Darbas:
įrengimai;Oblige8 - įpareigoti; priversti
It also aims1 to make the European Union a more effective force on the world stage by creating the post of EU Foreign Affairs Minister and putting that person in charge of all aspects of the Union’s external relations.
The new Constitution maintains the existing balance between national interests and the general European interest, and between the interests of small and big countries.
The European Parliament (EP) is elected by the citizens of the European Union to represent their interests. Its origins go back to the 1950s and the founding treaties, and since 1979 its members have been directly elected by the people they represent.
Elections are held every five years, and every EU citizen who is registered as a voter is entitled to vote. Parliament thus expresses the democratic will of the Union's citizens (more than 455 million people), and it represents their interests in discussions with the other EU institutions.
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) do not sit in national blocks, but in seven Europe-wide political groups. Between them, they represent all views on European integration, from the strongly pro-federalist to the openly Eurosceptic.
In 2004, Josep Borrell Fontelles was elected President of the European Parliament.
TABLE: Number of seats per political group, as at 2 June 2005
Political group Abbreviation2 No. of seats
European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats EPP-ED 268
Socialist Group PES 201
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe ALDE 88
Greens/European Free Alliance Greens/EFA 42
European United Left - Nordic Green Left GUE/NGL 41
Independence/Democracy IND/DEM 36
Union for Europe of the Nations UEN 27
Non-attached NI 29
TOTAL 732
United Kingdom 78
TOTAL 732
The European Parliament has three places of work: Brussels (Belgium), Luxembourg and Strasbourg (France).
Luxembourg is home to the administrative offices (the ‘General Secretariat’). Meetings of the whole Parliament, known as ‘plenary sessions’, take place in Strasbourg and sometimes in Brussels. Committee meetings are also held in Brussels.
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Aim1 – tikslas, taikinys
Abbreviation2 – sutrumpinimas, santrumpa
What does Parliament do?
Parliament has three main roles:
1. Passing European laws – jointly with the Council in many policy areas. The fact that the EP is directly elected by the citizens helps guarantee the democratic legitimacy1 of European law.
2. Parliament exercises democratic supervision2 over the other EU institutions, and
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