The European Parliament represents, in the words of the 1957 Treaty of Rome, "the peoples of the States brought together in the European Community". It is the assembly of the representatives of the European Union's citizens. Since 1979, MEPs have been elected by direct universal suffrage every five years. 732 MEPs will be returned following the June 2004 elections across all 25 Member States.
Parliament has three main roles:
- It shares with the council the power to legislate.
- It exercises democratic supervision over all EU institutions, and in particular the Commission.
- It shares with the Council, authority over the EU budget, and can therefore influence EU spending.
Further information on the European Parliament is available at
www.europarl.eu.int
