This immunity may be waived by application to the European Parliament by the authorities of the member state in question. Since 1979 MEPs have been elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year Text taken from How gender balanced will the next European Parliament be?, Gina Pavone/OBC Transeuropa, EDJNet. The European Parliament is made up of 705 Members elected in the 27 Member States of the enlarged European Union. Many outgoing MEPs move into other political office. States may also subject the salary to national taxes. interpretation and implementation of the Code of Conduct. determined on a country-by-country basis. their Member State of election, only travel expenses are reimbursed, up to a maximum annual amount The electoral area may be subdivided if this will not generally affect the proportional nature of the voting system. There are several categories of assistant. It was a consultative assembly of 78 appointed parliamentarians drawn from the national parliaments of member states, having no legislative powers. It is the second largest economy in the world in nominal terms, after the United States, and the third one in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, after China and the United States. of the allowance. MEPs do not receive this money: it is paid out partly The European Parliament is made up of 705 Members elected in the 27 Member States of the enlarged more than 70% in total. authorities. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. These two groups have dominated the Parliament for much of its life, continuously holding between 40 and 70 percent of the seats together. European Union is an international organisation consisting of European Countries, which was formed in 1993. the right to table a motion for resolution, the right to table an amendment to any text in committee, the right to move the inadmissibility of a matter, This page was last edited on 19 March 2021, at 01:16. Since 1979 MEPs have been elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year period. reservation fees). Each member state establishes its own method for electing MEPs – and in some states this has changed over time – but the system chosen must be a form of proportional representation. Indeed, Brussels is de facto the main base of the Parliament, as well as of the Commission and the Council. Most meetings of the European Parliament, such as plenary sessions, committee meetings and political When the countries then become full member states, these observers become full MEPs for the interim period between accession and the next European elections. These declarations are a reflection of the demanding rules and standards of transparency laid down in the Code of Conduct. statute is €8,932.86 as of 1.7.2019. More information on pay can be found here. [20], In the 2019 elections 308 female MEPs were elected (41%). [16] The percentage of women in the EU parliament has increased from 15.2 percent after the first European Parliament election in 1979 to 41 percent after 2019 European Parliament election. parliamentary duties. Overall, thirteen countries elected 45 to 55 percent female MEPs, with seven countries reaching exactly 50 percent. [21], European citizens are eligible for election in the member state where they reside (subject to the residence requirements of that state); they do not have to be a national of that state. [17], As of 2019[update], the youngest MEP is Kira Marie Peter-Hansen of Denmark, who was 21 at the start of the July 2019 session, and is additionally the youngest person ever elected to the European Parliament. 1989, was closed to new members from July 2009 and is being persons providing services and for paying agents. At least 25% of the parliamentary The number of observers and their method of appointment (usually by national parliaments) is laid down in the joining countries' Treaties of Accession. Until 2009, MEPs were paid (by their own Member State) exactly the same salary as a member of the lower House of their own national parliament. For UPSC 2021 preparation, follow BYJU’S. Paid: Yes. Member States may also subject the salary to national taxes. Current MEPs also include former judges, trade union leaders, media personalities, actors, soldiers, singers, athletes, and political activists. 30.10.2009 m2. This has been reduced to 705 members after the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union in January 2020, with each member state now having at least six and at most 96 MEPs.[2]. regulation (ec) no 988/2009 of the european parliament and of the council of 16 september 2009 l 284. [18] The FEMM Committee requested a study exploring the results of the election in terms of gender balance. This allowance is intended to cover expenditure in the Member State of election, such as Members’ office Malta, Cyprus and Estonia lost the most female representation in the EU parliament, dropping by 17 percentage points, while Slovakia dropped by 16. There is no uniform voting system for the election of MEPs; rather, each member state is free to choose its own system, subject to three restrictions: The allocation of seats to each member state is based on the principle of degressive proportionality, so that, while the size of the population of each nation is taken into account, smaller states elect more MEPs than would be strictly justified by their populations alone. [14], Members declare their financial interests in order to prevent any conflicts of interest. in the performance of their official duties and for other purposes (for example, to attend a conference salary is set at 38.5% of the basic salary of a judge at the The so-called "dual mandate", in which an individual is a member of both his or her national parliament and the European Parliament, was officially discouraged by a growing number of political parties and Member States, and is prohibited as of 2009. One of the oldest common institutions, it began as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). To learn how to add open license text to Wikipedia articles, please see this how-to page. group meetings, take place in Brussels or Strasbourg. This article incorporates text from a free content