European Union law is the system of laws operating within the member states of the European Union. The EU has political institutions and social and economic policies. According to its Court of Justice, the EU represents "a new legal order of international law". The EU's legal foundations are the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, unanimously agreed by the governments of 28 member states. New states may join the EU, if they agree to operate by the rules of the organisation, and existing members may leave according to their "own constitutional requirements". Citizens are able to vote directly in elections to the Parliament, while their national governments operate on behalf of them in the Council of the European Union and the European Council. The Commission is the executive branch. The Council of the European Union represents member state governments, while the Court of Justice is meant to uphold the rule of law and human rights. As the Court of Justice said, the EU is "not merely an economic union" but is intended to "ensure social progress and seek the constant improvement of the living and working conditions of their peoples".
Phillip Whitehead was a British Labour politician, television producer and writer.
Arlene McCarthy OBE was a Member of the European Parliament for North West England for the Labour Party from 1994 to 2014.
Evelyne Gebhardt is a German politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Germany. She is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, part of the Party of European Socialists.
Ulla Margareta Charlotte Cederschiöld is a Swedish politician and was a Member of the European Parliament until 2009. She is a member of the Moderate Party, part of the European People's Party - European Democrats group.
Michał Tomasz Kamiński is a Polish politician and a former Member of the European Parliament for Warsaw with Civic Platform. He was chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists in the European Parliament from July 2009 until March 2011.
Zuzana Roithová is a Czech politician and former Member of the European Parliament. She was vice-chair of the European Parliament's Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, a substitute on the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality and a member of the Delegation for relations with the countries of Central America.
The European Single Market, Internal Market or Common Market is a single market which seeks to guarantee the free movement of goods, capital, services, and labour – the "four freedoms" – within the European Union (EU). The market encompasses the EU's 28 member states, and has been extended, with exceptions, to Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the Agreement on the European Economic Area and to Switzerland through bilateral treaties.
There are fourteen Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament who sit in for the President in presiding over the plenary of the European Parliament.
The European Union Committee is a select committee of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Its terms of reference are "To consider European Union documents and other matters relating to the European Union", as well as "to represent the House as appropriate in interparliamentary co-operation within the European Union".
Jacqueline Kay Swinburne is a Welsh politician. She is a Conservative Member of the European Parliament for Wales.
The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a Eurosceptic and anti-federalist political group in the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE) European political party, but also includes MEPs from four other European parties and thirteen MEPs without European party affiliation. The group focuses on reforming the European Union (EU) on the basis of Eurorealism as opposed to total rejection of the EU (anti-EU-ism).
Morten Løkkegaard is a Danish politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Denmark. He is a member of Venstre, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. He was elected to the European Parliament in July 2009.
The Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE), formerly known as the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (AECR), is a conservative and eurosceptic European political party with a main focus on reforming the European Union (EU) on the basis of Eurorealism, as opposed to total rejection of the EU (anti-EU-ism). It currently has twenty-four member parties and three further independent members from twenty-one countries, in addition to seven regional partners worldwide.
Iliana Malinova Iotova is a Bulgarian politician who has served as Vice President of Bulgaria since 2017. She was the running mate of Rumen Radev, who defeated GERB nominee Tsetska Tsacheva in the second round of the 2016 presidential election. She was a Member of the European Parliament from 2007 until her resignation on 16 January 2017. In the EP she sat on the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection and was a substitute for the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. She also participated in the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament. She speaks Bulgarian, French and English.
Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD or EFD2) is a populist Eurosceptic political group in the European Parliament. The EFDD group is a continuation for the Eighth European Parliament of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) group that existed during the Seventh European Parliament, with significant changes to group membership.
Dita Charanzová is a Member of the European Parliament.
