European Parliament

The European Parliament is one of the three major institutions of the European Union (the Council of the European Union, the European Commission and the European Parliament). As the legislative, supervisory and advisory body of the European Union, its status, role and decision-making power are gradually expanding.

A brief history of the European Parliament

The predecessor of the European Parliament is1952The General Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community, established in 1998, was then composed of France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.sixMember Statesseventy-eightMembers of parliament.

1958In, the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community were established, and the three communities had a parliament, which was called the "European Congress (the European Assembly) ",the membership has increased to142First name.1962Renamed "European Parliament (the European Parliament) ",officially replaced the" European Congress ".

1986In, the European Community expanded totwelveChina (Britain, Ireland, Denmark, Greece, Spain and Portugal successively joined), and the number of members of the European Parliament increased.518First name.

After the reunification of Germany,1992At the end of the year, the Edinburgh Summit of the European Community decided to increase the number of members of the European Parliament to567First name.1995yearoneAfter Austria, Finland and Sweden formally joined in August, members of the European Parliament reached626First name.

2004yearfivemoononesunPoland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia, Estonia, Cyprus, Malta.10China’s accession to the EU,sixThe European Parliament held a general election in June, and the number of members increased to732People.

2007yearonemoononesunRomania and Bulgaria joined the EU, and EU members reached.27China, the number of parliamentarians has increased.53People, the total number of existing members of the European Parliament reached.785First name.

According to the proportion of the population, the current European Parliament785The distribution of seats by country is as follows: Germany99Seats, Franceseventy-eightSeats, UKseventy-eightSeats, Italyseventy-eightSeats, Spain54Seats, Poland54Seats, Romania28Seats, Netherlands27Seats, Belgium24Seats, Greece24Seats, Portugal24Seats, Czech Republic24Seats, Hungary24Seats, Sweden19Seats, Austria18Seats, Bulgaria15Seats, Finland14Seats, Denmark14Seats, Slovakia14Seats, Ireland13Seats, Lithuania13Seats, LatvianineSeats, SloveniasevenSeats, LuxembourgsixSeats, EstoniasixMat, Sepu road periodsixSeats, MaltafiveSeats.

Second, the European Parliament Election System

(1) General situation of the election

from1958Year’s arrival1979In, members of the European Parliament were appointed by the parliaments of member countries.1976The Law on Direct Election of Members of the European Parliament was enacted in 2000, which stipulates that EU citizens have the right to vote and stand as candidates in the European Parliament elections, and enjoy the same treatment as citizens of the country in which they live in local elections. Members of the European Parliament should be directly elected in a free and secret vote. The law on1978yearsevenmoononesunTake effect. self1979yearsixSince June, EC member States have begun to produce members of the European Parliament by direct election.fiveHold an election in, the time is set atsixMonth. Term of office of each parliamentfiveYears. Because the unified election procedure stipulated in the treaty has not yet been completed, countries still elect European parliamentarians in accordance with their own domestic laws. until1993In, after consultation with the Council, the European Commission established the European Union.93/109Directive, the procedures for citizens to run for the European Parliament in other member States are specified in detail, so that citizens of non-native EU member States can participate in the European Parliament elections held by other member States. exist1994In the 2008 European Parliament election, an EU citizen successfully ran for European Parliament in other member countries.

The President, Vice-Presidents and Committee leaders of the European Parliament are re-elected every two and a half years and can be re-elected.

(B) election characteristics

In the European Parliament election, all member countries must follow some common principles, but each country still retains its own characteristics because of its different national conditions. Each member country decides the specific election methods such as constituency setting, voting right and election day according to its national conditions and habits. It can be said that the EU27There are many different election modes in the member countries. The main situation is as follows:

one.Proportional representation system (proportional representation）。 according to1997According to the Amsterdam Treaty signed in 1998, the member countries conduct the election of European parliamentarians on the basis of the "common principle", and all member countries must implement the "proportional representation system", that is, the seats obtained by a party are roughly proportional to the votes obtained. However, due to the different political situations in different countries, this electoral system has not been fully implemented. At present, except Britain (excluding Northern Ireland), all EU member states adopt proportional representation system, but there is no unified procedure.

