Formation of the European Parliament. The procedure for forming the European Parliament The European Parliament has chambers

The European Parliament is the representative body of the EU, exercising its powers on the basis of the founding documents of the EU.

Formation procedure: Representatives of EU member states are elected to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage. Each EU member state has a certain number of mandates in Parliament, corresponding primarily to the size of its population. The total number of seats is no more than 750 seats. The frequency of general direct elections to the European Parliament is 5 years.

Internal structure and operating procedure The European Parliament has a unicameral structure and operates on a permanent basis. Sessions of Parliament are held annually. Each regular session meets on the second Tuesday in March of the calendar year. At the initiative of deputies and authorized bodies, an emergency meeting may be called. All meetings are open. Deputies work at monthly plenary sessions and committee meetings. The work of Parliament is led by the Chairman, elected for 2.5 years. He presides over the meetings of the chamber and carries out administrative and disciplinary functions. The Chairman is assisted by 14 vice-chairmen and 5 quaestors, who are elected simultaneously and form the bureau of parliament under the leadership of the Chairman. The Conference of Chairmen is in charge of setting the agenda and conducting debates during the meeting. It includes the Chairman of Parliament and chairmen of political groups (factions), as well as two representatives from independent deputies.

Question 14. Functions and powers of the European Parliament.

Functions. Performs consultation and control functions; approves or amends adopted legal acts and the EU budget.

Control powers. The Commission is accountable to Parliament. Parliament can take sanctions against the Commission, for example, pass a vote of no confidence on it, force it to resign. In accordance with the Maastricht Treaty, Parliament has a leading role in appointing the chairman and members of the Commission. Monitors the activities of the Council by reviewing the programs and reports of the member state presiding over the Council.

Legislative powers. The Treaty of Rome of 1957 assigned Parliament a purely advisory role. Over time, his powers were significantly expanded. The modern law-making process in the EU provides for mandatory procedures for interaction between the Commission and the Council and Parliament, in which the latter is assigned a different role depending on the proposal under discussion. The Amsterdam Treaty established three main procedures: consultation, joint decision-making, consent.

Budget authority. The procedure for adopting the budget, which provides for two readings in Parliament, allows it to amend the draft developed by the Council. In exceptional cases, Parliament, if its opinion has not been taken into account, may reject the budget as a whole. He gives an opinion on the activities of the Commission related to the implementation of the budget (based on the findings of the Chamber of Auditors).

European Parliament - representative institution of the Community and Union. It consists of “representatives of the peoples of the states united in the Community” (Article 189 of the EU Treaty). All members (deputies) of the European Parliament are elected by direct universal elections for a period of five years.

General number of members (deputies) The number of European Parliaments after the last enlargement of the Union reached 732 (previously - 626). The number of deputies elected on the territory of different countries is determined by quotas enshrined directly in the EU Treaty (Article 190): Germany - 99 deputies; Great Britain, Italy, France - 87 ... Luxembourg, Cyprus, Estonia - 6, Malta - 5.

Wherein citizens of the Union have the right to vote and be elected to the European Parliament both in their home State and in any other Member State in which they have their place of residence (Article 19 of the EU Treaty).

Despite repeated initiatives of the European Parliament, a unified law on the election of its deputies has not yet been adopted. For this reason, European parliamentarians in different member states are elected according to the rules contained in national legislation: the Belgian Elections of the European Parliament Act 1989, the British Elections to the European Parliament Act 1978, etc. -

These documents, however, must comply with the general principles that are enshrined in the specific source of primary law of the European Union - Act on the election of members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage of 20 September 1976.(see question no. 24). According to the 1976 Act (as amended in 2002):

In all member states, MPs must be elected on the basis of a system of proportional representation (party list system or single transferable vote);

Elections must be held on the basis of universal direct suffrage with free and secret ballot;

Member states can set a threshold (i.e. the minimum number of votes that a party must receive in order to participate in the distribution of mandates), but not more than 5% of the votes cast;

Members of the European Parliament are prohibited from simultaneously serving as members of the national parliaments of member states. Other conditions for the incompatibility of the mandate of the European Parliament are also established: with membership in the governments of member states or in the Commission, in the courts of the Union, with the position of the European Ombudsman, etc.;

Elections of members of the European Parliament in all member states are held during one week of the month (in practice - June), from Thursday to Sunday. The counting of votes and announcement of the results are carried out only after the completion of the voting process in all countries of the Union.

Persons elected to the European Parliament have free mandate(i.e. they are not bound by the orders of their voters and cannot be recalled early) and are vested with parliamentary immunity, which can be removed by Parliament itself. Currently, a special EU regulatory act is being prepared on the status of members of the European Parliament, which will set out, in particular, the rules on the remuneration of deputies, guarantees and compensation for parliamentary activities.

Regardless of the country in which parliamentarians are elected, they act as representatives of all peoples of the Community and the Union as a whole and unite with each other into “political groups (factions) based on their party affiliation. The role of factions in the European Parliament “has always been and remains fundamental” 2.

The emergence of the European Parliament gave impetus to the consolidation of homogeneous political forces from different member states into political parties at European level, also called European political parties. The largest factions within the European Parliament are traditionally the European People's Party (center-right) and the Party of European Socialists, as well as the Party of European Liberals, Democrats and Reformers 3 .

To be recognized as operating “at European level”, a political party must have the support of voters in at least a quarter of the member states (i.e. seven). This, in turn, requires that in seven countries the candidates of the party concerned have been elected to representative bodies (European Parliament, national parliament, regional representative bodies) or that the party in seven member states has collected at least 3% of the votes cast (Art. 3 of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 “On the status and financing of political parties at European level”). In its form, a political party at the European level can be either an association of citizens or a union (alliance) of political parties of member states."

Functions and powers of the European Parliament. The modern European Parliament, as its main activities, carries out the same functions as the bodies of the same name in sovereign states: consideration and adoption of legislative acts (legislative function), discussion and approval of the budget (budgetary function), political control over the executive branch represented by the Commission (control function ).

The actual scope of the European Parliament's powers, however, is less than that of its national counterparts. First of all, this concerns legislative powers(adoption of regulations, directives, etc., in the future - European laws and framework laws):

a) unlike the parliaments of sovereign states, the European Parliament does not have the right to independently issue normative acts, but can only do this with the approval of the Council of the European Union - the second institution of this organization;

b) the legislative powers of the European Parliament are not the same in different spheres of public life. They depend on the type of legislative procedure that the article of the constituent agreement provides for on a specific issue:

If a joint decision-making procedure is prescribed, the document is issued by the European Parliament and the Council as a joint normative act (Regulations of the European Parliament and the Council, etc.). Both institutions respectively have the right of absolute veto on the bill;

If a consultative procedure is established, then the final document is adopted by the Council (the rules of the Council, etc.), and the opinion of the deputies is advisory (consultative) in nature. Under this procedure, the European Parliament can delay the adoption of a document, but not prevent it, i.e. has the right of suspensive veto on the bill.

