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BRIEFING October 2019

European : Facts and Figures

This Briefing, published by the European Parliamentary Research Service, is designed to provide key facts and figures about the , both in the 2019 to 2024 parliamentary term now starting - and in the eight previous terms since direct elections were introduced in June 1979. On the following pages you will find graphics of various kinds which: • detail the composition of the European Parliament now and in the past; • trace the increase in the number of parties represented in the EP and evolution of political groups; • chart the rise in the number of women sitting in the Parliament; • explain the electoral systems used in the 2019 elections to the Parliament across the Member States; • show how turnout in European elections compares with that in national elections; • summarise the activity of the Parliament in the current and previous five-year terms; • outline the composition of the Parliament’s and governing bodies.

The Briefing will be updated regularly over the coming term to take account of latest developments.

European Parliament, 2019-24 Size of the political groups Proportion of Members in each political group Number of MEPs in each political group as of Share by political group of the total 748 Members in the 1 October 2019. Parliament. Renew : 14.4% EPP: 24.3% 182 154 108 /EFA: 9.9% 74 73 62 54 41 ECR: 8.3% 748 EPP S&D Renew Greens/ ID ECR GUE/ NI S&D: 20.6% MEPs * Europe EFA NGL ID: 9.8%

748 GUE/NGL: 5.5% NI: 7.2% MEPs Note: The Spanish authorities have not yet noti ed the Parliament of the Members elected to three seats; therefore the total does not reach the 751 provid- ed for in EU . The seven political groups in the current Parliament, in order of size, are: • Group of the European People’s Party (Christian ) (EPP), • Group of the Progressive of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament (S&D), • Group, • Group of / (Greens/EFA), • Group (ID), • and Reformists Group (ECR), • Confederal Group of the European – Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL). In addition, some MEPs sit as non-attached Members (Non-inscrits – NI).

EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service Author: Giulio Sabbati Members’ Research Service PE 640.146 EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service

Size of political groups in the EP by Member State (as of 1 October 2019) EPP S&D ECR Greens/EFA ID ECR GUE/NGL NI_OTHER Renew Greens/ GUE/ EPP S&D Europe EFA ID ECR NGL NI Total

DE DE29 DE16 DE7 25DE DE11 DE1 DE6 DE1 96 (DE) FR FR8 FR5 21FR 12FR 22FR FR FR6 FR 74 (FR) IT IT7 19IT IT IT 28IT IT5 IT 14IT 73 (IT) UK UK UK10 UK17 UK11 UK UK4 UK1 30UK 73 (UK) ES 12ES 20ES ES8 ES2 ES ES3 ES6 ES * 51 (ES) PL 17PL PL8 PL PL PL 26PL PL PL 51 (PL) RO RO14 RO10 RO8 RO RO RO RO RO 32 (RO) NL NL6 NL6 NL6 NL3 NL NL4 NL1 NL 26 (NL) BE BE4 BE3 BE4 BE3 BE3 BE3 BE1 BE 21 (BE) CZ CZ5 CZ CZ6 CZ3 CZ2 CZ4 CZ1 CZ 21 Czech (CZ) EL EL8 EL2 EL EL EL EL1 EL6 EL4 21 (GR) HU HU13 HU5 HU2 HU HU HU HU HU1 21 (HU) PT PT7 PT9 PT PT1 PT PT PT4 PT 21 (PT) SE SE6 SE5 SE3 SE2 SE SE3 SE1 SE 20 (SE) AT AT7 AT5 AT1 AT2 AT3 AT AT AT 18 (AT) BG BG7 BG5 BG3 BG BG BG2 BG BG 17 (BG) DK DK1 DK3 DK5 DK2 DK1 DK DK1 DK 13 (DK) SK SK4 SK3 SK2 SK SK SK2 SK SK2 13 (SK) FI FI3 FI2 FI3 FI2 FI2 FI FI1 FI 13 (FI) IE IE4 IE IE1 IE2 IE IE IE4 IE 11 Ireland (IE) HR HR4 HR3 HR1 HR HR HR1 HR HR2 11 (HR) LT LT4 LT2 LT2 LT2 LT LT1 LT LT 11 (LT) LV LV2 LV2 LV1 LV1 LV LV2 LV LV 8 (LV) SI SI4 SI2 SI2 SI SI SI SI SI 8 (SL) EE EE EE2 EE3 EE EE1 EE EE EE 6 (EE) CY CY2 CY2 CY CY CY CY CY2 CY 6 (CY) LU LU2 LU1 LU2 LU1 LU LU LU LU 6 (LU) MT MT2 MT4 MT MT MT MT MT MT 6 (MT)

