Editing European Parliament (section)

==Members==
{{National apportionment of MEPs}}
[[File:GenderOfMEPs2024.png|thumb|199x199px|Gender of the members of the European Parliament]]
{{Main|Members of the European Parliament}}

The [[Member of Parliament|parliamentarians]] are known in English as [[Members of the European Parliament]] (MEPs). They are elected every five years by [[universal suffrage]] and sit according to political allegiance. About 40 percent are women. Before the [[1979 European Parliament election|first direct elections, in 1979]], they were appointed by their national parliaments.<ref name="ENA composition"/><ref name="EP Members">{{cite web|title=Members|publisher=European Parliament|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/public/staticDisplay.do?id=45&pageRank=3 |access-date=27 October 2007}}</ref>

The Parliament has been criticized for underrepresentation of minority groups. In 2017, an estimated 17 MEPs were non-white,<ref>{{cite web|first=Ginger |last=Hervey |title=When Britain exits the EU, its diversity departs too |publisher=politico.eu |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/brexit-diversity-exits-the-eu-brussels/ |date=12 November 2017 |access-date=24 October 2018}}</ref> and of these, three were black, a disproportionately low number.<ref>{{cite news|title=The EU is too white – and Brexit likely to make it worse, MEPs and staff say |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/29/eu-is-too-white-brexit-likely-to-make-it-worse |newspaper=The Guardian |date=29 August 2018 |first=Jennifer |last=Rankin |access-date=24 October 2018}}</ref> According to activist organization [[European Network Against Racism]], while an estimated 10% of Europe is composed of racial and ethnic minorities, only 5% of MEPs were members of such groups following the [[2019 European Parliament election]].<ref name="Psaledakis2020">{{cite news |last1=Psaledakis |first1=Daphne |title=Minorities still lack a strong voice in new European Parliament |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-jobs-minorities/minorities-still-lack-a-strong-voice-in-new-european-parliament-idUSKCN1TD28X |access-date=25 October 2020 |work=Reuters |date=12 June 2019}}</ref>

Under the [[Treaty of Lisbon|Lisbon Treaty]], [[Apportionment in the European Parliament|seats are allocated]] to each state according to population and the maximum number of members is set at 751.<ref name="EUO Lisbon">{{cite web|last=Goldirova|first=Renata|title=EU agrees new 'Treaty of Lisbon'|date=19 October 2007|publisher=EU Observer|url=http://euobserver.com/9/25001|access-date=19 November 2007}}</ref> Since 1 February 2020 and the United Kingdom's [[Brexit|leaving the EU]], 705 MEPs  sit in the European Parliament. It rose to 720 after the 2024 elections.

Representation is currently limited to a maximum of 96 seats and a minimum of 6 seats per state and the seats are distributed according to "[[degressive proportionality]]", i.e., the larger the state, the more citizens are represented per MEP. As a result, Maltese and Luxembourgish voters have roughly 10x more influence per voter than citizens of the six largest countries.

{{As of|2014}}, Germany (80.9 million inhabitants) has 96 seats (previously 99 seats), i.e. one seat for 843,000 inhabitants. Malta (0.4 million inhabitants) has 6 seats, i.e. one seat for 70,000 inhabitants.

The new system implemented under the Lisbon Treaty, including revising the seating well before elections, was intended to avoid political [[horse trading (political)|horse trading]] when the allocations have to be revised to reflect demographic changes.<ref>{{cite web|quote=In approving the European Council's draft decision, the committee asks that the proposed distribution be revised, well in advance of the beginning of the 2014-2019 legislative term, so as to set up an objective and fair system for allocating the seats in the EP, in order take account of demographic changes and 'avoid the traditional political horse-trading between Member States'. |title=Distribution of EP seats: Constitutional Affairs Committee approvals proposal|date=4 October 2007|publisher=European Parliament|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+IM-PRESS+20070927BRI10862+ITEM-002-EN+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=EN |access-date=3 November 2018}}</ref>

Pursuant to this apportionment, the [[European Parliament constituency|constituencies]] are formed. In four EU member states (Belgium, Ireland, Italy and Poland), the national territory is divided into a number of constituencies. In the remaining member states, the whole country forms a single constituency. All member states hold elections to the European Parliament using various forms of [[proportional representation]].

