxation and most aspects of foreign policy). Both theEP and the Council of Ministers must approve a European Commissionproposal for it to become EUlaw in a process known as the ordinary legislativeprocedure or co-decision. The EP also must approvethe accession ofnewEUmember states (ora member state's withdrawal) and has the right to approve or reject international accords, including EU trade agreements. The EP decides how to allocate the EU's budget jointly with the Council of Ministers (although neither the EP nor the Council of Ministers can affect the size ofthe EU's annualbudget, which is fixed as a percentage ofthe EU's combined gross national income). In addition, the EP has a supervisoryrole overthe European Commission andsome limited oversight over the activities of the Council of Ministers. The EP monitors the management of EU policies, can conduct investigations andpublic hearings, and must approve each new slate of European Commissioners every five years. Structure and Organization Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) serve five- year terms. Voting for the EP takes place on a national basis, with the number of MEPs elected in each EU country based roughly on population size. https ://crs repo Political Groups Once elected, MEPs caucus according to political ideology rather than nationality. Apolitical group must contain at least 23 MEPs from a minimum of seven EU countries. Currently, the EP has seven political groups-containing almost 200 nationalpoliticalp arties-that span the political spectrum, as well as anumber of non-attached or independentMEPs (see Figure 1). Although the majority of MEPs hail from political parties that support theEU project, some belong to parties considered to be anti- establishment and eu roskeptic-that is, critical of the EU or anti-EU to varying degrees. Mosteuroskeptic parties are on the right or far right (and are predominantly nationalist and anti-immigration), but a few are on the left or far left. No single group in the EP has an absolute majority, making compromise and coalition-building key features ofthe EP's legislative process. Historically, the center-right European People's Party (EPP) and the center-left Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament (S&D) have tended to dominate the EP by cooperating in unofficialgrand coalitions. At the same time, voting blocs may vary on specific pieces of legislation. The relative size ofthe political groups also helps to determine EP leadership and committee posts. EP Leadership, Committees, and Delegations MEPs elect a president of the European Parliament every two-and-a-half years (twice per parliamentary term). The president oversees the work of the EP and represents it externally. David Sas soli, an Italian MEP from the S&D, was elected as EPpresidentin July 2019. The EP has 20 standing committees that are key actors in the adoption of EU legislation. In terms of their importance and power, EP committees rivalthosein the U.S. Congress and surpass those in mos t national Europeanlegislatures. Each committee considers legislative proposals put forward by the European Commis sion that fall within its jurisdiction and issues a recommendation to the fullEP on whether to adopt, amend, or reject the proposed legislation. The EP also may establish temporarycommittees on specific issues or committees ofinquiry on breaches of EUlaw. The EP plays a role in the EU's internationalpresence with 44 delegations that maintain parliament-to-parliament relations throughout theworld (including with the U.S. Congress). Location and Administration Strasbourg, France, is the official seat of the EP. This location, close to the border with Germany, symbolizes Europe's postwar reconciliation. Plenaries typically are held in Strasbourg once per month, and committee meetings and some part-plenary sessions occur in Brussels, Belgium. A Secretariat ofroughly 5,000 nonpartisan civilservants, based in both Brussels and Luxembourg, provides

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