Related Research Articles
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.
The European Commission (EC) is part of the executive of the European Union (EU), together with the European Council. It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission headed by a President. It includes an administrative body of about 32,000 European civil servants. The Commission is divided into departments known as Directorates-General (DGs) that can be likened to departments or ministries each headed by a Director-General who is responsible to a Commissioner.
A popular initiative is a form of direct democracy by which a petition meeting certain hurdles can force a legal procedure on a proposition. The hurdles the petition has to meet vary between countries, typically signatures by a certain number of registered voters. In direct initiative, the proposition is put directly to a plebiscite or referendum, also called a Popular initiated Referendum or citizen-initiated referendum. In an indirect initiative, the proposed measure is first referred to the legislature, and then if the proposed law is rejected by the legislature, the government may be forced to put the proposition to a referendum. The proposition may be on federal level law, statute, constitutional amendment, charter amendment, local ordinance, obligate the executive or legislature to consider the subject by submitting it to the order of the day. In contrast, a popular referendum that allows voters only to repeal existing legislation.
The institutions of the European Union are the seven principal decision-making bodies of the European Union and the Euratom. They are, as listed in Article 13 of the Treaty on European Union:
Frédérique Ries is a Belgian politician and Member of the European Parliament for the French Community of Belgium with the MR/MCC/PRL, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
An online petition is a form of petition which is signed online, usually through a form on a website. Visitors to the online petition sign the petition by adding their details such as name and email address. Typically, after there are enough signatories, the resulting letter may be delivered to the subject of the petition, usually via e-mail. The online petition may also deliver an email to the target of the petition each time the petition is signed.
The committees of the European Parliament are designed to aid the European Commission in initiating legislation.
There are fourteen vice-presidents of the European Parliament who sit in for the president in presiding over the plenary of the European Parliament.
Cecilia Karin Maria Wikström, née Sundström, originally Nodbjörk is a Swedish politician who served as Member of the European Parliament from 2009 until 2019. She is a member of the Liberal Party of Sweden, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
Leonard Warren Webber is a Canadian politician who has served as the Member of Parliament for the riding of Calgary Confederation since 2015 as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. During the 43rd Canadian Parliament his private member bill An Act to amend the Canada Revenue Agency Act was adopted to allow Canadians to indicate their intent to sign up as a donor through their annual income tax return. Previously, he was a Conservative Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the constituency of Calgary-Foothills from 2004 to 2014, serving cabinet portfolios of Minister of International & Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister of Aboriginal Relations.
Sofia Sakorafa is a Greek-Palestinian politician and former javelin thrower. She was a Member of the European Parliament for Greece as member of the political party MeRA25, having formerly sat for Syriza and before that served, from June 2012 to July 2014, as a Syriza Member of the Hellenic Parliament. She served as a deputy speaker in the Hellenic Parliament for the MeRA25 party. She is the president of Association hellénique d'athlétisme amateur (SEGAS).
Nadine Morano is a French politician of the Republicans who has been serving as Member of the European Parliament since 2014. She previously was a member of the National Assembly and a minister.
Esteban González Pons is a Spanish politician of the People's Party (PP) who has been a member of the European Parliament since 2014.
The European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) is a European Union (EU) mechanism aimed at increasing direct democracy by enabling "EU citizens to participate directly in the development of EU policies", introduced with the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007. This popular initiative enables one million citizens of the European Union, who are nationals of at least seven member states, to call directly on the European Commission to propose a legal act in an area where the member states have conferred powers onto the EU level. This right to request the commission to initiate a legislative proposal puts citizens on the same footing as the European Parliament and the European Council, who enjoy this right according to Articles 225 and 241 TFEU, respectively. The commission holds the right of initiative in the EU. The first registered ECI, Fraternité 2020, was initiated on 9 May 2012, although the first submitted ECI was One Single Tariff.
Biljana Borzan is a Croatian physician and politician who has been member of the European Parliament for Croatia since 1 July 2013, having been elected to the position at the 2013, 2014 and 2019 elections. She is a member of the center-left Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP) and serving as the Vice President of the Socialists & Democrats in the European Parliament with the portfolio "New Economy that works for all" since 2019.
Dita Charanzová is a Czech politician and diplomat who has served as Vice President of the European Parliament since 2019, and as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2014 for the ANO 2011 party.
Iskra Mihaylova is a Bulgarian politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Bulgaria who has been a Member of the European Parliament since July 2014. She is a member of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party.
Yana Toom is an Estonian politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2014. She is a member of the Estonian Centre Party.
Lukas Mandl is an Austrian politician of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) who has been a Member of the European Parliament since November 2017 and was re-elected in 2019.
References
- ↑ "Parliament's committees elect chairs and vice-chairs". European Parliament . Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ↑ Rickards, Mark (2007-11-03). "MEPs get taste of people power". BBC News . Retrieved 2007-11-03.
