Here's a Q+A about the unloved and often misunderstood EU Parliament.
What is the point of the European Parliament?
The EU, especially the Brussels-based Commission, is often criticized as remote and unaccountable. The EP is an attempt to address democratic deficits by overseeing the work of the Commission.
Have EU voters taken the European Parliament to heart?
Far from it. In the first direct elections to the European Parliament in 1979, voter turnout was 62%. Since then, it has steadily declined, reaching an all-time low of 43% in 2014. In particular, voters in former communist countries were indifferent. In Slovakia, the abstention rate in 2014 was 87%.
Is voter turnout low because the European Parliament is incompetent?
Ironically, voters have avoided elections even as successive changes to the EU treaty have given the EP increasingly more power over the years. The EP played a key role in forcing the resignation of the commission, led by former Luxembourg Prime Minister Jacques Santer, over corruption charges in 1999.
In fact, the EP still does not have the right to initiate legislation, but it shares with the Council of Ministers the power to adopt and amend legislative proposals and to determine the EU budget. The army of lobbyists the EP attracts is evidence of its growing influence.
What has the European Parliament ever done for me?
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) played a leading role in abolishing mobile phone roaming charges in 2017. More recently, he played a key role in approving new targets for vehicle emissions and was prominent in the debate over how to have social media. A company like Facebook manages your account.
The EP also gained the right to tear up international agreements. So, if Brexit happens, the EP would have a veto over any agreement the UK would negotiate to govern its future relationship with the EU.
But isn't it still just glorified chatter?
It's definitely the Tower of Babel. The EP uses all 24 official EU languages. The idea is that by having lawmakers speak their native language, voters back home will find it easier to follow the EP. This means hiring many interpreters and translators, which is expensive and cumbersome. But the alternative of having lawmakers speak in one of the major languages would further alienate voters in smaller states.
Why does the European Parliament waste millions traveling between Brussels and Strasbourg?
In fact, MEPs spend most of their time in the Belgian capital, but travel to Strasbourg for a week each month. Strasbourg, the capital of Alsace, has been the parliament's main base since the 1950s, a situation formalized by a 1992 treaty. But over the decades, more of the EP's work was moved to Brussels, where the Commission and Council of Ministers are located. Concentrate upon.
Monthly disruptions cost approximately $125 million annually. France, which fought Germany three times over Alsace over 70 years, is staunchly opposed to giving up Strasbourg. They say the bill is a small price to pay to maintain an important symbol of post-war reconciliation. This is, after all, the fundamental purpose of the EU. Hoteliers and restaurateurs in Strasbourg undoubtedly agree.
How is the EP actually structured?
I thought you'd never ask. There are currently 751 members in parliament, but that number will drop to 705 once the UK leaves the EU (the UK has 73 seats, but 27 of them are being redistributed to other member states rather than being scrapped).
Although elected on a national basis, MEPs participate in cross-border political groups based on shared platforms to exert greater influence. EP rules require each group to have at least 25 MEPs and represent at least a quarter of EU member states. There are currently 8 groups. The largest political party is the center-right European People's Party (217 seats), followed by the center-left Social Democratic Party (186 seats). Between them, they have dominated EP for the past 40 years.
And perhaps it will continue to do so?
Not necessarily. Due to the rise of populist and Eurosceptic parties, a recent opinion poll showed that the two big groups would win 45% of the seats, down from 53%. Thanks to the Green Party and the Liberal Party, it is likely that the pro-European faction will still have a majority in parliament, but moving away from centrist tendencies is itself an important reason to pay attention to the election.