Currently, the joint decision-making procedure is used, for example, to formulate legislation on the protection of consumer rights in the internal market, and a consultative procedure in the field of criminal and tax law.

In the future, according to the draft Constitution, European laws and framework laws will, as a general rule, be issued jointly by the European Parliament and the Council in the ordinary legislative procedure (analogous to the current co-decision procedure). On some issues, as an exception, a special legislative procedure will remain, giving the final say to the Council (as is the current consultative procedure). More details about the features of the legislative process in the European Union are described in Section VII (question No. 61).

Powers of the European Parliament in the public sector consist in discussing and adopting the general budget of the European Union (in the future - the European Budget Law). The Union budget is adopted by the European Parliament jointly with the Council, and these institutions have unequal rights in relation to different categories of budget expenditures (see question No. 75).

The European Parliament is actively implementing control behind other institutions and bodies of the Union, mainly the Commission. The result of this control may be a vote of no confidence in her, leading to her resignation. The control powers of the European Parliament are exercised in different forms, most of which are known to the parliamentary law of modern states: oral and written questions, including “question hour” (introduced in the early 1970s, modeled on the British House of Commons), hearing reports and reports, creation of investigative commissions, etc.

In addition to legislative, budgetary and control powers, the European Parliament also has a number of other prerogatives, in particular:

Giving consent to the conclusion of the most important international treaties EU with foreign states and international organizations (agreements with third countries);

Permission for new member states to join the European Union;

Appointment or participation in the formation of a number of institutions and bodies of the Union: the Ombudsman, the Commission, as well as (with the right of an advisory vote) the Court of Auditors and the Directorate of the European Central Bank;

The right to receive timely information and debate on the development of the common foreign and security policy of the European Union.

Organization of work and decision-making of the European Parliament. The European Parliament works in session mode. Its annual session opens on the second Tuesday of March and is divided into 11 sessional periods(every month except August). The sessional period lasts for one week and includes many plenary sessions. In addition to participating in plenary sessions, “European” parliamentarians carry out their work within the framework of parliamentary commissions and political groups (factions).

Quorum at meetings of the European Parliament is 1/3 of the list number of deputies, but its verification is not mandatory (carried out at the request of deputy groups).

As a general rule, the European Parliament makes decisions by a simple majority of votes, which is calculated from the number of deputies present and voting (for example, if 400 deputies participated in making a decision, then 201 votes in favor are sufficient).

Only in certain exceptional cases do the constituent documents require that decisions of the European Parliament be taken by a majority of the list of deputies. This condition may be supplemented by the condition that the draft decision must also receive the support of 3-fifths of the votes cast.

For example, the consent of the European Parliament to the accession of new member states to the European Union is given by an absolute majority of all parliamentarians (i.e. 367 out of 732). A vote of no confidence in the Commission is considered approved if two conditions are met:

firstly, with the support of Uzbekistan FROM number of votes cast; secondly, the number of deputies who voted “for” must be more than half of the list of members of the European Parliament.

In order to more effectively organize the work of the European Parliament, from among the deputies, standing commissions, preparing issues for consideration at plenary sessions: commission on external relations, commission on rights and freedoms of citizens, commission on constitutional affairs, commission on regional policy, transport and tourism, etc.

In addition to standing commissions, the European Parliament may establish temporary commissions, including commissions of inquiry into unlawful acts and other violations in the implementation of Community law (“commissions of inquiry”). In order to maintain contacts with foreign parliaments”:

from among the members of the European Parliament are also created interparliamentary delegations.

The governing bodies and officials of the European Parliament are:

- Chairman and his deputies (vice-chairs), who are elected by deputies for 2.5 years (i.e. for half of the legislature of the European Parliament);

The Chairman together with his deputies constitute The Bureau, which is responsible for administrative, organizational and financial issues of the functioning of the European Parliament, for example, determines the structure and staffing levels of the apparatus, establishes the procedure for using the electronic voting system, etc.;

The Bureau is assisted in carrying out its tasks five quaestors, elected by the European Parliament from among the deputies. In particular, quaestors maintain a special register where data on the professional activities and financial income of parliamentarians is entered. Quaestors participate in meetings of the Bureau with the right of an advisory vote;

The main body of political leadership of the European Parliament is Conference of Chairmen, which includes leaders of political groups (factions) and the President of the European Parliament itself. It is the Conference of Presidents that develops the draft agenda for the plenary sessions of the European Parliament;

The structure of the European Parliament also has Conference of commission chairmen And Conference of Chairmen of Delegations(for the purpose of coordinating the work of these departments).

As a subsidiary body of the European Parliament, as well as other institutions of the Union, it acts General Secretariat. The General Secretariat employs officials from the civil service of the European Communities (approximately 3,500 permanent employees and 600 temporary employees).

The European Parliament is a relatively “inexpensive” institution. According to his own calculations, the functioning of the European Parliament costs each citizen of the Union an average of 2.5 euros per year.

Cooperation of the European Parliament with national parliaments. After the European Parliament began to be directly elected (since 1979, before which it consisted of delegates from national parliaments), there was a need to establish contacts between the corps of “European” parliamentarians and the representative bodies of the member states.

The first step in organizing this interaction was the holding of regular meetings of the presidents of the European and national parliaments (since 1983). In 1989, a special forum for interparliamentary cooperation was established - Conference of bodies specialized in Community affairs, abbreviated - COSAC(from French Conference des organes specialises dans les anaires communautaires).

The members of the Conference are representatives of specialized bodies (commissions) of national parliaments on issues of the activities of the European Communities and the Union (six deputies from each member state). Together with national parliamentarians, members of the European Parliament (also six people) participate in the work of COSAC.

Within the framework of COSAC, there is a discussion of bills that are planned to be adopted at the level of the European Union. Based on the results of the discussion, COSAC has the right to submit recommendations to the political institutions of the Union, which, however, are not binding on the latter, as well as on the parliaments and governments of the member states.

The existence of COSAC was legally recognized in Protocol “On the role of national parliaments in the European Union”(see question No. 15); On May 6, 2003, a new one was approved Regulations (rules of procedure) of COSAC.

According to the latest document, meetings of the Conference must be held at least once every six months, and its decisions must be adopted by “broad consensus”. If the latter is unattainable, then it is enough 3 /^ votes cast, with each parliamentary delegation having two votes.

Council of the European Union"

Composition and order of formation. Council of the European Union - "intergovernmental" institution, consisting of officials of the executive branch of member states, usually at the rank of minister. “The Council is composed of one representative from each Member State at ministerial level, empowered to create obligations for the government of that Member State” (Article 203 of the EU Treaty).

Unlike the European Parliament, members of the Council express and protect the interests of their states and are bound by the instructions of the bodies that sent them(i.e. national governments).

