The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union,it adopts European legislation,following a proposal by the European Commission. The Parliament is composed of 705 members (MEPs). It represents the second-largest democratic electorate in the world,with an electorate of 375 million eligible voters in 2009.
Patrick Cox is an Irish former Fine Gael politician,journalist and television current affairs presenter who served as President of the European Parliament from 2002 to 2004 and Leader of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party Group from 1998 to 2002. He served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Munster constituency from 1989 to 2004 and a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork South-Central from 1992 to 1994.
Roger Helmer is a British politician and businessman. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East Midlands region from 1999 to 2017. Before becoming an MEP,he was a business executive.
Sajjad Haider Karim is a British politician. He served as a Member of the European Parliament for the North West England between 2004 and 2019. Sajjad is one of 10 members of the executive of European Movement UK and Chair of Conservative European Forum Trade.
Turkey is negotiating its accession to the European Union (EU) as a member state,following its application to become a full member of the European Economic Community (EEC),the predecessor of the EU,on 14 April 1987.
Emine Bozkurt is a Dutch politician of Turkish descent and Member of the European Parliament between 2004 and 2014. She is a member of the Dutch Labour Party,which is part of the Party of European Socialists.
Anna Cecilia Malmström is a Swedish politician who served as European Commissioner for Trade from 2014 to 2019. She previously served as European Commissioner for Home Affairs from 2010 to 2014 and Minister for European Union Affairs from 2006 to 2010. She was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Sweden from 1999 to 2006.
Dame Glenis Willmott,is a retired British Labour Party politician who served as leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP) and Member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands.
The 2009 European Parliament election was held in the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans,making these the biggest trans-national elections in history. An additional 18 observers were pre-elected.
The seven institutions of the European Union (EU) are seated in four different cities,which are Brussels (Belgium),Frankfurt am Main (Germany),Luxembourg (Luxembourg) and Strasbourg (France),rather than being concentrated in a single capital city. All four were chosen,among various reasons,for their location halfway between France and Germany,the countries whose rivalry led to two World Wars and whose reconciliation paved the way for European integration. The EU agencies and other bodies are located all across the union,but usually not fixed in the treaties. The Hague is the only exception,as the fixed seat of the Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol). Luxembourg City is the EU capital that can lay claim to having the most of the seven EU institutions based wholly or partly upon its territory,with only the European Council and European Central Bank not having a presence in the city. Over the years,Brussels has become the EU's political hub,with the College of the Commissioners –the European Commission's politically accountable executive –and the European Council both meeting at their Brussels-based headquarters,and the European Parliament and Council of the EU holding the majority of their meetings annually within the city. This has led media to describe it as the de facto "capital of the EU".
Nicole Sinclaire is a British former politician who was leader of the We Demand a Referendum Party,and served as a Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands from 2009 to 2014.
Jacqueline Kay Swinburne,Baroness Swinburne,is a British politician and life peer. She was a member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Wales between 2009 and 2019,representing the Conservative Party,and became a member of the House of Lords in 2023. She was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Communities from 1 March 2024 for Baroness Penn as a Minister on Leave.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) persons in TRNC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity has been legal in Northern Cyprus since 7 February 2014. Previous laws allowed three years prison sentences,according to Articles 171 and 173 of its criminal code. Female homosexuality was not criminalised. Arrests for homosexuality have occurred as recently as 2011.
The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a soft Eurosceptic,anti-federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party European political party (formerly known as the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe or Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists,but also includes MEPs from four other European parties and thirteen MEPs without European party affiliation.
Franziska Maria "Ska" Keller is a German politician and member of the European Parliament for the Germany constituency. She is a member of the Alliance 90/The Greens,part of the European Green Party.
Edward McMillan-Scott is a British politician. He was a pro-EU Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Yorkshire and the Humber constituency from 1984 until 2014. He was the last and one of the longest-serving UK Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament 2004–2014. He held its Human Rights and Democracy portfolio. In 1992 he founded the EU's Instrument for Human Rights and Democracy (EIDHR) - now the EU's Global Europe Human Rights &Democracy Programme,which remain's the world's largest dedicated programme.
Queer Cyprus Association is an LGBTQ rights organisation in Northern Cyprus aimed to deal with criminal law amendments of TRNC which criminalises same-sex relationships. They seek equal human rights including to "fully decriminalize homosexuality,equalize the age of consent and better protect LGBTQ people under the law.”
Angelika Werthmann is a Member of the European Parliament since 2009,representing Hans-Peter Martin's List in Austria. Between 4 July 2012 and 7 April 2014 she was a member of the Liberal Group in the European Parliament.
Ian James Duncan,Baron Duncan of Springbank is a Scottish politician serving as a deputy speaker in the House of Lords. A member of the Conservative Party,he was formerly Minister for Climate Change in the Department for Business,Energy and Industrial Strategy and minister in the Northern Ireland Office. He initially joined the UK Government as a Scotland Office minister following the 2017 UK general election. Duncan was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Scotland from 2014 to 2017. He is the only minister to have served in each of the UK Government's territorial offices.
Theresa Reintke is a German politician who has been serving as a member of the European Parliament from Germany since 2014. She is co-president of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament. She is a member of the Alliance 90/The Greens,part of The Greens–European Free Alliance. From 2011 to 2013 she was the spokesperson of the Federation of Young European Greens.
