The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two 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 720 members (MEPs), after the June 2024 European elections, from a previous 705 MEPs. It represents the second-largest democratic electorate in the world, with an electorate of around 375 million eligible voters in 2024.
A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
The 1999 European Parliament election was a European election for all 626 members of the European Parliament held across the 15 European Union member states on 10, 11 and 13 June 1999. The voter turn-out was generally low, except in Belgium and Luxembourg, where voting is compulsory and where national elections were held that same day. This was the first election where Austria, Finland and Sweden voted alongside the other member states, having joined in 1995 and voted separately. The next election was held in 2004.
Independence/Democracy (IND/DEM) was a Eurosceptic political group that operated in the European Parliament between 2004 and 2009. At its height in 2004, it had 37 MEPs and it only existed during the European Parliament's 6th term. It was affiliated with the Eurosceptic Europeans United for Democracy party.
The political groups of the European Parliament are the officially recognised parliamentary groups consisting of legislators of aligned ideologies in the European Parliament.
In the European Parliament, the quaestors are elected to oversee administrative and financial matters directly affecting members (MEPs) as well as other duties assigned to them by the Parliament's Rules of Procedure or the Bureau of the European Parliament. Five quaestors are elected among the MEPs for two and a half year-terms, i.e. half a parliamentary term.
The Alliance for Europe of the Nations was a European political party that gathered conservative and national-conservative political parties from across the continent.
The Alliance of Independent Democrats in Europe (AIDE) was a Eurosceptic, nationalist European political party.
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 1979 European Parliament election was a series of parliamentary elections held across all 9 European Community member states. They were the first European elections to be held, allowing citizens to elect 410 MEPs to the European Parliament, and also the first international election in history.
The Democratic Movement is a centre to centre-right political party in France, whose main ideological trends are liberalism and Christian democracy, and that is characterised by a strong pro-Europeanist stance. MoDem was established by François Bayrou to succeed the Union for French Democracy (UDF) and contest the 2007 legislative election, after his strong showing in the 2007 presidential election. Initially named the Democratic Party, the party was renamed "Democratic Movement", because there was already a small Democratic Party in France.
Connacht–Ulster was a constituency of the European Parliament in Ireland between 1979 and 2004. Throughout its history, it elected 3 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) using the single transferable vote (STV) system.
The Group of the European Radical Alliance (ERA) was a heterogeneous political group with seats in the European Parliament between 1994 and 1999. It was formed by regionalist parties from the former Rainbow Group, although its largest and dominant member party was the French Energie Radicale.
The European Democratic Alliance was a heterogeneous political group in the European Parliament between 1984 and 1995. It consisted mainly of deputies from the French Gaullist Rally for the Republic (RPR) and the Irish Fianna Fáil. The grouping had a generally centre-right outlook, and strongly defended the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy.
The Group of European Progressive Democrats was a heterogeneous political group with seats in the European Parliament between 1973 and 1984. It was mostly composed of French Gaullists and Irish Fianna Fáil.
The Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe was the liberal–centrist political group of the European Parliament from 2004 until 2019 when it merged into Renew Europe.
Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) was a far-right, Eurosceptic political group that operated in the European Parliament from 2009 to 2014. It was composed of 34 MEPs and it existed during the European Parliament's 7th and 8th terms. After 2011, EFD had a loose relationship with the Movement for a Europe of Liberties and Democracy political party.
The European Conservatives and Reformists Group 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, but also includes MEPs from other European parties and MEPs without European party affiliation.
The Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe, abbreviated to ADDE, was a European political party founded in 2014. It was composed of parties belonging to the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) group in the European Parliament (EP). The dominant national party in the ADDE was the UK Independence Party (UKIP), providing 21 of the party's 27 members of the European Parliament (MEPs) elected in 2014. A further three UKIP MEPs chose not to participate in the ADDE. In 2015, the ADDE was recognised by the European Parliament and its grant maximum from the EP was set at €1,241,725, with an additional €730,053 for its affiliated political foundation, the Initiative for Direct Democracy. ADDE was closed down in 2016 after an auditors' inquiry found misspending of EU funds. The party was legally dissolved on 24 May 2017.
The ninth European Parliament was elected during the 2019 elections and sat until the tenth European Parliament was sworn in on 16 July 2024.
