The European Parliament functions as the EU’s law-making body. It is the “first institution” of the European Union and enjoys ceremonial precedence over the other EU institutions.
Together with the Council of the European Union, it negotiates and adopts European Union legislation and has equal control over the EU budget. The European Commission, which serves as the executive branch of the EU, is accountable to the Parliament.
The European Parliament represents the second-largest democratic electorate in the world (after the Parliament of India) and the largest trans-national democratic electorate, globally. The Parliament comprises 705 members (MEPs or Member of European Parliament) and is directly elected by EU voters every 5 years. The voting age is 18 in all member-states except for Malta and Austria, where it is 16, and Greece, where it is 17.
The president of the Parliament functions as the speaker. The currently serving president of the European Parliament is David Sassoli, who was elected in July 2019 following the elections held in May 2019.
The European Parliament is headquartered in Strasbourg, France, where plenary meetings are held, and has its administrative offices in Luxembourg City. The Parliament’s committee meetings are held primarily in Brussels, Belgium.
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