2.Constituency division. Due to the different electoral traditions of member countries, the arrangements for constituencies in the European Parliament elections are also different.27GuozhongyoutwentyChina adopts the method of national single constituency. Belgium, Italy, Britain, France and Ireland divide the country into several constituencies; Germany and Poland adopt a mixed approach, that is, some European parliamentarians are elected by the whole country and the other by several constituencies. Generally speaking, the national constituency system can better reflect public opinion and is conducive to the competition of small parties, but it is also easy for some small parties with more radical political opinions to enter the parliament, so some countries set a "threshold" for political parties to obtain seats (threshold), such as France, Germany, Lithuania, etc5%; Austria and Sweden are4%; Greece is3%. The regional constituency system is more conducive to the competition of some big parties, and is considered to be closer to voters, which can fully reflect regional interests, but it is not good for small parties.

three."Party List Law" (party list）。 At present, most member countries adopt the "political party list method", that is, political parties get corresponding seats according to the votes they get and distribute these seats to candidates.

four."Single Transferable Voting Law" (single transferable vote）。? Voters do not vote for the party, which is a more complicated election model. First, we must calculate the "elected quotient" (Electoral Quota), that is, the minimum percentage of votes a candidate should get when he is elected. Usually, there are more than two candidates on each ballot, and voters choose their first choice and second choice candidates in turn on the ballot. After voting, the votes are counted according to the first choice on the ballot, and any candidate who gets more votes than the quotient of election is declared elected. If the remaining seats are not fully allocated, a second vote count is required. Ireland, Malta and Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom adopted this "single transferable voting method". This method pays more attention to the choice of voters and better reflects the support rate of candidates, but the calculation is complicated and it is not easy to popularize.

five.Candidate qualification. Countries have different qualifications for candidates, and the minimum age of candidates is from18Arrive at the age of35Different ages (such as Poland)35Years old). according to1993yeartwelveIn June, the Council of the European Union instructed that citizens of any EU member state can participate in the election of European parliamentarians on behalf of their motherland or country of residence. Historically, candidates from other member countries in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Belgium have been elected as European parliamentarians on behalf of their citizens. Britain even allows candidates from Commonwealth countries to represent their countries in the European Parliament.

six.Incompatibility (incompatibilities), which means that European parliamentarians cannot hold positions in other political organizations at the same time. According to the relevant regulations of the European Union, European parliamentarians cannot serve as members of the cabinet of EU member states, other EU institutions or the board of directors of the European Central Bank.2002At the meeting of the Council of the European Union in, it was decided that2004Since the election of the European Parliament in 2000, European parliamentarians are no longer allowed to serve as members of their own parliaments. At present, some member countries allow European parliamentarians to serve as local mayors at the same time, but some also limit the size of cities elected as mayors, that is, European parliamentarians cannot serve as mayors of larger cities.

(III) Allocation of seats in the European Parliament

According to the "principle of national representation", the seats of members of the European Parliament are generally determined according to the population of each country and allocated according to the proportion of the population. Theoretically, a seat should represent the same number of voters in each member country. But in fact, the number of voters represented by each member of the European Parliament is different. In order to ensure the representation of some small countries, they are inclined to allocate seats to them. Therefore, relatively speaking, small countries have an advantage in seat allocation. For example, in Germany, the most populous country, every820000A citizen is elected.oneEuropean parliamentarians, and in Luxembourg, every72000Citizens can be elected.oneEuropean parliamentarians (see chart)one）。 At present, among the member States, Germany holds the most seats.99Seats, the least for Malta.fiveSeats.

Two years after joining the EU, the new member states will participate in the election of members of the European Parliament. Previously, they were represented in the European Parliament by representatives appointed by their national parliaments.

The following table is27The distribution of seats in the European Parliament among 20 EU member states.

Chart 1: Number of European Parliamentarians and Relative Population Ratio in Different Countries

? *Number of parliamentarians from Bulgaria and Romania2007yearoneFrom the beginning of the month

?

(IV) Composition of Members of the European Parliament

Some members of the European Parliament are well-known politicians in their own countries, including important figures of political parties. Their prestige may not be lower than that of their own members of parliament, but their status in their own political arena is not as high as that of their own members. Every session of the European Parliament will include some former parliamentarians, ministers, even former prime ministers or deputy prime ministers and former members of the European Commission. European parliamentarians are diverse, coming from education, law, business, finance, press, trade unions, science and technology, medicine and farmers.