The EU Treaty, as can be seen from the cited article, does not determine which ministers member states must send to participate in Council meetings. Because at these meetings, decisions are discussed and made on a wide range of public problems. The council began to meet in different compositions. They got the name formations Council.

So, Council for Justice and Internal Affairs makes regulations and other decisions in the areas of law enforcement and crime control, as well as in the areas of civil proceedings, visa, immigration and asylum policies. The members of the Council of this formation are the ministers of internal affairs or justice of the member states.

Environmental Council As part of the competent ministers of the Member States, it reviews and approves activities in the field of EU environmental policy.

In total, there are currently nine formations operating in the Council. Among them, the priority role is played by Council for General Affairs and External Relations(composed of ministers of foreign affairs), which is responsible for making decisions in the field of foreign policy, and also decides other issues of a “general” nature (including the distribution of responsibilities among other formations of the Council).

In cases of particular importance, expressly provided for by the founding treaties, the Council is obliged to meet at the level not of “just” ministers, but of the senior executives of the member states - A council composed of heads of state or government. In the future (according to the draft Constitution) this formation should disappear.

From the above it follows that the Council is the only institution of the European Union that does not have a fixed composition of members and term of office. This diversity of the Council creates some problems, but on the whole it significantly increases the professionalism and competence of the “intergovernmental” institution of the European Union.

Chairmanship of the Council. Since the Council sits in different compositions (formations), the leadership of this institution cannot be entrusted to an individual.

In this regard, the EU Treaty established that the presidency of the Council is carried out by the member states, which direct the work of all its formations and subsidiary bodies through their officials (the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the chairman state heads the Council for General Affairs and External Relations, etc.).

The post of Chairman of the Council is not elective. Member States occupy it in turn, in rotation order, each within one half year. The order of filling the post of Chairman is determined by the Council itself, adopting a special decision in this regard (Decision of January 1, 1995 “On establishing the procedure for presiding over the Council”). Thus, in 2003, the chairmen of the Council were Greece (first half of the year) and Italy (second half of the year), in 2004 - Ireland and the Netherlands.

The Presidency not only directs the work of the Council of the European Union (in particular, by drawing up a program of its activities for a specific half-year and preliminary agendas for sessions of various formations), but also has important powers of a general political nature.

According to the Treaty on European Union, it is the Presidency State that is High Representative of the Union for Common Foreign and Security Policy, conducts international negotiations and makes official statements on behalf of the organization as a whole. In view of this circumstance, the post of President of the Council is a very prestigious position for member states, and in the media the Presidency State is often called the President of the European Union.

In the future, after the adoption of the Constitution, the current system of filling the post of Chairman of the Council will remain in force with one significant change: in order to ensure greater consistency and continuity Chairmanship of the Council is planned to be made collective(probably for a period of one and a half years). If the new model were in force now, then from July 1, 2003 to December 31, 2004, the “collective chairman” of the Council would be jointly Italy, Ireland and the Netherlands, with a corresponding distribution of responsibilities among themselves.

On the other hand, it is planned to take away general political powers from the President of the Council, including the right to represent the European Union abroad within the framework of the common foreign and security policy. These prerogatives should pass to the new officials of the Union - the President of the European Council and the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Functions and powers of the council. Despite the fact that the members of the Council are representatives of the executive branch of the member states, this institution of the European Union acts primarily as legislator at common law 1. Currently, the Council exercises a legislative function jointly with the European Parliament, however, unlike the latter, the Council's veto on bills is always absolute.

In areas where bills are issued on the basis of a consultation procedure (see question No. 70), it is the Council that adopts the document in its final version, including despite possible objections from the European Parliament. As already noted, such documents are drawn up as individual acts of the Council of the European Union:

regulations of the Council, framework decision of the Council, etc.

The Council implements budget function, adopting, jointly with the European Parliament, the budget of the European Union, as well as approving the autonomous budgets of certain bodies of the latter (for example, the budget of Europol).

Along with legislative and budgetary activities, the Council of the European Union also carries out policy-making and coordination functions(as they are named in the draft Constitution). The main powers within these functions are:

Adopting annually “broad economic policy guidelines” addressed to all member states, as well as other measures to coordinate and monitor their economic policies and financial positions (including sanctions against member states that have excessive budget deficits). The Council also issues special guidelines in the area of ​​EU employment policy aimed at reducing unemployment;

Approval of all activities, including legal acts, within the framework of the common foreign and security policy, police and judicial cooperation in the criminal legal field (i.e. the second and third pillars of the European Union), as well as monitoring their implementation by states - members (through its own Chairman and General Secretariat)";

Conclusion of agreements of the European Communities and the Union with third countries and international organizations.

Among other powers of the Council, it is important to note appointment to many positions in the institutions and bodies of the European Union, individually or with the consent of the European Parliament (Chairman and members of the European Commission; members of the Court of Accounts, Economic and Social Committee, etc.), as well as individual rights in the sphere of constituent power. It is the Council that convenes a conference to revise the founding documents of the European Union and can independently amend some of their articles without ratification by member states (see question No. 69).

Organization of the work of the Council and decision-making. The Council of the European Union, like the European Parliament, works in sessionally. However, since the members of the Council are ministers of the governments of member states, its sessions cannot last for a long time. During the year, an average of 100 sessions of the Council take place in different formations; Each session usually lasts one day (less often two days). The number of sessions of the Council and the dates for their holding are determined in advance, in the program of the Chairmanship State, designed for the term of his powers (six months).

Along with official sessions where normative acts and other decisions are adopted, the practice of the Council has become widespread informal meetings of the Council(also in different formations), at which ministers come together to discuss current problems in the development of the European Union.

Quorum at meetings of the Council constitutes a majority of its list (i.e. 13 out of 25), and one member of the Council can delegate his voting rights to another member (this possibility is used very rarely).

As main ways of making decisions by the Council unanimity and qualified majority are in favor; which method is to be used in a particular case is determined by the enabling articles of the constituent agreements. For example:

“The Council, acting unanimously... may adopt any regulations” to regulate issues of state aid to enterprises (Article 89 of the EU Treaty); “the duties of the common customs tariff are established by the Council, acting by a qualified majority...” (Article 26 of the EU Treaty).

Unanimity in the Council assumes that the draft decision has received the support of all its members. However, no voting is carried out: the document is considered approved if none of the ministers present at the meeting opposed it. Thus, in practice, the Council uses consensus instead of unanimity (making decisions without voting in the absence of directly stated objections).

Due to the fact that unanimity (de facto consensus) allows member states, through their own ministers, to veto projects, this method of decision-making is gradually being replaced by another, more flexible and effective one - qualified majority.

In accordance with the draft Constitution, it is in this way that the Council will, as a general rule, approve European laws and framework laws, as well as other legal acts. Unanimity will remain only as an exception, in the most “sensitive” spheres of life for states.