EU 011820203040 011540203040 108010203040 74010203040 01730203040 01620203040 41010203040 54010203040 748 EU Renew Greens/ GUE/ EPP S&D Europe EFA ID ECR NGL NI Total 24.3% 20.6% 14.4% 9.9% 9.8% 8.3% 5.5% 7.2% 100% * ES: The Spanish authorities have not yet notified Parliament of the Members elected to three seats, therefore the total does not reach the 751 provided for in EU law. Data supplied by Members’ Administration Unit, DG Presidency, European Parliament Country codes and flags: Belgium (BE) Bulgaria (BG) Czechia (CZ) Denmark (DK) Germany (DE) Estonia (EE)

Ireland (IE) Greece (EL) Spain (ES) France (FR) Croatia (HR) Italy (IT)

Cyprus (CY) Latvia (LV) Lithuania (LT) Luxembourg (LU) Hungary (HU) Malta (MT)

Netherlands (NL) Austria (AT) Poland (PL) Portugal (PT) Romania (RO) Slovenia (SI)

Slovakia (SK) Finland (FI) Sweden (SE) United Kingdom (UK) 2 European Parliament: Facts and Figures

New and re-elected MEPs in 2019

New MEPs are defined as those who have never sat in the 437 295 16 European Parliament before. They represent 58% of the 58.4% 39.4% 2.1% total. The percentage varies between 85% in Slovakia - New MEPs Re-elected MEPs where 11 of 13 MEPs are new - and 33% in Malta (2 of New MEPs who have never sat in the European Parliament. 6). Among the political groups, a new group, Identity Re-elected MEPs who were in the EP during at least the and Democracy (ID), has the highest percentage of new previous term (2014-19). MEPs, with 59 new MEPs out of 73. Re-elected MEPs who were in the EP during a previous term, but not during the 2014-19 term.

Share of new MEPs by Member State Share of new MEPs by political group

85 % Greens/ Renew GUE/ 80 % ID EFA Europe NGL ECR S&D EPP NI 69 % 69 % 67% 67% 66 % 64% 61% 59 % 58 % 57% 56 % 55 % 55 % 52 % 52 % 52 % 52 % 50 % 50 % 50 % 50 % 47% 46% 44% 38 % 38 % 33 %

81% 69% 69% 59% 58% 51% 41% 72% FI SI IE IT LT EL EE ES SE LV PL FR PT BE SK CY NL LU CZ DE AT HR EU UK DK RO BG HU MT

Over the 2014-19 term, a total of 112 MEPs were replaced for different reasons. Forty-one MEPs resigned, seven died, and 60 were appointed to an office incompatible with membership of the European Parliament – for instance, they became members of their national or governments.

Age of MEPs The graphs below and to the right show the average Lowest Average Highest age of MEPs, with their highest and lowest MT 29 44 71 ages, both collectively and by Member State. The SE 32 45 58 average age of MEPs is 50 years; national averages BG 31 46 67 vary between 44 and 60. The youngest MEP is from HU 30 46 66 Denmark (21 years old) and the oldest is from Italy CZ 26 46 66 (82 years old). NL 29 46 66 DK 21 47 74 21 50 82 AT 27 47 61 HR 29 48 62 Lowest Average Highest EE 28 48 62 SK 34 49 65 PT 28 49 67 Age distribution of MEPs DE 26 49 78 RO 33 49 67 The graph below represents the age distribution IT 30 49 82 of the MEPs. It shows, for instance, that 215 MEPs FR 23 50 72 are aged between 41 and 50 years. The mode - the SI 30 50 60 most common value - is 56 years and the median - ES 25 50 75 the middle value - is, like the average, 50 years. The EL 26 51 majority of MEPs are aged between 41 and 60 years 67 old. BE 34 52 68 LU 35 52 67 UK 28 53 77 215 227 IE 32 54 69 CY 50 55 59 132 126 FI 40 55 74 PL 34 56 79 29 18 1 LV 43 57 69 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 LT 54 60 65 3 EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service

European Parliament, 1979-2019 Strengths of the political groups in each parliamentary term The relative size of the political groups in the European Parliament is shown for each of the nine parliamentary terms since the first direct elections in 1979. The data, in percentages of total seats, refer to the constituent session (in July) at the beginning of each parliamentary term.