(5)2009European parliament election

2009yearsixmoonfoursun,fiveThe annual European Parliament election kicked off. This election is the European Parliament.1979The seventh time since the first direct election was held in 2006. Britain and the Netherlands took the lead infourVote on the 20 th. Subsequently, Ireland, Czech Republic, Latvia, Slovakia, Malta and Cyprus were infiveRihesixVoting on the 20 th, the rest of the EU19Member States aresevenVote on the day. The final result of all the votes issevenAnnounced in a unified manner at night. EU27Member Statesthree.75Billions of voters elected the European Parliament.736Members (MEPs) and18I am an observer ("virtual MEPs”）。 This election is the largest transnational election in history.

The preliminary results of this parliamentary election under the shadow of the economic crisis show that the center-right People’s Party group is in total.736Won a seat264Seats, become the biggest winner; The left-wing socialist party group159The seat is second. The traditional pattern of the two party groups in the European Parliament has remained basically unchanged.43%The voter turnout rate hit a new low since the direct election of the European Parliament. The low voter turnout cast a shadow over "parliamentary democracy" in Europe. The low turnout rate has given some marginal small parties of the extreme right an opportunity. For example, the Swedish Piracy Party, which aims at anti-copyright, anti-patent, love of piracy and love of life, won two seats; The British National Party, known as the "Evil Party", won two seats for the first time; The vote ratio of the Italian Northern AlliancefiveIt doubled years ago and gainedeightSeats; The seats won by far-right parties in Hungary, the Netherlands, Denmark and other countries have also reached.threeA,fourGehe2A.

III. Functions and powers of the European Parliament

With the revision of relevant EU treaties, the powers of the European Parliament have been gradually expanded, which now mainly include the following aspects:

one.Participate in legislative power. The EC legislative procedure stipulated in the Treaty of Rome is: the Committee makes recommendations,The Council makes a decision after consulting the European Parliament.1986The Single European Document signed in 2000 strengthened the influence of the European Parliament on EC legislation. The Treaty on European Union stipulates that the European Parliament and the Council have "joint decision-making power" in the fields of big market, scientific research, pan-European transportation network, consumer protection, education, culture and health; Have the right to examine and approve the EU’s acceptance of new member States and the signing of international agreements with third countries; Have the right to consult on the prices of agricultural products. At present, the joint decision-making power of the European Parliament is constantly expanding, mainly involving social, economic, cultural, employment, customs, environmental protection, health, marine affairs and other fields. Two-thirds of EU laws and regulations are jointly formulated by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.

2.Partial budget decision-making power. EEC expenditure falls into two categories: 1.It is compulsory expenditure, including the expenditure on the common agricultural policy, which accounts for nearly half of the total budget, and the expenditure on the implementation of international agreements, etc., and the decision on such expenditure belongs to the Council; Second, non-mandatory expenditures, including structural funds, scientific research, environment, energy, industrial policies and development assistance to third countries, etc., are jointly decided by the European Parliament.

three.Supervision right. According to the Treaty on European Union, the new President of the European Commission and his members will be questioned by the European Parliament before taking office. The European Commission must report its work to the European Parliament every year and be considered by the European Parliament. The Treaty of Amsterdam further stipulates that the appointment of the President of the European Commission and its members must be approved by the European Parliament. The European Parliament influences the decision-making of the Council and the Committee by exercising the "joint decision-making power". The presidency mustThe European Parliament regularly reports its work plan and work summary. The European Parliament may question the Committee and the Council orally or in writing, and may set up an investigation committee. The European Parliament can impeach the Committee by a two-thirds majority (more than half of the quorum is required) and force it to resign collectively.

four.Accept complaints and redress wrongs. The Treaty on European Union gives the European Parliament formal power to redress grievances. Any citizen of the European Union can complain to the European Parliament about any matter for which the European Union is responsible. After the European Parliament takes over the case, it will appoint a prosecutor to listen to the complaints of the citizen or the residents of the member state. These complaints include accusing the EU institutions of improper administrative activities, but excluding the judicial activities of the European Court of Justice and the court of first instance. Prosecutors have an independent status, and only the European Court of Justice has the power to solve them.Except for his position. The prosecutor conducted the investigation on the basis of the complaint transmitted by the European Parliament. The European Parliament may, at the request of a quarter of its members, set up a commission of inquiry to investigate the violations of EU laws discovered by prosecutors.

five.Exert various other political influences.

IV. Organizational structure of the European Parliament

(1) Leading bodies

The European Parliament has a Speaker.onePeople, deputy speaker14Person, pursersixPeople, the Speaker of the Executive Board (Bureau of the European Parliametn), elected by members of parliament, is responsible for leading the daily administrative work of parliament and its institutions.