===Transitional arrangements===
Due to the delay in ratifying the Lisbon Treaty, the [[7th European Parliament|seventh parliament]] was elected under the lower Nice Treaty cap. A [[Treaties of the European Union#Transitional provisions protocol|small scale treaty amendment]] was ratified on 29 November 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=IM-PRESS&reference=20100223BKG69359&language=EN |title=Ratification of Parliament's 18 additional MEPs completed |publisher=European Parliament |date=29 November 2011 |access-date=14 February 2012}}</ref> This amendment brought in transitional provisions to allow the 18 additional MEPs created under the Lisbon Treaty to be elected or appointed before the 2014 election.<ref>{{cite web|title=Agreement details: Protocol amending the Protocol on Transitional Provisions annexed to the Treaty on European Union, to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (Deposited with the Government of the Italian Republic)|publisher=Council of the European Union|url=http://www.consilium.europa.eu/App/accords/Default.aspx?command=details&id=297&lang=EN&aid=2010057&doclang=EN|access-date=4 October 2011|archive-date=25 May 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120525113731/http://www.consilium.europa.eu/policies/agreements/search-the-agreements-database?lang=en&command=details&id=297&lang=en&aid=2010057&doclang=en|url-status=dead}}</ref> Under the Lisbon Treaty reforms, Germany was the only state to lose members from 99 to 96. However, these seats were not removed until the 2014 election.<ref name="extra meps">{{cite web|last=Willis|first=Andrew|title=MEPs seek change to Lisbon Treaty to accommodate new colleagues|date=8 April 2010|publisher=[[EU Observer]]|url=http://euobserver.com/18/29822|access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref>

===Salaries and expenses===
Before 2009, members received the same salary as members of their national parliament. However, from 2009 a new members statute came into force, after years of attempts, which gave all members an equal monthly pay, of €8,484.05 each in 2016, subject to a European Union tax and which can also be taxed nationally. MEPs are entitled to a pension, paid by Parliament, from the age of 63. Members are also entitled to allowances for office costs and subsistence, and travelling expenses, based on actual cost.<ref>{{cite web|title=About MEPs|publisher=European Parliament|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/about-meps.html|access-date=13 January 2019}}</ref> Besides their pay, members are granted a number of privileges and [[Diplomatic immunity|immunities]]. To ensure their free movement to and from the Parliament, they are accorded by their own states the facilities accorded to senior officials travelling abroad and, by other state governments, the status of visiting [[Diplomat|foreign representative]]s. When in their own state, they have all the immunities accorded to national parliamentarians, and, in other states, they have immunity from [[Detention (imprisonment)|detention]] and [[Criminal procedure|legal proceedings]]. They may then only be prosecuted after the European Parliament waives their immunity. However, immunity cannot be claimed when a member is found committing a criminal offence and the Parliament also has the right to strip a member of their immunity.<ref name="LEX Prot">{{cite web|title=7. Protocol on the privileges and immunities of the European Union|publisher=[[Europa (web portal)|Eur-Lex]]|date=16 December 2004|url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2004/c_310/c_31020041216en02610266.pdf|access-date=27 October 2007}}</ref>

===Political groups===
{{Main|Political groups of the European Parliament}}

MEPs in Parliament are organised into eight different [[parliamentary group]]s; members who do not join a group are known as ''non-attached members'' or ''[[non-inscrits]]''.

The two largest groups are the [[European People's Party Group]] (EPP) and the [[Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats|Socialists & Democrats]] (S&D). These two groups have dominated the Parliament for much of its existence, jointly holding between 50 and 70 percent of the seats until 2019. No single group has ever held an absolute majority in Parliament.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|last=Kreppel |first=Amie |title=The European Parliament and Supranational Party System |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2002 |url=https://assets.cambridge.org/97805218/06251/sample/9780521806251ws.pdf |access-date=12 June 2007 }}</ref>

As a result of being broad alliances of national parties, political groups in the European Parliament are decentralised and have more in common with parties in federal states like Germany or the United States than with unitary states, like the majority of the EU member states.<ref name="Kreppel"/> Nevertheless, the political groups were actually more cohesive than their US counterparts between 2004 and 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title="What to expect in the 2009–14 European Parliament": Analysis from a leading EU expert|publisher=European Parliament website|year=2009|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/story_page/008-60547-292-10-43-901-20090911STO60546-2009-19-10-2009/default_en.htm|access-date=17 February 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210105843/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/story_page/008-60547-292-10-43-901-20090911STO60546-2009-19-10-2009/default_en.htm|archive-date=10 February 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Cohesion rates|publisher=Vote Watch|year=2010|url=http://www.votewatch.eu/cx_european_party_groups.php|access-date=17 February 2010 }}</ref>

Half of the groups are based on a single [[European political party]], such as the [[European People's Party]], with the addition of MEPs from national parties not members of a European party and independent MEPs. The others, such as the [[Greens–European Free Alliance]] group or the [[European Conservatives and Reformists Group]], center on two European parties, as well as other national parties and independents.<ref>{{cite web|title=Party Politics in the EU |publisher=civitas.org.uk |url=http://www.civitas.org.uk/eufacts/download/CIT.3.EU%20Political%20Parties.pdf |access-date=12 June 2007 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071019072737/http://www.civitas.org.uk/eufacts/download/CIT.3.EU%20Political%20Parties.pdf |archive-date=19 October 2007 }}</ref>