1,0 1,0 1,0 1,0 100% 2.4% 1.6% 2.3% 1.4% 100% 2.7% 3.7% 2.7% 4.8% 2.9% 4.0% 3.7% 6.9% 7.2% 0,9 5.4%0,9 4.6% 3.3% 3.4% 4.8% 3.7% 4.8% 0,9 0,9 NA 0,9 NI 0,9 NI 2.5% 3.4% 6.7% 5.6% 6.9% 5.5% 6.7% 3.9% 4.8% 7.3% 10.7% 2.6% 5.1% 8.3% 0,8 0,8 5.4% 4.6% 4.3% 9.3% 0,8 0,8 0,8 0,8 9.4% 5.7% 6.6% 4.9% 7.7% 7.5% TDI GUE/NGL ENL 6.4% 9.8% 0,7 15.4% 0,7 4.1% 0,7 0,7 0,7 0,7 11.5% 5.8% 8.0% 12.0% 7.8% 11.4% 6.7% 0,6 0,6 9.5% 0,6 0,6 9.9% UEN0,6 ECR 0,6 EFDD 9.8% 7.1% 8.9% 0,5 0,5 28.8% 0,5 0,5 14.4% 0,5 0,5 50% 27.3% 25.0% 50% EDN->I-EDNID Verts/ALE 34.9% 0,4 0,4 0,4 0,4 0,4 0,4 27.3% 30.0% 34.7% 25.4% 20.6% 0,3 0,3 0,3 0,3 ARE0,3 Greens/EFA 0,3 GUE/NGL

0,2 0,2 0,2 0,2 0,2 0,2 37.2% 36.6% 36.0% FE Renew Europe ADLE 29.4% 0,1 26.3% 0,1 25.3% 23.4% 27.5% 0,1 0,1 24.3% 0,1 0,1

0,0 0,0 CG 0% 0,0 0,00% 0,0 S&D 0,0 ECR 1979-84 1984-89 1989-94 1994-99 1999-2004 2004-09 2009-14 2014-19 01.07.2019 1979-1984 1984-19891979-19841989-19941984-19891994-19991989-19941999-20041994-19992004-20091999-20042009-20142004-2002014-20199 2009-2014 2019-2021979-19844 1984-1989 1989-1994 1994-1999 1999-2004 2004-2009 2009-2014 2016 DR EPP S&D EPP S&D Renew Europe Greens/EFA ID ECR GUE/NGL NI Others Source: DG Communication, European Parliament ARC PPE The colours used to denote political groups in the current parliamentary term are also used retrospectively for previous terms, so that the history of today’s groups can be traced back. However, it should be understood thatRDE the names and constitutions of political groups, and indeed their membership, can change frequently. So, whilst we can often identify substantial continuity between the current groups and their predecessors, they cannot in all cases be regarded as the same group with an unbroken history. The category ‘others’ includes a number of groupsCDI which no longer exist. DEP National parties and political groups in the EP Over the nine terms of the Parliament to date, the successive increases in the number of Member States and MEPsGUE/NGL have been outpaced by the growth in the number of national political parties represented in the EP. Whilst the number of political groups has fluctuated between seven and ten – it is currently seven – the threshold for forming a group has been raised over time, and groups have included Members from a greater number of parties from ECRa greater number of Member States - 203 national political parties today, compared with 127 in 1999, and 57 in 1979. EFDD Data refer to constituent session Greens/EFA 1979-1984 1984-1989 1989-1994 1994-1999 1999-2004 2004-2009 2009-2014 2014-2019 2019-2024 Number of MEPs 410 434 518 567 626 732 736 751 748*ALDE Number of Member States 9 10 12 12 15 25 27 28 28 Number of political groups 7 8 10 9 8 7 7 7 7S&D Number of national political parties 57 67 103 97 127 168 176 191 203 Number of national delegations in political groups 37 42 64 58 74 109 116 129 128EPP

* ES: The Spanish authorities have not yet notified the Parliament of the Members elected to three seats; therefore the total does not reach the 751 provided for in EU law. 4 European Parliament: Facts and Figures

Proportion of men and women in the EP The evolution of the proportion of women among all MEPs at the beginning of each parliamentary term shows steady growth, starting at 16.3% in the first term and reaching the highest percentage yet in the current term, at 40.6%. 1,0 Male 0,8 Male Female 1979-84 2019-24 0,6

0,4

0,2 40.6% 16.3% 16.3%0,0 Female 40.6% 1979-19841979 1984-19891984 1989-19941989 1994-19991994 1999-2001999 4 2004-20092004 2009-20142009 2014-20192014 2019-20242019

Women in the EP and EU national parliaments Comparison between the average representation of women in national parliaments in Member States and in the European Parliament shows that both have increased over time. The line for national parliaments up to 1996 is illustrative only, based on data available for a limited number of Member States. A marked increase in the percentage of women in national parliaments can be seen in the mid-2000s, which is partly a consequence of the introduction of gender quotas for elections in several Member States (for example, France - 2000, Belgium - 2002, Portugal - 2006, Spain - 2007).

40%0,4 40.6% European Parliament 0,3 EU 30% 28.6%

20%0,2

Member States’ national parliaments 10%0,1

0,00% 19791979 1984 19891989 1994 19991999 2004 20092009 2014 20192019

Women MEPs by Member State SE FI AT FR LU LV MT NL SI PT ES UK DK IE IT EU BE HU DE HR PL CZ EE BG LT EL RO SK CY Total seats 20 13 18 74 6 8 6 26 8 21 51 73 13 11 73 748 21 21 96 11 51 21 6 17 11 21 32 13 6 Percentage of women Members in the EP (18 September 2019) 55.0% 53.8% 50.0% 50.0% 50.0% 50.0% 50.0% 50.0% 50.0% 47.6% 47.1% 46.6% 46.2% 45.5% 41.1% 40.6% 38.1% 38.1% 36.5% 36.4% 35.3% 33.3% 33.3% 29.4% 27.3% 23.8% 21.9% 15.4% 0.0% Gender quotas applicable in the 2019 EP elections None None None 50% 50% None None None 40% 33% 40% None None None 50% 50% None None 40% 35% None None None None 40% > 0 None None

The percentage of women MEPs in the current European Parliament varies between zero in Cyprus and 55% in Sweden. In the May 2019 elections, eleven Member States had gender quotas, which mostly concern the make- up of electoral lists, applying to both sexes, to avoid the under-representation of either.

5 EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service

Electoral systems for the European Parliament system and number of MEPs The EP currently has 751 seats, as in the 2014-19 term, the maximum under the EU Treaties. Assuming the United Kingdom leaves the EU, the number of seats will fall to 705. Of the 73 seats vacated by Members elected in the UK, 27 will be redistributed among 14 Member States. Those 14 countries were to make provision at the 2019 elections for filling those seats once takes place. The remaining 46 seats would be available for potential EU enlargements and/or for the possible creation of a transnational constituency in future European elections.

MEPs are elected under national electoral systems, but these have to observe certain common principles established in EU law, notably proportional representation. As a general rule, voters can choose between political parties, individual candidates or both. Whilst in some Member States, voters can only vote for a list, with no possibility of changing the order of candidates (closed list), in others, voters can express their preference for one or more of the candidates (preferential voting). Instead of a list system, some Member States offer preferential voting by using the (STV). Number of MEPs and voting system Seats after Brexit NumberNumber ofof MEPs MEP sand and voting voting system system Seats afterEP Brexit seats after Brexit

Preferential votingPreferential votingDE DE96 = 96 = Closed lists Closed lists FR 79FR +5 79 +5 751 751STV (Single TransfeSTrableV (Single Vote) TransITferable Vote) 76IT +3 76 +3 59 ES 59 +5 Multiple constituenciesES +5 2019Multiple constituencies PL 52 PL +152 +1 2019 RO 33 RO 33+1 +1 29 +3 NL 29 NL +3 Number NumberBE 21 = Cyprus 6 Voting BEVoting21 = Cyprus 6 of MEPCZ s21 of MEPs = Malta 6 system CZsystem21 = Malta 6 EL 21 EL 21 = = Slovenia Slovenia8 8 HU 21 HU 21 = = 13 PT 21 = Luxembourg Luxembour6 g 13 6 PT 21 Change = Change 21 SE 21 +1 +1 6 SE from from 20 6 20 AT 19 AT 19 +1 +1 current current 13 13 8 8 BG 17 BG 17 = = 11 situationDK 14 situation +1 3 26 3 + 2611 DK 14 +1 + SK 14 +1 11 70 21 11 70 21 SK 14 +1 51 51 FI 14 FI 14 +1 +1 96 96 13 IE 13 +2 +2 21 13 21 13 IE HR 12 HR 12 +1 +1 18 18 21 LT 11 = 74 7421 32 32 LT 11 = 11 LV 8 LV 8 = = 11 17 SI 8 = 73 1773 SI 8 = 21 21 7 EE 7 +1 +1 54 54 EE 705 CY 6 705CY 6 = = 21 21 LU 6 = LU 6 Total = Total MT 6 MT 6 = =

Electoral threshold EU law allows Member States to establish a threshold of votes to be achieved before a party/list can be allocated seats at EP elections. At Elenationalctoral level, threshold this threshold may not exceed five per cent of the valid votes cast.

