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Updated April 13, 2020


The European Parliament and U.S. Interests


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The European Parliament (EP) is the only directly elected
institution of the 27-country European Union (EU). The
EP's 705 members represent the EU's roughly 445 million
citizens. The most recent EP elections were in May 2019.
The EP has accumulated more power over time as part of
EU efforts to improve democratic accountability and
transparency in EU policymaking. Enhanced powers since
the 2009 Lisbon Treaty have made the EP a more important
actor on several issues 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 potential to influence key aspects
of U.S.-EU relations.


The EP plays a role in the EU's legislative and budget
processes and has a degree of oversight responsibility. 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 Council of the European Union (or the Council of
Ministers), which represents the interests of the EU's
national governments.

Although the European Commission has the right of
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 the EP and the Council of
Ministers must approve a European Commission proposal
for it to become EU law in a process known as the ordinary
legislative procedure or co-decision. The EP also must
approve the accession of new EU member states (or a
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 of the EU's
annual budget, which is fixed as a percentage of the EU's
combined gross national income). In addition, the EP has a
supervisory role over the European Commission and some
limited oversight over the activities of the Council of
Ministers. The EP monitors the management of EU
policies, can conduct investigations and public hearings,
and must approve each new slate of European
Commissioners every five years.


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.


Once elected, MEPs caucus according to political ideology
rather than nationality. A political group must contain at
least 25 MEPs from a minimum of seven EU countries.
Currently, the EP has seven political groups-containing
almost 200 national political parties-that span the political
spectrum, as well as a number of non-attached or
independent MEPs (see Figure 1). Although the majority of
MEPs hail from political parties that support the EU
project, some belong to parties considered to be anti-
establishment and euroskeptic-that is, critical of the EU or
anti-EU to varying degrees. Most euroskeptic 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 of the 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 unofficial grand coalitions. At the same
time, voting blocs may vary on specific pieces of
legislation. The relative size of the political groups also
helps to determine EP leadership and committee posts.
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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 Sassoli, an Italian MEP from the S&D,
was elected as EP president in 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 rival those in the U.S. Congress
and surpass those in most national European legislatures.
Each committee considers legislative proposals put forward
by the European Commission that fall within its jurisdiction
and issues a recommendation to the full EP on whether to
adopt, amend, or reject the proposed legislation. The EP
also plays a role in the EU's international presence with 44
delegations that maintain parliament-to-parliament relations
throughout the world (including with the U.S. Congress).


Strasbourg, France, is the official seat of the EP. This
location, close to the border with Germany, symbolizes
Europe's postwar reconciliation. Plenaries are held in
Strasbourg once per month, and committee meetings and
some part-plenary sessions occur in Brussels, Belgium. A


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