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European Parliament Elections 2019

  • Text
  • European
  • Parliament
  • Elections
  • Meps
  • Parliamant
  • Brussels
  • Strasbourg
  • Russia
  • Plenary
  • Euobserver
It is difficult to acknowledge you don't know something. A few months ago, several thousand Europeans were asked hundreds of questions for the Eurobarometer poll. One of those questions was: "Do you agree with the statement: 'I understand how the EU works'." Only 10 percent totally disagreed with that statement. Another 29 percent "tended to disagree". Peculiarly, three percent said they did not know whether to agree or disagree.

Negotiations on

Negotiations on legislation are done in the secretive, informal "trilogue" meetings with representatives from the commission, the council and parliament sitting together hammering out compromises. There were 251 trilogues in 2017. Once a consensus is reached, the legislation is then adopted by the council and voted in the parliament's relevant committee and later, the plenary. The parliament is also responsible for electing the president of the European commission. After a European election, EU governments haggle over possible candidates "taking into account" the result of the elections, as the Lisbon Treaty stipulates. Since 2014, the parliament, under the so-called 'Spitzenkandidat' process, has attempted to force governments' hands by pushing them to elect the candidate that manages to secure a majority in the parliament. Candidates for the different commission portfolios also have to go through a parliamentary grilling. WHO ARE THE POWER BROKERS? Some of the most powerful posts in the parliament are quite visible: the president represents the EP in meetings with EU leaders, and participates in key decisions. The leaders of the political groups are key in deciding what gets on the parliament's agenda, who will be members of the committees, deciding on institutional issues, how politically-sensitive topics will be handled, and which party gets to steer important legislative files. The fortnightly Thursday meetings of the "conference of presidents" is the governing body of the parliament. It consists of the president and the political group leaders. A less visible, but no less powerful, hub is the "bureau", which deals with issues relating to the budget, administration, organisation and staff of the EP. Around 8,000 staff work in the parliament, conversing in a total of 24 languages Photo: European Parliament 06 — EUROPEAN PARLIAMANT ELECTIONS 2019

The meeting of the bureau, chaired by president Antonio Tajani Photo: European Parliament It is composed of the president, the 14 vicepresidents of the parliament and the five quaestors, responsible for administrative and financial matters. Behind both of these bodies stands the allpowerful secretary-general of the parliament - a post that has been held by the German Klaus Welle since 2009. He is responsible for what gets on the table of the president, the conference of presidents and the bureau. Rapporteurs are MEPs responsible for specific reports on legislative files. They are also key actors as they set the tone for the parliament's position on a specific initiative or issue, and work together with shadow rapporteurs from other political groups in their committee to prepare a common position and then lead negotiations with member states. The election of rapporteurs is done through a complicated points system, in which political party groups bid for a report or a topic, like in an auction. In other cases, groups themselves agree on an appointment. IS IT A TOWER OF BABEL? Almost 8,000 people work in the parliament, either in the administration or attached to political parties and their politicians. Some of them are based in Luxembourg. Altogether, they speak the 24 official languages of the EU, and Brexit will not change that as English will remain one of the official languages. To guarantee the same working conditions for everyone, all documents and debates are available in all the languages. There are 552 possible language combinations, and around 300 staff interpreters and more than 1,500 external accredited interpreters to make sense of it all. For the plenary session weeks, some 700 to 900 interpreters are on hand. The parliament also employs about 700 translators, who monthly translate more than 100,000 pages of documents. 07 — EUROPEAN PARLIAMANT ELECTIONS 2019

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