work. management costs, telephone and postal charges, and the purchase, operation and maintenance of computer the Member State in which the MEP concerned was elected. [12] As of July 1, 2019, the monthly salary is of €8,932.86, or just over €107,000 per year. These were selected from government and opposition parties as agreed by the countries' national parliaments. Sweden elected the highest percentage of female MEPs: 55 percent. Members are reimbursed the actual cost of their travel tickets for attending such meetings, up to a image/svg+xml. There are a few exceptions: MEPs who held a mandate in assistance allowance is earmarked for accredited assistants. In the case of meetings organised outside 22.12.2010 m3. EU elections are by proportional representation. circumstances, four. Bulgarians vote for new parliament amid COVID-19 fears, anger over endemic graft ... despite persistent concerns about corruption in the European Union’s poorest member … A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.[1]. Hans-Gert Pöttering served the longest continuous term from the first elections in 1979 until 2014. The Code of Conduct also puts an obligation on Members to submit a detailed declaration of their financial interests. The terms and conditions for Members are laid out in the Statute of 2009. The names or corporate names of all assistants are published on Parliament’s website for the duration of their or take part in a working visit). taken. The Advisory Committee on the Conduct of Members is the body responsible for giving Members guidance on the For activities outside their Member State of election, Members may be reimbursed for their travel, maximum of the D business class (or similar) air fare, the first class rail fare or €0.53 per km for car Salary. For the plurals of MEP, see, Person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament, Evolution of the proportion of women and men in the European Parliament. Several presidents, prime ministers or deputy prime ministers of member states are former MEPs, including former President of France Nicolas Sarkozy, former Deputy PM of the United Kingdom Nick Clegg, former Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi, Danish former Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, and Belgian former PM Elio Di Rupo. It came into force after the signing of the Maastricht Treaty by 28 countries. [21][22] The oldest MEP is Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, who was 82 at the start of the July 2019 session. The Advisory Committee publishes each year a report of its work. The Maastricht Treaty is also known as the Treaty of European Union (TEU). Around a third of MEPs have previously held national parliamentary mandates, and over 10% have ministerial experience at a national level. ", "Analysis of political parties' and independent candidates' policies for gender balance in the European Parliament after the elections of 2014", "40% of MEPs in EU Parliament are female, new figures show", "Meet the European Parliament's youngest ever MEP", "Parliament to welcome Croatian "observer" members", The election of the Members of the European Parliament, Intergroup on long term investment and reindustrialisation, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Member_of_the_European_Parliament&oldid=1012917116, Articles with dead external links from June 2017, Articles with permanently dead external links, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles needing additional references from February 2019, All articles needing additional references, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2019, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Беларуская (тарашкевіца)‎, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. To learn how to add open license text to Wikipedia articles, please see this how-to page. Six times a year the Parliament meets for two days each in Brussels,[7] where the Parliament's committees, political groups, and other organs also mainly meet. pensions. Direct access to language menu (press "Enter"), Direct access to search menu (press "Enter"), Statute for Members of the European Parliament, Code of Conduct for Members of the European Parliament with respect to financial interests and conflicts of interest, Implementing Measures to the Code of Conduct, Declaration of Members attendance pursuant to an invitation at events organised by third parties, Notification of gifts received by Members representing Parliament in an official capacity, Register of gifts - 7th parliamentary term, Register of gifts - 8th parliamentary term, Register of gifts - 9th parliamentary term, Rules of Procedure of the Advisory Committee on the Conduct of Members, The Advisory Committee on the Conduct of Members - Annual Report - 2012, The Advisory Committee on the Conduct of Members - Annual Report - 2013, The Advisory Committee on the Conduct of Members - Annual Report - 2014 - first half, The Advisory Committee on the Conduct of Members - Annual Report - 2014 - second half, The Advisory Committee on the Conduct of Members - Annual Report - 2015, The Advisory Committee on the Conduct of Members - Annual Report - 2016, The Advisory Committee on the Conduct of Members - Annual Report - 2017, The Advisory Committee on the Conduct of Members - Annual Report - 2018, The Advisory Committee on the Conduct of Members - Annual Report - 2019 - first half, The Advisory Committee on the Conduct of Members - Annual Report - 2019 - second half, The Advisory Committee on the Conduct of Members - Rota of Chairs-in-Office - 9th term - first half, The Advisory Committee on the Conduct of Members - Draft calendar of meetings - 2019 & 2020, The Advisory Committee on the Conduct of Members - Draft calendar of meetings – 2021, Code of Conduct for Members of the European Parliament, The Advisory Committee on the Conduct of Members, Review of European and National Election Results, Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats), Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance, European Conservatives and Reformists Group, The Left group in the European Parliament - GUE/NGL. MEPs may not employ close relatives as assistants.