5% 4% 3% 1.8% None CZ HU IT AT EL CY BE IE NL FR PL SE BG ES SI HR RO DK LU FI LV SK DE MT UK Thresholds applied in 2019 elections LT EE PT 6 European Parliament: Facts and Figures

Turnout in European elections Turnout in Member States at EP elections since 1979 For each of the nine European Parliament elections held since 1979, the table below shows the lowest turnout among all Member States, the highest turnout in a Member State without compulsory voting, and finally the highest turnout overall. The EU average at each election is highlighted by the line in light blue.

1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 BE ! 91.4% 92.1% 90.7% 90.7% 91.0% 90.8% 90.4% 89.6% 88.5% Belgium (BE) LU ! 88.9% 88.8% 87.4% 88.5% 87.3% 91.3% 90.8% 85.5% 84.2% Luxembourg (LU) MT 82.4% 78.8% 74.8% 72.7% Malta (MT) DK 47.8% 52.4% 46.2% 52.9% 50.4% 47.9% 59.5% 56.3% 66.0% Denmark (DK) DE 65.7% 56.8% 62.3% 60.0% 45.2% 43.0% 43.3% 48.1% 61.4% Germany (DE) ES 54.6% 59.1% 63.0% 45.1% 44.9% 43.8% 60.7% Spain (ES) AT 49.0% 42.4% 46.0% 45.4% 59.8% Austria (AT) EL ! 77.2% 79.9% 73.2% 71.5% 63.2% 52.6% 60.0% 58.7% Greece (GR) SE 38.8% 37.9% 45.5% 51.1% 55.3% Sweden (SE) IT 84.9% 83.4% 81.0% 73.6% 69.8% 71.7% 65.1% 57.2% 54.5% Italy (IT) LT 48.4% 21.0% 47.4% 53.5% Lithuania (LT) RO 27.7% 32.4% 51.1% Romania (RO) EU 61.8% 59.0% 58.3% 56.7% 49.5% 45.6% 43.0% 42.6% 50.6% EU FR 60.7% 56.7% 48.7% 52.8% 46.8% 42.8% 40.6% 42.4% 50.1% France (FR) IE 63.6% 47.6% 68.3% 44.0% 50.2% 58.6% 57.6% 52.4% 49.7% Ireland (IE) PL 20.9% 24.5% 23.8% 45.7% Poland (PL) CY ! 72.5% 59.4% 44.0% 45.0% Cyprus (CY) HU 38.5% 36.3% 29.0% 43.4% Hungary (HU) NL 58.1% 50.6% 47.2% 35.7% 30.0% 39.3% 36.8% 37.3% 41.9% Netherlands (NL) FI 30.1% 39.4% 40.5% 41.0% 40.7% Finland (FI) EE 26.8% 43.9% 36.5% 37.6% Estonia (EE) UK 32.3% 32.6% 36.2% 36.4% 24.0% 39.2% 34.5% 35.4% 36.9% United Kingdom (UK) LV 41.3% 53.7% 30.2% 33.5% Latvia (LV) BG ! 38.9% 36.1% 32.6% Bulgaria (BG) PT 51.2% 35.5% 39.9% 38.6% 36.8% 33.7% 30.8% Portugal (PT) HR 25.2% 29.9% Croatia (HR) SI Highest turnout with compulsory voting 28.4% 28.3% 24.5% 28.9% Slovenia (SL) CZ Highest turnout without compulsory voting 28.3% 28.2% 18.2% 28.7% (CZ) SK Lowest turnout 17.0% 19.6% 13.0% 22.7% Slovakia (SK)

! Compulsory voting in this Member State (Voting was also compulsory in Italy from 1979 to 1989).

The chart below shows the trajectory of turnout at the nine European Parliament elections held to date, tracking both individual Member States (grey dots) and the total for the EU as a whole (blue dots/line). Successive elections saw turnout fall until 2019. The most recent election resulted in an 8.3 percentage point increase in turnout, which at 50.6 per cent, represented the first time since 1994 that more than half the adult population had turned out to vote. A similar downward trend over time is seen in the US mid-term elections, where the presidency is not at stake, again with a sharp upturn in the most recent (2018) election. Such a downward trend can also be observed in national elections over the same period, although from a higher baseline, given that governments are also being elected in such contests.

100% Turnout at EP elections by 75% Member State 61.8% 50.6% Turnout at EP 50% elections EUSK 49.5% (EU overall) CZ 25% SI

0% HR 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 PT 7 BG LV UK EE FI NL HU CY PL IE FR EU RO LT IT SE EL AT ES DE DK MT LU BE EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service

The work of the European Parliament The European Parliament adopts its positions by voting in plenary session on legislative and budgetary texts, as well as on own-initiative reports and other resolutions. The Parliament’s 20 standing committees prepare the ground, undertaking detailed consideration of draft EU legislation and holding hearings on key issues. In the course of the legislative process, representatives of EP committees meet frequently with their counterparts in the Council and the , in trilateral negotiations known as ‘trilogues’, under the ‘co-decision’ procedure - see page 10.