The peculiarity of the qualified majority in the Council is that it takes into account the dualistic (dual) nature of the European Union organization: a union of states and a union of peoples. Accordingly, to make a decision in this case, two main conditions must be met:

The project must be supported by an absolute majority of Council members (i.e. 13 out of 25), and on some issues - Uz ("]"e^ u3 25)";

- at least 232 out of 321 so-called weighted votes must be cast in favor. “Weighing” the votes of representatives of different countries is carried out in accordance with the size of their population, and the corresponding quotas (as well as for the number of elected members of the European Parliament) are strictly fixed in the EU Treaty (Article 205). Thus, ministers from Germany, Great Britain, France and Italy each have 29 “weighted votes”; Spanish and Polish ministers - 27 each; Dutch - 13, etc. The representative of Malta has the smallest number of “weighted votes” (3);

The quotas of member states fixed in the EU Treaty are not strictly proportional (i.e. they do not accurately reflect their population ratio). For this reason, the 2001 Treaty of Nice gave each member of the Council the right to demand verification that “the Member States forming this qualified majority represent at least 62% of the total population of the Union. If it turns out that this condition is not met, then the corresponding decision is not made” (new paragraph 4 of Article 205 of the EU Treaty).

The draft Constitution of the Union provides for the abolition of "weighted voting" (together with the additional condition of a 62% cross-check) and defines a qualified majority as follows: "a majority of Member States representing at least three-fifths of the population of the Union." For some issues, a “super-qualified” majority is also provided: The bonds of the member states plus ^ the population of the Union 2.

In addition to unanimity (consensus) and a qualified majority, the Council also knows such a method of decision-making as simple majority(majority of the payroll). It is used primarily for procedural decision making 3 .

Taking into account the non-permanent nature of the work of the Council, the subsidiary bodies (committees). The most important among them is the Committee of Permanent Representatives, also denoted by the abbreviation Sogereg(from French Comite des representants permanents). It consists of the heads of official representations of member states to the European Union (with the rank of ambassadors) or their deputies.

Sogereg preliminary reviews projects submitted for approval by the Council and tries to reach consensus among representatives of member states. If this is successful, then the Council, as a rule, automatically (without discussion) approves the text agreed upon in Sogereg. This happens in approximately 75-80% of cases, i.e. Sogereg, with its activities, significantly “unloads” the Council.”

Along with Sogereg, the structure of the Council includes a number special committees(on agriculture, on political and security issues, etc.), and also create working groups on individual issues, the number of which varies from 250 to ZOO 2.

The Council apparatus is represented by it General Secretariat(approximately 3,000 employees). The head of the latter since 1999 combines two positions: Secretary General of the Council - High Representative of the European Union for the Common Foreign and Security Policy(abbreviated as "Secretary General - High Representative"). As High Representative, this official assists the President of the Council in the implementation of the foreign policy functions of the European Union.

European Commission 3

Composition and order of formation. The European Commission is an institution similar in composition and method of formation to national governments. It includes 27 people: Chairman and 26 Commissioners, responsible for a certain area of ​​government (commissioner for external relations, commissioner for justice and internal affairs, etc.).

The Chairman and Commissioners must be citizens of the European Union, and one citizen is appointed from each member state. Such quotas are likely to remain in place even after the Constitution comes into force. At the same time, according to its draft, the members of the Commission are planned to be divided into two categories: on the one hand, a panel consisting of the Chairman, the Minister of Foreign Affairs (with the rank of vice-chairman) and thirteen “European Commissioners”;

Despite the existence of national quotas, The Chairman and Commissioners, unlike the members of the Council, are not bound by the instructions of their states and are obliged to act only in the interests of the Community and the Union as a whole. The independence of the Commissioners is the most important condition for their appointment and is guaranteed by the prohibition for members of the Commission to receive or request instructions from anyone, including the authorities of their home states.

Members of the Commission can only be removed from office by the Court of Justice of the European Communities in case they cease to comply with the established requirements or commit a serious offense. It is also possible forced resignation of individual commissioners at the request of the Chairman(subject to the support of this requirement by a majority of members of the Commission).

Only the European Parliament can dismiss the Commission as a whole by issuing it vote of no confidence and in a complicated manner (absolute majority of the deputy corps and the number of votes cast). In practice, such cases have not yet occurred.

The Commission is formed for a period of five years jointly by the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament: the appointment of members of the Commission is carried out by the Council (by a qualified majority), and the approval of the Commission in the form of a “vote of confidence” is made by the European Parliament (by a simple majority).

Chairman of the Commission appointed first, separately from other commissioners, and also separately approved by the European Parliament. According to the draft Constitution, the appointment of this official will have to be made taking into account the results of elections to the European Parliament, probably from representatives of the “European political party” that formed the largest faction in the representative institution of the Union.

Functions and powers of the Commission. In the institutional mechanism of the European Union, the Commission is responsible for carrying out essentially the same tasks that national governments perform at the state level. Hence, in the political lexicon it is often characterized as the “chief executive” or even the “European government”.

At the same time, the powers of the Commission, similar to the powers of state governments, stem from two sources - directly from the “constitution” (founding treaties), as well as from the texts of legislative acts issued by the Council and the European Parliament (derived or delegated powers). Thanks to this, the actual range of rights and responsibilities of the Commission is constantly increasing. .,

Western doctrine has developed a classification of the main activities of the Commission into three functions. Within each, it is endowed with the corresponding power prerogatives:

- protective function, those. ensuring compliance with the constituent treaties, legal acts of institutions and other sources of law of the European Union by its member states, as well as individuals and legal entities.

The most important power under this function is to investigate the wrongful acts and omissions of member states and bring them to justice before the Court of Justice of the European Communities. The Commission itself does not have the right to punish member states (see question No. 50). It may be granted such authority in relation to enterprises in accordance with the legal acts (regulations) of the European Community. At the same time, the concept of “enterprise” covers both legal entities and individuals carrying out economic activities in the internal market of the EU.

Regulations giving the Commission the power to impose fines on enterprises have been issued in a number of areas of Community law, most notably antitrust, transport and energy. For example, according to the Council Regulation of June 27, 1960 “On the abolition of discrimination in the field of prices and conditions of transport,” the Commission has the right to fine carriers up to 10 thousand euros.

The Commission imposes multimillion-dollar fines (up to 10% of the enterprise's annual turnover) on large companies that violate competition rules in the EU, for example, Volkswagen (by decision of the Commission of June 29, 2001, it was fined in the amount of 30.96 million euros), sn Daimler Chrysler (October 10, 2001 fined approximately 72 million euros), Nintendo (fined 149 million euros according to the decision of October 30, 2002).

As part of its protective function, the Commission is given the right to authorize certain actions of Member States and enterprises (a form of preliminary control). In particular, the prior consent of the Commission requires mergers of large companies, the provision of state aid to enterprises and regulations of member states on a number of issues (for example, in the field of standardization).

