The European Union and its Parliament

The European Union (EU) is a family of democratic European countries, committed to working together for peace and prosperity. It is not a State intended to replace existing states, but it is more than any other international organisation. The EU is, in fact, unique. Its Member States have set up common institutions to which they delegate some of their sovereignty so that decisions on specific matters of joint interest can be made democratically at European level. This pooling of sovereignty is also called "European integration".

The historical roots of the European Union lie in the Second World War. The idea of European integration was conceived to prevent such killing and destruction from ever happening again. It was first proposed by the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman in a speech on 9 May 1950. This date, the "birthday" of what is now the EU, is celebrated annually as Europe Day.

The European Parliament (EP) is the democratic voice of the peoples of Europe. Directly elected every five years, the members of the European Parliament (MEPs) sit not in national blocs but in seven political groups. Each group reflects the political ideology of the national parties to which its members belong. Some MEPs are not attached to any political group.
Parliament's principal roles are as follows: It examines and adopts European legislation. Under the co-decision procedure, Parliament shares this power equally with the Council of Ministers. It also approves the EU budget. It exercises democratic control over the other EU institutions, possibly by setting up committees of inquiry. And finally, it assents to important international agreements such as the accession of new EU Member States and trade or association agreements between the EU and other countries.

As with national parliaments, the EP has parliamentary committees to deal with particular issues (foreign affairs, budget, environment and so on). Via one of these, the Committee on Petitions, European citizens can also submit petitions directly to the European Parliament. The Parliament elects the European Ombudsman, who investigates complaints from citizens about maladministration in the EU.

The EP has created the Sakharov Prize which is awarded annually to an individual or group that has defended the cause of human rights anywhere in the world.

LINK TO ARI'S PLENARY SPEECHES, WRITTEN QUESTIONS TO THE COMMISSION, AND REPORTS AND RESOLUTIONS OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT.