[MUSIC] Let's continue our overview of the European institutions and focus now on the European Parliament. The European Parliament is one of the largest parliamentary assemblies in the world and the only directly elected European institution. Europeans are called upon to elect their representatives, generally called MEPs, Members of the European Parliament. The parliament counts more than 750 MEPs, 766 in total. Germany as the largest number 99, France 74, the UK and Italy 73 each. In the three smallest countries at the bottom, Estonia, Luxembourg and Malta have 6 each. Each member of the Parliament can be seen as a small pole in this big Chinese checkers forming very diverse coalitions across the political spectrum since not political group hold a majority of the seats. Members of the European Parliament run for office at national level, and are elected for a five year term along the European Commission. However, once elected, the MEPs enter into the realm of European politics. They form political groups and political parties that cut across national lines. They work in Brussels, but they go to vote in Strasbourg, where the Parliament gathers in plenary session every month. Why do you think the EP, the European Parliament, has two seats, one in Brussels and another in Strasbourg? Why? As it is often the case, this has to do with politics. France wanted to have the official seat of the Parliament, but due to the need of the members of the Parliament to be close to the other institutions such as the commission or the Council, also Brussels holds today, a building, the working building of the European Parliament. This is costly and very controversial today. The President of the European Parliament is elected every two and a half years. According to a gentleman's agreement between the two largest political groups of the European Parliament, the 2009-2014 Parliament has elected, alternatively, a conservative, Jerzy Buzek, and a social democrat, Martin Schulz as its own President. Let's take a quiz together. Which one of these heads of states and governments has never been elected to the European Parliament? Jacques Chirac, the former President of France. Angela Merkel, the actual German Chancellor. Silvio Berlusconi, the former Prime Minister of Italy. Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister of the UK. Or Mario Soares, the Prime Minister, the foreign Prime Minister and President of Portugal. And the right answer is, Angela Merkel and Tony Blair, who have never been elected to the European Parliament. As you can see, the European Parliament has, over the last few years, been attracting a lot of top politicians. The Parliament enjoys an important prerogative, it elects the President of the European Commission. Under the current rules, it is the European Council which, taking into account the result of the European elections, proposes a candidate to the European Parliament. The Parliament also approves the different commissioners proposed by the European Commissioner President. After some formal hearing, aimed at verifying the suitability of the candidates put forward by the members states who have been witnessing a lot of grilling of those candidates over the years. As a result, the European Parliament may dismiss the Commission in its entirety. This makes the European Commission accountable to the Parliament. The European Parliament has been given the power to keep a close eye on the Commission, which must answer to the European Parliament and defend its proposals before it. Every year, the president of the European Commission delivers his US style State of the Union address, as you can see in this image. The European Union Legislation, proposed by the Commission, cannot be passed without some kind of agreement between the Council, and the European Parliament. Under the ordinary legislative procedure, what used to be called co-decision, the Council and the Parliament are now on an equal foot for passing laws, acting as two chambers in a bi-chamberal system like the US one. The European budget is also adopted following a similar procedure. That special procedure exists, like for instance, the constant procedure used for approving some international treaties such as the previously mentioned Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or T-TIP. Even if it has, formally, no power to introduce laws, the European Parliament does have the right to ask the Commission to draft legislation. And since the Commission, the only direct elected institution in Europe, may face some difficulties in departing from the Parliament's request, the Parliament defacto enjoys some right of, although indirect, legislative initiative. Overall, the Parliament's rights have been getting wider and strengther over the years and still continue to evolve in that direction. To sum up, what the European Parliament does today? Please pause the video right now, and try to remember what we have discussed until now. Let me help you on this. To sum up, we can say that the European Parliament plays three main roles. It debates and passes European laws, together with the Council. It scrutinizes the other institutions, in particular the European Commission, to make sure it's working in a democratically way. And finally, it debates and adopts the European budget together with the Council.