EU legislation may also grant the Commission the power to prescribe or prohibit certain actions. For example, through its decisions it has the right to order Member States to prohibit the sale or withdraw from the market any product that poses a serious threat to consumers (Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council of December 3, 2001 “On general conditions for product safety”);

- initiative function, those. preparation of new regulations and other measures to be adopted at the level of the European Union.

The Commission has the right to submit draft regulations, directives and other legal acts to the Council and the European Parliament within the framework of all three pillars of the Union. However, within the European Community, where the largest part of Union legislation is published, this right is of an exclusive (monopoly) nature. In other words, within the EU, the legislative institutions - the European Parliament and the Council - as a rule, can only take decisions on a proposal from the Commission, but not on their own initiative. Moreover. The Commission has the right to change or withdraw the proposal made at any time. If the final decision must be made by the Council, then amendments with which the Commission does not agree can only be made unanimously.

The Commission's monopoly on law-making initiatives is a feature of the mechanism of checks and balances in the EU, thanks to which the Commission is usually characterized as the “engine of the Community”. This feature is planned to be preserved in the future Constitution of the Union. According to her draft, European laws and framework laws will be issued on the proposal of the Commission. Only in the field of criminal law and police cooperation will Member States (at least a quarter of their total number) be able to initiate legislative acts along with the Commission.

Other important powers of the Commission within the framework of the initiative function include the development of the draft budget of the European Union and negotiations with foreign states and international organizations on issues that fall within the competence of the EU and Euratom (the first pillar);

- executive function(in the narrow sense of the word), which means the Commission’s independent implementation of the provisions of the constituent agreements and other sources of Union law.

The main powers in this area include, first of all, the issuance of delegated legislation and the adoption of other “implementing measures” of regulations, directives, decisions of the European Parliament and the Council, the execution of the budget of the European Union, as well as the management of the Community structural funds (European Social Fund, European Fund regional development, etc.).

Organization of work and decision making. European Commission - permanent institution which, due to the nature of its functions and powers, has to make a huge number of decisions (on average about 10 thousand every year).

For this reason, the Commission distributes responsibilities (“portfolios”) between individual members - commissioners. The general management of the Commission is entrusted to the Chairman, who has the right to appoint deputies from among the commissioners (vice-chairmen).

In the future, according to the draft Constitution, one of the vice-chairmen of the Commission will be Minister of Foreign Affairs of the European Union. This official will receive a number of additional powers, in particular the right to independently submit draft foreign policy actions to the Council and the right to represent the European Union within the framework of the common foreign and security policy (the post of High Representative for the CFSP, currently combined with the post of Secretary General of the Council, will be eliminated).

The sectoral divisions (departments) of the Commission are: directorates general(or general directorates), abbreviated DG 1 and numbers in the form of Roman numerals, for example: DG II “Economic and Financial Affairs”, DG VI “Agriculture”, etc. The head of the Directorate General is the Director General (an official appointed from among the civil servants of the European Communities). The General Director, in turn, reports to the Commissioner, who is responsible for the relevant branch of management.

In addition to the general directorates, the structure of the Commission includes specialized services(Translation service, Legal service, etc.) and General Secretariat(auxiliary apparatus).

The Commission's heavy workload determines its existence extensive staff(about 25 thousand employees - more than in any other institute or body of the Union), as well as practice internal delegation, those. delegation of decision-making power to individual commissioners or general directors.

Thus, in the first half of 2003, the Commission collectively approved about a third of its decisions, of which only 2.3% at meetings, others through a written procedure (29.2%). The remaining decisions on behalf of the Commission were made individually by commissioners (27.1%) or general directors (41.4%)."

European Parliament– a representative body of the EU, exercising its powers on the basis of the constituent documents of the EU.

Formation order: Representatives of EU member states are elected to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage. Each EU member state has a certain number of mandates in Parliament, corresponding primarily to the size of its population. The total number of seats is no more than 750 seats. The frequency of general direct elections to the European Parliament is 5 years.

Internal structure and operating procedure The European Parliament has a unicameral structure and operates on a permanent basis. Sessions of Parliament are held annually. Each regular session meets on the second Tuesday in March of the calendar year. At the initiative of deputies and authorized bodies, an emergency meeting may be called. All meetings are open. Deputies work at monthly plenary sessions and committee meetings. The work of Parliament is led by the Chairman, elected for 2.5 years. He presides over the meetings of the chamber and carries out administrative and disciplinary functions. The Chairman is assisted by 14 vice-chairmen and 5 quaestors, who are elected simultaneously and form the bureau of parliament under the leadership of the Chairman. The Conference of Chairmen is in charge of setting the agenda and conducting debates during the meeting. It includes the Chairman of Parliament and chairmen of political groups (factions), as well as two representatives from independent deputies.

Powers of the European Parliament:

1) participation in the rule-making process (legislative powers);

2) voting of the budget and approval of the report on its execution;

3) participation in the formation of other institutions and control over their activities;

4) implementation of external relations.

Deputy status: fixed in general terms by constituent acts and regulated in detail by the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament. The regulations determine the scope and procedure for the exercise of deputy powers, the requirements for their implementation and responsibility for their violation. The competence of a deputy, established based on the results of voting in elections, is confirmed by the Parliament itself. The powers are exercised by each deputy independently. The deputy is not bound by an imperative mandate. He enjoys all the rights enshrined in the Treaties and Regulations, participates in the discussion of issues included in the agenda and the adoption of decisions put to vote.

Judicial system of the European Union

Court of Justice of the European Communities(The Court), designed to ensure a uniform understanding and application of European law, has managed to establish itself as a highly authoritative and impartial body. Acting within its jurisdiction, the Court formulated many conceptual provisions vital for the development of the integration process. This is, for example, the concept he created of the independence and independence of EU law as an autonomous legal system.

The court formulated the main qualifying features of EU law. Through judicial interpretation, he filled in many gaps and clarified the content of many provisions of the constituent agreements and acts of secondary law. According to the Nice Treaty of 2001 and the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union annexed to it, with subsequent amendments, the structure of the judicial system and the status of EU judicial institutions are significantly changing. These changes consist of creating practically three-tier EU judicial system:

2) Court of First Instance (CPI);

3) specialized judicial chambers.

In accordance with the reform, the EU Court of Justice acquires status of the highest judicial body of the EU.

It considers at first instance a relatively limited category of cases, the decision of which is essential for ensuring the unity and integrity of European law. It mainly retains prejudicial jurisdiction. It performs the functions of cassation and constitutional courts.

SPI becomes independent judicial authority. The majority of cases of direct jurisdiction fall under its jurisdiction. It acts as an instance of cassation in relation to specialized judicial chambers (SCC).

SSP are called assist the IFI when considering some cases allocated to a special category. These are, for example, disputes between Communities and their employees or disputes that are particularly complex due to technical reasons (problems of intellectual property, patent law, etc.).