Groups need 23 MEPs from seven different member states to register. Following registration, groups receive public funding from the budget of the European Parliament.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/faq/1/what-are-political-groups-and-how-are-they-formed|title=What are political groups and how are they formed?|publisher=European Parliament|access-date=20 August 2021}}</ref>

===Coalitions===
Given that the Parliament does not form the government in the traditional sense of many parliamentary systems, majorities are built issue by issue. Generally, this is along broadly [[consensus democracy|consensual]] lines with dynamic coalitions<ref>[http://aei.pitt.edu/97364/1/wp75_marie.pdf European Parliament: Is the grand coalition really a thing of the past?, Awenig Marié, 2019]</ref> rather than [[majority rule]] of competing parties and coalitions.

These coalitions usually involve the [[European People's Party]] and the Socialist and Democrat Group of the [[Party of European Socialists]] who tend to co-operate to find compromises between them and then bring in others. Their relationship has been described as a [[grand coalition]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Settembri |first=Pierpaolo |title=Is the European Parliament competitive or consensual&nbsp;... "and why bother"? |url=http://www.fedtrust.co.uk/admin/uploads/FedT_workshop_Settembri.pdf |publisher=Federal Trust |date=2 February 2007 |access-date=7 October 2007 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026181653/http://www.fedtrust.co.uk/admin/uploads/FedT_workshop_Settembri.pdf |archive-date=26 October 2007 |df=dmy }}</ref> However, this does not always produce agreement, and each may instead try to build other alliances, the EPP normally with other centre-right or right wing Groups and the PES with centre-left or left wing groups. Sometimes, the Liberal (Renew Europe) Group is then in the pivotal position.

There are also occasions where very sharp party political divisions have emerged, for example over the [[Santer Commission#Budget controversy|resignation of the Santer Commission]].<ref name="Ringe"/> When the initial allegations against the Commission emerged, they were directed primarily against [[Édith Cresson]] and [[Manuel Marín]], both socialist members. When the parliament was considering refusing to discharge the [[Budget of the European Union|Community budget]], President [[Jacques Santer]] stated that a no vote would be tantamount to a [[vote of no confidence]]. The Socialist Group initially supported the Commission and saw the issue as an attempt by the EPP to discredit their party ahead of the 1999 elections. Socialist leader, [[Pauline Green]] MEP, attempted a vote of confidence and the EPP put forward counter motions. During this period the two parties took on similar roles to a government-[[Opposition (parliamentary)|opposition]] dynamic, with the Socialists supporting the executive and EPP renouncing its previous coalition support and voting it down.<ref name="Ringe"/> Politicisation such as this has been increasing, in 2007 Simon Hix of the [[London School of Economics]] noted that:<ref name="Farrell Powerful"/>
{{blockquote|Our work also shows that politics in the European Parliament is becoming increasingly based around party and ideology. Voting is increasingly split along left-right lines, and the cohesion of the party groups has risen dramatically, particularly in the fourth and fifth parliaments. So there are likely to be policy implications here too.}}

During the fifth term, 1999 to 2004, there was a break in the grand coalition resulting in a centre-right coalition between the Liberal and People's parties.<ref name="Watson interview">{{cite web|title=Interview: Graham Watson, leader of group of Liberal Democrat MEPs |url=http://www.euractiv.com/en/elections/interview-graham-watson-leader-group-liberal-democrat-meps/article-128543 |publisher=Euractiv |date=15 June 2004 |access-date=1 November 2007 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814000107/http://www.euractiv.com/en/elections/interview-graham-watson-leader-group-liberal-democrat-meps/article-128543 |archive-date=14 August 2007 |df=dmy }}</ref> This was reflected in the Presidency of the Parliament with the terms being shared between the EPP and the Liberals (then called ELDR), rather than the EPP and Socialists.<ref>{{cite news|title=European Parliament elects new president |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/398892.stm|publisher=BBC News|date=20 July 1999|access-date=1 November 2007}}</ref> In the following term the liberal group grew to hold 88 seats, the largest number of seats held by any third party in Parliament.<ref name="ALDE formed">{{cite web|title=The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe is born |date=14 July 2004 |publisher=Graham Watson MEP website |url=http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org/news/000017/the_alliance_of_liberals_and_democrats_for_europe_is_born.html |access-date=7 October 2007 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205090940/http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org/news/000017/the_alliance_of_liberals_and_democrats_for_europe_is_born.html |archive-date=5 December 2007 |df=dmy }}</ref> The EPP-S&D coalition lost their majority after the [[2019 European Parliament election]],<ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-05-27 |title=European elections 2019: Power blocs lose grip on parliament |language=en-GB |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48417744 |access-date=2022-10-19}}</ref> requiring support by at least one other political group for a majority, most frequently the liberal Renew Group or the Greens.