Index
The European Parliament is the parliamentary organ of the European communities. It is made up of 705 members who are directly elected by the population of the 27 member states for five years. Each member state is allocated a certain number of seats depending on the size of its population. Germany, the largest member state of the EU, has 96 MEPs. The Parliament has legislative, budgetary and monitoring powers, though no right of initiative in legislation. The Parliament sits in Strasbourg; plenary sessions and committee meetings also take place in Brussels and Luxembourg.
The Council (of Ministers) is the most important EU legislative committee. Each member country delegates one minister. The Council and the EU Parliament share legislative powers and responsibility for the EU budget. The Presidency of the Council) rotates every six months.
In 1957, Germany was one of the six founding members of today’s EU, along with France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The EU is currently made up of 27 states; the euro is the official currency in 20 of them. For Germany, European integration forms the basis for peace, security and prosperity. One of the key factors is the single European market. Germany also supports the integration of additional members in the EU..
→ bpb.de