The EU Constitution structures the judicial system more clearly. This system includes three independent courts:

2) Court of general jurisdiction;

3) specialized courts, which are not just auxiliary chambers, but an independent judicial authority.

At the same time, the Constitution makes changes to the procedure for the formation and jurisdiction of judicial institutions.

Judicial protection of the rights and interests of subjects of EU law is carried out not only by courts operating at the EU level, but also national judicial institutions of the Member States.

According to Art. 190 of the Community Treaty “representatives of the peoples of the States united in the Community are elected to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage.” A number of significant clarifications in the procedure for electing members of the European Parliament were introduced by the EU Treaty. The general definition of the circle of persons participating in voting and entitled to vote and be elected to the European Parliament is correlated by this Treaty with the institution of EU citizenship. It is derived from national. It is possessed by all persons who are citizens of member states. Citizens of the Union are granted the right to vote and be elected regardless of their place of residence on the territory of the Union. This means that a French citizen residing in Italy and holding European Union citizenship enjoys the right to vote and be elected on the same basis as citizens of his country of residence. Practice not only confirms the fact that citizens of one Member State participate in voting and enjoy active voting rights on the territory of another Member State, but also knows cases of nomination and election of candidates who are citizens of another EU Member State. The procedure for the exercise of the right to vote and to be elected shall be established by the Council, which decides by unanimity on a proposal from the Commission and after consultation with the European Parliament.

The constituent acts provide for the introduction of a uniform procedure for holding elections in the member states of the Union. Accordingly, the Parliament itself is developing a draft normative act establishing the election procedure. It must comply with the democratic principles that are common to all member states. The first act of this kind was approved on September 20, 1976. The election act is adopted by the Council on the basis of the principle of unanimity. According to the current procedure, the adoption of a decision must be preceded by the receipt of a concurring positive opinion from the Parliament itself, which is approved by a majority vote of its list. The decision of the Council must contain a recommendation addressed to all Member States that the approval of the electoral act should be carried out at the national level in accordance with the applicable constitutional procedures.

Until a unified electoral law is adopted, only general principles for the conduct of elections are established at the EU level. The organization and procedure of voting are regulated in each member state in accordance with national electoral legislation. In all countries of the Union, except Great Britain, they are carried out on the basis of a proportional system. This means that each political party or other organization allowed to participate in the elections nominates a list of candidates and receives a number of seats in proportion to the number of votes collected. It should, however, be borne in mind that the proportional electoral system has a number of variations and is applied differently in different member states of the Union. Thus, in France, in accordance with current legislation, the entire country forms a single electoral district. The list offered to voters must include a number of candidates equal to the number of seats to be filled. In a number of countries, when applying the proportional system, there is a protective clause, for example, in Germany and Spain. In Germany, a proportional election system is used on the basis of multi-member constituencies formed within the states. Almost all EU member states have their own peculiarities of organizing and conducting elections, as well as counting votes. In Great Britain the majority system is used. Elections are held on the basis of single-mandate constituencies and the candidate who collects a relative majority of votes is considered elected.

Each EU member state has a certain number of mandates in the European Parliament, corresponding primarily to the size of its population. The total number of seats in Parliament was limited by the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam to no more than 700 seats. The Nice Treaty of 2001, in anticipation of enlargement, brought this level to 732. According to the Protocol on EU Enlargement, annexed to this Treaty, by January 1, 2004, i.e., starting from the parliamentary legislature of 2004-2009, the number representatives elected in each state were determined as follows: Germany - 991; France, Italy and Great Britain - 79 (87)2 each; Spain -- 50 (64); Netherlands - 25 (31); Belgium, Greece and Portugal - 22 (25) each; Sweden -- 18 (22); Austria -- 17 (21); Denmark and Finland - 13 (16) each; Ireland -- 12 (15); Luxembourg -- 6. At the same time, the Declaration on EU Enlargement, adopted at the summit in Nice in December 2000, provided for certain quotas of mandates for newly acceding states. Poland - 50; Czech Republic and Hungary - 20 each; Slovakia - 13; Lithuania - 12; Latvia - 8; Slovenia - 7; Estonia and Cyprus - 6 each; Malta - 5. (The table also included Romania - 33 and Bulgaria - 17, which gave a total of 732 seats. However, their admission to the EU was postponed until 2007. The possibility of redistributing seats is within the competence of the Council.) The given figures show that that the provided quota of seats in Parliament is not entirely adequate to the size of the country’s population. So, for example, representation in Parliament from Germany and Great Britain turns out to be almost 15-20 times lower than the norm for representation in Luxembourg. Obviously, these circumstances dictate that neither the founding treaties nor other legal acts relating to elections and establishing the principle of universal and direct voting say anything about equal elections. According to the Constitution, the total number of seats should not exceed 750. The maximum quota for one state is 96, the minimum is 6.

The first general direct elections to the European Parliament took place in 1979. Their frequency corresponds to the term of office of the Parliament, which is five years. The last parliamentary elections, held in 2004, marked the beginning of the fifth legislature. Since the official admission of new states to EU membership took place on May 1, 2004, they all take part in the work of Parliament and the formation of its bodies and political groups.

The conditions for non-electability or incompatibility of the mandate are established as a general rule by the national legislation of the Member States. However, some of the provisions relating to the incompatibility of the mandate are established by the regulations of the Communities and the Union. Thus, a member of the European Parliament cannot be a member of the national government, a member of the Commission, a judge of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Court of Justice of the Supreme Court, the Advocate General, the Secretary of the Court, or be an official of one of the EU institutions during the performance of his duties. An early vacancy of a deputy mandate may occur due to the death of a deputy, voluntary resignation regardless of motives, and forced resignation caused by deprivation of a deputy mandate. The final decision is made by a majority vote of the parliamentarians themselves. The vacant mandate is filled for the remaining term of office.

The European Parliament has a unicameral structure. He works full time. Parliament sessions are held annually. Each regular session meets on the second Tuesday in March of the calendar year. At the request of a majority of deputies, the Commission or the Council, the Chairman of Parliament, in consultation with the Conference of Presidents, may call an emergency meeting. As a general rule, meetings are open. The verbatim report is published in the Official Journal of the EU. At the beginning of each session, deputies approve the work program. Deputies spend the bulk of their time, however, not in plenary sessions, but participating in the work of committees. The monthly plenary sessions, held in Strasbourg (France), last one week. At least two weeks per month are allocated for committee meetings held in Brussels (Belgium).

The work of Parliament is led by its Chairman, who is elected for half the term of the legislature itself, i.e. for two and a half years (the last elections took place in 2004).