The statistics below show that the 2014-19 European Parliament sat for longer than its predecessor, and held almost a third more votes; however, it adopted fewer texts, both legislative and non-legislative.

Activity in EP plenary sessions in the seventh term (July 2009 - June 2014) 2 790 260 Texts Days 23 553 21 298 of which Plenary sitting days Votes Amendments adopted Texts adopted

12 1 071 9 2 160 3 ? Hours 58 840 22 692 6 Hours of sittings Written questions tabled Amendments rejected Legislative acts

Activity in EP plenary sessions in the eighth term (July 2014 - June 2019) 2 575 279 Texts Days 30 992 18 824 of which Plenary sitting days Votes Amendments adopted Texts adopted

12 965 9 2 401 3 ? Hours 48 207 9 645 6 Hours of sittings Written questions tabled Amendments rejected Legislative acts Source: Plenary Organisation and Follow-up Unit, DG Presidency, European Parliament

Working with citizens and partners The European Parliament has regular meetings with counterparts from the Member States’ national parliaments, in particular at level. The Parliament’s committees also regularly seek direct input from experts and stakeholders in public hearings, to feed their deliberations on specific topics. Citizens also have various means to make contact with the Parliament, either by visiting the institution, asking questions to the Citizens’ Enquiries Unit (Ask EP), submitting a petition for consideration by the Petitions Committee, or by contacting an individual Member directly. The figures below give a flavour of these activites in the eighth term, from July 2014 to June 2019.

Meetings with national Citizens’ enquiries Petitions received 72 parliaments 272 000 received by ‘Ask EP’ 7 494 from citizens

Public hearings by EP Citizens’ visits to Follow-up letters from 585 Committees 1 843 713 EP 24 713 Petitions Committee

8 European Parliament: Facts and Figures

Parliamentary committees There are 20 standing committees (and two sub-committees) in the EP, each covering a different policy area. They draw up reports for consideration in the plenary – on both legislative and non-legislative matters – and hold the to account. The seats on each committee are distributed among the Parliament’s political groups in the same proportions as the seats they hold in the Parliament as a whole. The chart below lists the committees of the EP, ordered by the number of MEPs who sit on them. It shows the chairs, elected by the members of each committee, together with their political group and nationality. The chairs of the committees meet together in the Conference of Committee Chairs, and have elected , Chair of the Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) Committee, as their chair for the first half of the current parliamentary term. The shows the distribution of committee chairs between the political groups, using the same colour code as before.

Number of MEPs Name of Chair Environment, Public Health and Food SafetyENVI 76 Renew Europe France (FR) Industry, Research and Energy ITRE 72 Adina-Ioana VALEAN EPP Romania (RO) Foreign Affairs AFET 71 David McALLISTER EPP Germany (DE) Human Rights DROI 30 Maria ARENA S&D Belgium (BE) Security and Defence SEDE 30 Renew Europe France (FR) Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs LIBE 68 Juan Fernando LÓPEZ AGUILAR S&D Spain (ES) Economic and Monetary Affairs ECON 60 S&D Italy (IT) Employment and Social Affairs EMPL 55 Lucia DURIŠ NICHOLSONOVÁ ECR Slovakia (SK) Transport and Tourism TRAN 49 Greens/EFA France (FR) Agriculture and Rural Development AGRI 48 EPP Germany (DE) Internal Market and Consumer ProtectionIMCO 45 Greens/EFA Belgium (BE) Regional Development REGI 43 Younous OMARJEE GUE/NGL France (FR) International Trade INTA 41 S&D Germany (DE) Budgets BUDG 41 ECR Belgium (BE) Women's Rights and Gender Equality FEMM 35 S&D Austria (AT) Petitions PETI 35 EPP Spain (ES) Culture and Education CULT 31 EPP Germany (DE) Budgetary Control CONT 30 EPP Germany (DE) Fisheries PECH 28 Chris DAVIES Renew Europe United Kingdom (UK) Constitutional Affairs AFCO 28 Antonio TAJANI EPP Italy (IT) Development DEVE 26 Tomas TOBÉ EPP Sweden (SE) Legal Affairs JURI 25 Lucy NETHSINGHA Renew Europe United Kingdom (UK)

Share of committee chairs by political group

5% GUE/NGL 9% Greens/EFA 9% 36% 20 ECR committees Renew Europe 18% S&D 23% EPP 9 European Parliament: Facts and Figures

