Episode 3: The Parliament
Who sits there, how it works and why it commutes
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Twelve times a year, the European Parliament packs its boxes. MEPs, staff, interpreters, files: everything goes from Brussels to Strasbourg. Four days of voting, then back again. Why would anyone do that?
The answer: it's written in the EU treaties. Strasbourg is the official seat. Committees and political groups work mostly in Brussels. Changing that would need all 27 countries to agree, including France. And France is sticking with Strasbourg. According to an estimate by the European Court of Auditors, dropping the commute would save around 114 million euros a year. Parliament itself has long called for a single seat. But it doesn't get to decide.
Parliament is the only EU institution you elect directly, every five years. It has 720 members. Each country votes separately, and small countries get a few more seats than their population would justify, so they don't get drowned out. That's why in Germany there are around 870,000 people per seat, and in Malta only about 90,000. Even so, every MEP represents all EU citizens, not just those from their own country. That's what the EU treaties say.
In the chamber, MEPs don't sit by country, but by political group: parties with similar ideas from all over Europe. Right now there are eight. None has a majority on its own. If you want to get something passed, you need partners, and they change from issue to issue. In many national parliaments, the government's majority is fixed from day one. In the European Parliament, every decision is fought over anew. That makes the debate more varied.
Everyone can speak in their own language. The EU has 24 official languages, and interpreters translate live.
So what does Parliament do? It passes laws, as an equal partner with the Council. It has a say on the budget. And it keeps the Commission in check: it elects the President and can even send the whole Commission packing. But there's one thing it can't do: propose laws itself. That's the Commission's job. Parliament can only ask it to.
MEPs vote by show of hands or at the push of a button. Votes cast by button are recorded, and for many of them even by name: who voted how. For laws, always. That's called a roll-call vote.
Remember: Parliament is the voice of the citizens in the EU. And because many votes are public, you can check how your MEPs voted, for example on openrcv.eu.
One question remains: the Commission proposes the laws. But who actually picks its President? We'll find out in episode four.
Episode 4: The Commission
Who picks it, what it does and who keeps it in check
Ursula von der Leyen has never been on the ballot in a European election. And yet she runs the Commission. How does that work?
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Now go and see who votes how.
In the European Parliament, almost every important vote is recorded by name. On openrcv.eu you can see how your MEPs voted.
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