A deputy from Spain was elected chairman). The chairman presides over the meetings of the chamber and carries out administrative and disciplinary functions. He may, along with the Chairman of the Commission and the person presiding over the Council, participate in the representation of the Communities and the Union. The Chairman is assisted by 14 vice-chairmen and 5 quaestors, who are elected simultaneously and form the bureau of parliament under the leadership of the Chairman (quaestors have an advisory voice; they are in charge of organizational, economic and financial issues). The Conference of Chairmen is responsible for setting the agenda and conducting debates during meetings. It includes the Chairman of Parliament and chairmen of political groups (factions), as well as two representatives from independent deputies. The Conference of Presidents should strive to reach consensus on the issues discussed. In its absence, voting is carried out using weighted votes. Their number depends on the amount of deputies represented. The functioning of the Conference of Chairmen of Parliamentary Commissions and the Conference of Chairmen of Interparliamentary Groups is also provided for. They have mainly advisory functions.

The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 (Article 191) confirmed the principle of the formation in Parliament of political groups created not on the basis of nationality or national-territorial affiliation, but on the basis of common political interests. The Treaty emphasizes that political parties created at European level are an important factor in integration within the Union. They must contribute to the formation of a common consciousness of Europeans and serve to express the political will of the citizens of the Union. The same amendment included a provision regarding the status of political parties and the conditions for their financing. The corresponding normative legal act is adopted on the basis of the joint decision-making procedure. The procedure for forming parliamentary political groups is determined by Art. 29 of the Regulations. It establishes a direct dependence of the acquisition of the status of a political group on its transnational character. The greater the number of countries represented in a political group, the lower the size threshold. In the legislature 1999-- 2004 there were eight political groups. Among them are the European People's Party - 232 deputies; Party of European Socialists - 179; European Party of Liberals, Democrats and Reformers - 53; Green Party - 44; Confederate Group of the European Union Left and Scandinavian Green Left - 44; Union of National Groups for Europe - 22; Group for a Europe of Democracy and Diversity - 18. There were 32 non-aligned deputies. In total, according to 2002 data, 625 out of 626 seats were filled. One seat remained vacant. The next parliamentary elections took place in June 2004. As in the Parliament of the previous convocation, the dominant positions were again taken by the European People's Party and the Party of European Socialists. They account for almost 2/3 of all mandates.

The European People's Party and the Party of European Socialists have an absolute majority of seats in the European Parliament of all recent convocations. It is from representatives of these parties that the main leadership positions in the European Parliament are filled. The number of factions determines their representation in the bodies of Parliament and the number of weighted votes that its leader has when making a decision by voting at a meeting of the Conference of Chairmen.

Decisions of the Parliament itself are made, as a general rule, by an absolute majority of votes of its members present at the meeting. The issue of the minimum number of deputies required to make a decision is being resolved in an original way. It is assumed that the number of parliamentarians present is always sufficient to conduct debates, decide on the agenda and approve the protocol. As for the general quorum required to make decisions on the merits, it is the presence in the meeting room of at least 1/3 of the deputies from the entire list. However, a quorum check is carried out only if at least 32 deputies request it. If there is no quorum, the decision is postponed to the next meeting. Special quorums and majorities are required when voting the budget, approving accession agreements, accepting censures from the Commission, and in certain other cases. Thus, in order to adopt a positive concurring conclusion on the issue of violation by a Member State of the general principles established by Art. 6 of the EU Treaty, a qualified majority of 2/3 of the votes of deputies representing an absolute majority of the entire list of deputies is required.

Members of the commissions are elected on the basis of proposals and usually in proportion to the size of the political groups. At the same time, geographical factors are taken into account. There are permanent commissions, specialized temporary commissions and investigative commissions. Commissions created on an ongoing basis are formed depending on the subjects of their jurisdiction. Their composition and competence are determined by the Conference of Chairmen. They elect their governing bodies, including a chairman and general rapporteur. Standing commissions can consider both issues submitted to them for discussion by decision of the governing bodies of parliament, and issues included on the agenda on their own initiative. No substantially important issue should be decided by the plenum of the chamber without first discussing it in the commission and hearing its report. However, the commission’s conclusion is not mandatory. Meetings of commissions form an integral part of the parliamentary session. There were 17 standing commissions in the legislature of the fourth convocation. Their list and powers are enshrined in Appendix VI to the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament. This is the Commission on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, General Security and Defense Policy (65 members); budget commission (45); commission for control over budget execution (21); commission on freedoms and rights of citizens, justice and internal affairs (43); in economics and finance (45); on legal issues and internal market issues (35); on industrial affairs, foreign trade, research and energy (60); on employment and social issues (55); on Environment, Health and Consumer Protection (60); on agriculture and agricultural development (78); on fisheries (20); regional policy, transport and tourism (59); Culture, Youth, Education, Media and Sports (35); on drinking and cooperation (34); on constitutional issues (30); on women's rights and equal opportunities (40); petition commission (30). In addition, there is a commission on an ongoing basis to verify the powers and protests brought against the election results. Each of the standing commissions can create its own subcommittees. Temporary specialized commissions are created by decision of the Conference of Chairmen for a period of up to 12 months. Their tasks are defined in the decision to create the commission itself. The work of such a commission ends with the presentation of a final report.

Commissions of inquiry are established to investigate specific facts or events relating to allegations of wrongdoing or maladministration brought against a Community institution or body, the administration of a Member State or any other person empowered to implement Community law. The work of the commission is strictly closed and confidential. However, the announcement of the establishment of an investigative commission must be published in the Official Journal of the EU. The commission's term of office is 12 months. It can be extended by Parliament twice for three months. The final report is presented to Parliament, published and may become the subject of discussion at a plenary meeting of Parliament.

Most of the usual routine meetings of Parliament take place with very little activity from deputies. Often only a few dozen parliamentarians attend these meetings. And only in those cases when the most important and significant issues are discussed or speeches of the leaders of the Council or Commission are heard, the hall is filled to capacity.

The intensity of the work of the European Parliament can be judged from statistical data. Every year there are seven regular meetings of the Legislature: in January, March, May, July, October, November and December. During these meetings, advisory opinions are voted, mainly containing proposals for amendments addressed to the Commission. Proposals are considered based on the cooperation procedure in the first and second readings. Projects introduced by the Council within the framework of the joint decision-making procedure, consideration of which may take place in three readings, require mandatory approval of Parliament. Parliament also votes on proposals to adopt a concurrent positive resolution.

In recent years, in terms of the nature and subject of the problems discussed, issues of a foreign policy nature often come first. During the winter meetings of 2002-2003. they were followed by issues of cooperation in the field of internal affairs and justice, agriculture and fisheries, institutional activities, consumer protection, transport and communications, social policy and employment, competition and the internal market, ecology, education and science.

On January 15, 2007, there were 785. The chairman of the second half is Hans Geert Pöttering. There are currently 7 factions represented in parliament, as well as a number of non-party delegates. In their home states, parliamentarians are members of about 160 different parties, which have united into factions in the pan-European political arena. Since the seventh electoral period 2009-2014. The European Parliament should again consist of 736 delegates (according to Art. 190 EG-Treaty); The Lisbon Treaty sets the number of parliamentarians at 750, including the chairman.