European Parliament legislative activity, 2004-19 A core element of the European Parliament’s work lies in amending and passing EU legislation. Three procedures are used, with the most common now being the ‘ordinary legislative procedure’, traditionally referred to as ‘co‑decision’. The Parliament may also be required to give (or withhold) its consent to certain Council decisions, or may simply be consulted on certain Commission proposals. Under co-decision and consent, the EP has a right of veto over EU legal acts. The two charts below together show the rise in the use of co-decision, reflecting greater EP power from successive Treaty changes, and the growing trend for the EP and Council to agree on legislative texts at the first reading of that process. Cooperation The chart below shows the number of legislative resolutions adopted in plenary each year since 2004, including Codecision at all readings for co-decision. Consent 350 Consultation Cooperation 300 300 152 110 250 163 158 Consultation 250 113 33 41 Consent 200 41 89 36 10 39 43 ConsultationCodecision 150 9 22 38 58 40 40 43 12 24 13 39 40 100 6 23 Consent 39 45 38 118 18 50 Co-decision 50 112 122 117 147 170 105 94 113 105 164 199 75 77 88 13 43 00 * Data refer to the period 20042004 20052005 20062006 20072007 20082008 20092009 20102010 20112011 20122012 20132013 20142014 20152015 20162016 20172017 20182018 2019*2019 Jan - Jun 2019 Conciliation The chart below shows the stage of the co-decision procedure at which the EP and Council reached agreement on individual legislative texts, in each year since 2004. As well as the total number of files agreed, it also shows the CSL 2 number agreed at first reading (the most common case). EP 2 200200 EP 1 Conciliation 152 150 148 Council 2nd reading 124 116 137 ConciliationEP 2nd reading 103 122 100100 92 94 1st reading 98 104 80 EP 2nd reading 77 70 72 74 58 79 Council 2nd reading 50 53 52 56 50 58 61 60 68 44 51 1st reading 41 34 34 40 0 * Data refer to the period 0 Jan - Jun 2019 20042004 20052005 20062006 20072007 20082008 20092009 20102010 20112011 20122012 20132013 20142014 20152015 20162016 20172017 20182018 2019*2019

Source: Legislative Planning and Coordination Unit, DG Presidency, European Parliament

Number and average length of co-decision procedures The chart below shows the average duration in months of each completed ordinary legislative procedure (co- decision files), and the stage at which it was concluded, for the parliamentary term from July 2014 to June 2019. The circles, in proportion, show the number of files concluded at each stage of the procedure. Throughout the most recent five-year term, no files went to the conciliation/third reading stage. Fi Duration rst reading agreement Number of procedures Early second reading agreemen

First reading agreemen1st treading 18 months 356 CSL second reading agreement Early secondEP reading 2nd agreemen readingt 39 months 41

CSL second reading agreement 40 4 Council 2nd reading t months C onciliation

Conciliation 10

10 15 20 25 30 35 40 05 EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service

Number of trilogues per year and per committee From July 2014 to June 2019, EP committees participated in a total of 1 184 trilogue meetings with the Council and Commission. The bar graph below shows the number of trilogues held by year since the beginning of the 2009-14 term, with a peak in 2013, notably reflecting decisions on programmes within the 2014-20 Multiannual Financial Framework. In 2018, out of 315 trilogues, 299 involved a single committee, while in 16 cases, two committees took part. In 2019, 178 trilogues had a single committee participating. The pie chart shows which parliamentary committees were most involved in trilogues in 2018, the fourth full year of the 2014-19 term. It highlights the eight most active Numbercommittees inof terms trilogues of trilogues held,per as year a percentage and ofper the total.committee

Others: 299 16 800 8th term Single committee Joint committee TRAN 7th term 695 JURI 600 Others: 54 LIBE: 60 17% 19% EMPL TRAN: 11 3% ENVI 400 Trilogue 371 JURI: 18 6% 15% ITRE: 47 IMCO 315 meetings: 30 200 249 229 251 EMPL: 10% 315 ECON 55 190 132 144 10% 10% ITRE 15 95 ECON: 32 0 10% 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 ENVI: 31 IMCO: 32 LIBE

Number of legislative and own-initiative reports The chart below shows the number of reports adopted in each parliamentary committee between July 2014 and June 2019. ‘Own initiative reports’, represented by light orange bars, include both legislative initiative and other own-initiative reports. ‘Legislative reports’, by blue bars, include reports under the ordinary legislative procedure (co-decision), and consultation procedure, as well as procedures relating to international agreements. ‘Other reports’, in dark orange, relate primarily to work under procedures specific to a given committee, such as on the budget, discharge, and questions of Members’ immunity in legal proceedings. The green bars concern procedures in which committees consider whether to object to ‘delegated’ or ‘implementing’ act, which are in effect forms of administrative law, adopted by the Commission under existing legislation.

