EP/Council Division of Power

1. EP/Council Division of Power • Commission proposes law, EP response based on one of three models: • Co-decision (most issues, currently) – policy goes to EP, EP can amend it themselves, passes to Council for debate, amendment, and vote. Passes back and forth between EP and council until it is approved in identical form by both. May go to a joint committee to iron out the details and agree on a common language • Consultation – Commission proposes, EP can consult, meaning they can ask for amendments to a piece of legislation; however, the EP does not have the power to make amendments, only to suggest them. Policy must then be approved by the EP prior to passing it on to the Council. • Assent (least common) – EP gets an up/down vote. No amendment power.

2. How EU laws are made Citizens, interests groups, experts: discuss, consult Commission: makes formal proposal Parliament and Council of Ministers: decide jointly National or local authorities: implement Commission and Court of Justice: monitor implementation

3. How many people live in the EU? Population in millions, 2007 497 million 82.4 63.4 60.9 59.1 44.5 38.2 21.6 16.3 11.2 10.5 10.6 10.3 10.1 9.0 8.3 7.7 5.3 5.4 5.4 4.3 3.4 2.3 2.0 1.3 0.8 0.5 0.4 Italy Spain France Poland Finland Sweden Estonia Germany Denmark Latvia Greece Belgium Slovakia Malta Hungary Luxemburg Bulgaria Netherlands Ireland Romania Austria Cyprus Slovenia Lithuania United Kingdom Portugal Czech Republic

4. Council of Ministers – number of votes per country Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom 29 Spain and Poland 27 Romania 14 Netherlands 13 Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary and Portugal 12 Austria, Bulgaria and Sweden 10 Denmark, Ireland, Lithuania, Slovakia and Finland 7 Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Luxembourg and Slovenia 4 Malta 3 Total: 345 “Qualified majority” needed for many decisions:255 votes and a majority of member states

5. The European Parliament – voice of the people 4 Decides EU laws and budget together with Council of Ministers4 Democratic supervision of all the EU’s work Number of members elected in each country Finland 14 18 Latvia 9 35 Romania Austria Lithuania Belgium 24 13 Slovakia 14 78 France Germany 6 Bulgaria 18 Luxembourg Slovenia 7 99 24 Cyprus 6 Greece Malta 5 Spain 54 Hungary 27 Czech Republic 24 Netherlands Sweden 19 24 Ireland 13 Denmark Poland 54 78 United Kingdom 14 24 Italy 78 6 Estonia Portugal Total 785

6. Video Break • Just a quick look at the EP, from the British press, leading up to the 2009 vote: • http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=0F3A63EF76B7DAB4&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&v=UxhD-99SnZA

7. The European political parties Number of seats in the European Parliament per political group (March 2008) Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe 101 Independence/ Democracy 24 European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats 288 Greens/European Free Alliance 43 Union for Europe of the Nations 44 Socialist Group 215 Total : 785 Non-attached members and temporarily empty seats 29 European United Left - Nordic Green Left 41

8. 2009 EP Election Results • http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/archive/elections2009/en/index_en.html

9. EP Election Turnout

10. More turnout numbers (from 2004)

16. Civil Society in Europe

17. NGO: European Women’s Lobby