The principles for the organization and operation of the body are contained in the Standing Orders of the European Parliament.

Story

Plenary Hall of the Brussels Residence of the European Parliament

From 10 to 13 September 1952, the first meeting of the ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community) was held, consisting of 78 representatives who were chosen from among national parliaments. This assembly had only recommendatory powers, but also had the power to dismiss the highest executive bodies of the ECSC. In 1957, the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community were founded as a result of the Treaty of Rome. The parliamentary assembly, which at that time consisted of 142 representatives, belonged to all these three communities. Despite the fact that the assembly did not receive any new powers, it nevertheless began to call itself the European Parliament - a name that was recognized by the independent states. When the European Union acquired its budget in 1971, the European Parliament began to participate in its planning - in all its aspects, except for planning expenditures on the common agricultural policy, which, at that time, accounted for about 90% of expenditures. This obvious senselessness of the parliament even led to the fact that in the 70s there was a joke: “Send your old grandfather to sit in the European Parliament” (“Hast du einen Opa, schick ihn nach Europa”).

Since the 80s, the situation began to gradually change. The first direct parliamentary elections in 1976 were not yet associated with the expansion of its powers, but already in 1986, after the signing of the Single Pan-European Act, parliament began to take part in the legislative process and could now officially make proposals for changing bills, although the last word still remained behind the European Council. This condition was abolished as a result of the next step to expand the competences of the European Parliament - the Maastricht Treaty of 1992, which equalized the rights of the European Parliament and the European Council. Although Parliament still could not put forward bills against the will of the European Council, this was a great achievement, since no important decision could now be made without the participation of Parliament. In addition, parliament received the right to form the Investigative Committee, which significantly expanded its supervisory functions. As a result of the reforms of Amsterdam 1997 and Nice 2001, parliament began to play a greater role in the political sphere of Europe. In some important areas, such as pan-European Agricultural Policy, or joint work between the police and the judiciary, the European Parliament still does not have full powers. However, together with the European Council, it has a strong position in legislation.

Goals and objectives

European Parliament logo

The European Parliament has three major tasks: legislation, budgeting and control of the European Commission.

Legislative functions

The European Parliament shares legislative functions with the Council of the EU, which also adopts laws (directives, orders, decisions). Since the signing of the Treaty in Nice, in most political spheres, the so-called principle of joint decisions has been in force (Article 251 of the EU Treaty), according to which the European Parliament and the Council of Europe have equal powers, and each bill submitted by the Commission must be considered twice readings. Disagreements must be resolved during the 3rd reading.

In general, this system resembles the division of legislative power in Germany between the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. However, the European Parliament, unlike the Bundestag, does not have the right of initiative, in other words it cannot introduce its own bills. Only the European Commission has this right in the pan-European political arena. The European Constitution and the Lisbon Treaty do not provide for the expansion of initiative powers for parliament, although the Lisbon Treaty still allows, in exceptional cases, a situation where a group of EU member states submits bills for consideration.

In addition to the system of mutual lawmaking, there are also two other forms of legal regulation (agricultural policy and anti-monopoly competition), where parliament has less voting rights. After the Treaty of Nice, this circumstance applies only to one political sphere, and after the Treaty of Lisbon it should disappear altogether.

Fiscal policy

The European Parliament and the Council of the EU jointly form a budget commission, which forms the EU budget (for example, in 2006 it amounted to about € 113 billion)

Significant restrictions on fiscal policy are imposed by the so-called “Mandatory expenditures” (that is, expenditures related to the joint agricultural policy), which amount to almost 40% of the total European budget. The powers of Parliament in the direction of “Mandatory expenditures” are greatly limited. The Lisbon Treaty should eliminate the distinction between “Mandatory” and “non-mandatory” spending and give the European Parliament the same budgeting powers as the Council of the EU.

Control functions

Parliament also exercises control over the activities of the European Commission. The Plenum of Parliament must approve the composition of the Commission. Parliament has the right to accept or reject the Commission only as a whole, and not as individual members. The Parliament does not appoint the Chairman of the Commission (unlike the rules in force in most national parliaments of the EU member states); it can only accept or reject the candidacy proposed by the Council of Europe. In addition, Parliament can, through a 2/3 majority, put forward a vote of no confidence in the Commission, thereby causing its resignation.

The European Parliament used this right, for example, in 2004, when the Commission of Free Cities opposed the contested candidacy of Rocco Buttiglione for the post of Justice Commissioner. Then the Social Democratic, Liberal factions, as well as the Green faction, threatened to dissolve the Commission, after which Franco Frattini was appointed to the post of Commissioner of Justice instead of Butglione.

Parliament can also exercise control over the Council of Europe and the European Commission by establishing a committee of inquiry. This right particularly affects those areas of politics where the executive functions of these institutions are great, and where the legislative rights of parliament are significantly limited (see Three pillars of the European Union)

Growth in the number of deputies

	Sep 1952	Mar 1957	Jan 1973	Jun 1979	Jan 1981	Jan 1986	Jun 1994	Jan 1995	May 2004	Jun 2004	Jan 2007	Jun 2008
Germany	18	36	36	81	81	81	99	99	99	99	99	99
France	18	36	36	81	81	81	87	87	87	78	78	72
Italy	18	36	36	81	81	81	87	87	87	78	78	72
Belgium	10	14	14	24	24	24	25	25	25	24	24	22
Netherlands	10	14	14	25	25	25	31	31	31	27	27	25
Luxembourg	4	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6
Great Britain			36	81	81	81	87	87	87	78	78	72
Denmark			10	16	16	16	16	16	16	14	14	13
Ireland			10	15	15	15	15	15	15	13	13	12
Greece					24	24	25	25	25	24	24	22
Spain						60	64	64	64	54	54	50
Portugal						24	25	25	25	24	24	22
Sweden								22	22	19	19	18
Austria								21	21	18	18	17
Finland								16	16	14	14	13
Poland									54	54	54	50
Czech									24	24	24	20
Hungary									24	24	24	20
Slovakia									14	14	14	13
Lithuania									13	13	13	12
Latvia									9	9	9	8
Slovenia									7	7	7	7
Cyprus									6	6	6	6
Estonia									6	6	6	6
Malta									5	5	5	5
Romania											36	33
Bulgaria											18	17
Total	78	142	198	410	434	518	567	626	788	732	786	732

Factions

• European People's Party/European Democrats - Conservatives and Christian Democrats
• Party of European Socialists - social democrats and socialists
• Alliance of Liberals and Democrats of Europe - liberals
• European Greens/European Free Alliance - environmentalists and regionalists
• European United Left/Northern Green Left - left socialists and communists
• Independence/Democracy - Eurosceptics
• Identity, tradition, sovereignty - radical nationalists

see also

• Latin American Parliament
• Central American Parliament