The European Parliament

The European Parliament EP is one of the three key institutions of the 27-member European Union EU, and the only EU institution whose members are directly elected. The current EP has 736 members. The most recent EP elections were held on June 4-7, 2009. Members of the European Parliament MEPs serve five-year terms. Once limited to being a consultative assembly, the EP has accumulated more power over time. It performs important functions in the EUs legislative and budgeting processes, and exercises a degree of supervision over the two other main EU institutions, the Council of the European Union Council of Ministers and the European Commission. Although the EP does not formally initiate EU legislation, it shares co-decision power with the Council of Ministers in many policy areas, giving it the right to amend or reject proposed EU legislation. The recently ratified Lisbon Treaty increases the EPs role further, giving it amendment and veto authority over the vast majority of EU legislation with some exceptions, such as tax matters and foreign policy. Moreover, supporters argue, as the only directly elected EU institution, the EP increasingly plays an important checks-and-balances role on behalf of Europes citizens. Members of the European Parliament caucus according to transnational groups based on political affiliation, rather than by nationality. No single group has ever held an absolute majority in the European Parliament, making compromise and coalition-building important elements of the legislative process. Following the June 2009 election, the center-right Group of the European Peoples Party EPP and the re-named center-left Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in Europe SD remain the two largest political groups. Every two-and-a-half years twice per parliamentary term, MEPs vote to elect a President of the European Parliament to lead and oversee its work and to represent the EP externally.