Own-initiative Legislative Other Delegated and reports reports reports implemented acts Foreign A airs (AFET) 91 47 Economic and Monetary A airs (ECON) 42 107 216 Employment and Social A airs (EMPL) 29 28 22 Civil Liberties, Justice and Home A airs (LIBE) 29 163 14 Regional Development (REGI) 29 19 9 Legal A airs (JURI) 28 97 61 7 Women's Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) 26 International Trade (INTA) 22 2 72 1 44 Development (DEVE) 22 2 1 Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) 20 5 58 1 32 Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) 20 56 32 518 Culture and Education (CULT) 18 9 1 Transport and Tourism (TRAN) 18 61 80 Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) 17 36 8 72 Constitutional A airs (AFCO) 17 8 10 3 Fisheries (PECH) 16 47 212 57 Budgetary Control (CONT) 15 28 263 Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) 12 13 3 93 Petitions (PETI) 10 Budgets (BUDG) 5 10 533 2

Joint committees 23 27 12 Source: Legislative Coordination Unit, DG Internal Policies, European Parliament 11 EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service

Governing bodies of the EP The Bureau is the body responsible for financial, organisational and administrative matters within the Parliament. It is composed of the President and the 14 Vice-Presidents, elected by an absolute majority of the votes in plenary, with the order in which they attained that majority determining their individual order of precedence. The five Quaestors, elected in plenary to manage administrative and financial matters directly concerning Members, also attend the Bureau in an advisory capacity, but cannot vote.

David Maria SASSOLI President S&D Italy (IT)

Mairead McGUINNESS Vice-President EPP Ireland (IE) 1 Vice-President S&D Portugal (PT) President Vice-President EPP Germany (DE) Vice-President S&D Germany (DE) Vice-President EPP Austria (AT) Vice-President EPP Poland (PL) Klára DOBREV Vice-President S&D Hungary (HU) 14 Dita CHARANZOVÁ Vice-President Renew Europe Czech Republic (CZ) Vice-Presidents Vice-President Renew Europe Germany (DE) Lívia JÁRÓKA Vice-President EPP Hungary (HU) Vice-President Greens/EFA Finland (FI) Vice-President Greens/EFA Czech Republic (CZ) Vice-President GUE/NGL Greece (GR) 5 Vice-President NI Italy (IT) Quaestors (non-voting) Quaestor EPP France (FR) Monika BEŇOVÁ Quaestor S&D Slovakia (SK) Quaestor EPP Malta (MT) Quaestor Renew Europe France (FR) Quaestor ECR Poland (PL)

The Conference of Presidents (CoP) - composed of the Parliament’s President and the chairs of its seven political groups - sets the agenda of the plenary and determines the general political orientations of the institution. The table below shows the current members of the CoP, ordered by size of the groups, in terms of their seats in the Parliament. Three groups have co-chairs. The non-attached (NI) Members are represented by a non-voting observer.

President of the EP: David Maria SASSOLI S&D

EPP S&D Renew Europe Greens/EFA ID ECR GUE/NGL NI

Chair Chair Chair Co-chairs Chair Co-Chairs Co-Chairs Observer

NI Ska Iratxe Diane Dacian Marco Manon Martin ManfredWEBER CIOLOŞ KELLER Philippe ZANNI RaffaeleFITTO AUBRY DODDS LEGUTKO LAMBERTS Ryszard Antoni GARCÍA PÉREZ SCHIRDEWAN The two governing bodies of the European Parliament - the Bureau and the Conference of Presidents - presented above, are complemented by other coordination bodies, notably the Conference of Committee Chairs (CCC), the Conference of Delegation Chairs, the Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA Panel) and the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group.

Previous editions of this Briefing were issued in April 2019 (PE 635.515), April 2018 (PE 614.733), March 2017 (PE 599.256), March 2016 (PE 573.919), April 2015 (PE 545.725) and November 2014 (PE 542.150). The data used are taken from a range of sources within and outside the European Parliament, including the Directorate for Relations with National Parliaments and the Legislative Planning and Coordination, Members’ Activities, Members’ Administration, and Plenary Organisation and Follow-up Units of DG Presidency (PRES), the Legislative Coordination Unit and Petitions Committee secretariat of DG Internal Policies (IPOL); the Public Opinion Monitoring, and Visits and Seminars Units of DG Communication (COMM); the Citizens’ Enquiries Unit of DG EPRS; and the IDEA database of election statistics.

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