Besides directing the general activities of the parliament, the functions and powers of the Speaker mainly include: (onePreside over the plenary session of the parliament: presiding over the opening and closing of the plenary session, determining whether the number of people present meets the legal requirements, ensuring that the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament are observed during the session, determining the order of speakers, concluding parliamentary debates, putting some matters to the meeting for voting, announcing the voting results, maintaining the order of the meeting, and signing the minutes of the meeting. (2) Representing the Parliament to the outside world: for example, representing the Parliament on some ceremonial occasions, representing the Parliament when the European Parliament interacts with the governments or parliaments of certain countries and certain international institutions, and representing the Parliament when the European Parliament deals with other institutions of the European Community on administrative, legal and financial matters. (three) In the establishment of the EC fiscal year budget, when the budget procedure is completed, the speaker of parliament must sign the budget and announce the adoption of the budget.

The deputy speaker comes from various party groups. The European people’s and democratic party groups arefourA deputy speaker, the European socialist party group hasfiveA deputy speaker, the European liberal and democratic party group are2A deputy speaker, the national European Union party group areoneA deputy speaker, the Green Party and the European Free Union party group areoneA deputy speaker, the European Left Alliance and the Nordic Left Green Party Group areoneDeputy speaker.

In addition to presiding over the plenary session of the parliament instead of the speaker or attending relevant meetings jointly held by the European Parliament and other institutions of the European Community instead of the speaker, the deputy speaker’s main responsibility is to participate in and expand the work of the Executive Board of the Parliament.

Clerk (QuaestorsElected by the plenary session among members of parliament, it is responsible for the administrative and financial affairs of members of parliament, and has only advisory power at the meeting of the Executive Board.

Members of the Executive Board and chairmen of parliamentary party groups form the Expanded Executive Board of Parliament (The enlarged Bureau）。 This organizational form is1972It was formally determined in the "procedural regulations" of the parliament in 1996. Members without party affiliation can be sent.2Representatives attended the meeting of the Expanded Executive Board without voting rights. According to the expanded Executive Board1984yearninemoon11sunA decision, if a member of parliament is not elected as deputy speaker, can be sent.oneRepresentatives attended the meeting of the extended Executive Board as observers.1994In, the European Parliament adopted the new European Parliament Procedure Regulations, which changed the enlarged executive board to the "Conference of Speakers", that is, the joint meeting of party and group chairmen (Conference of Presidents), responsible for coordinating the political decisions of the parliament and determining the agenda of the plenary session.

The responsibilities of the executive board and the expanded executive board are specified in the "procedural regulations" of the parliament. The duties of the Executive Board are mainly to make decisions on parliamentary finance, members’ expenses and allowances, the number of parliamentary staff, the organizational structure of the secretariat, and the appointment of senior and middle-level officials in parliament.

The duties of the Expanded Executive Board are mainly to deal with relations with other EC institutions and non-EC institutions and organizations, to deal with organizational matters related to the plenary session of the Parliament (such as the drafting of the draft agenda and the arrangement of oral questions of the Parliament), and to formulate the annual legislative plan of the Parliament.

The European Parliament has a "secretary group" (College of Quaestors), yes1977Established in 1993 by a decision of the enlarged Executive Board.1979Years ago, the secretary group was a branch of the executive board, and its members were not only the speaker,threeA treasurer is appointed by the executive board.1979After the direct election of the European Parliament in, the secretary group was separated from the executive board and became a separate institution, and the number of secretary officers increased tosixPeople, and elected by the parliament. In principle, the Speaker of the European Parliament serves as the chairman of the secretary group, but in fact, it is presided over by a secretary, and the presiding officer usually rotates every four months.

The responsibility of the secretary group is mainly responsible for dealing with the financial and internal management work related to members and their office conditions, such as members’ transportation expenses, allowances for members’ assistants, members’ social security affairs, and arrangements for members’ office facilities and related services.

(II) Committee of the European Parliament

There are two types of committees in the European Parliament: the first is the standing special committee (Standing Committees）。 Some permanent special committees also have subcommittees (Subcommittees）。 For example, the Foreign Affairs Committee includes the Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Subcommittee on Security and Defense. The work of these subcommittees generally involves some long-term problem areas. The second category is the committee specially set up to investigate or study some special issues, including the investigation committee (Committees of Inquiry) and the Interim Committee (Temporary Committees) two kinds. Such committees are not permanent and will be dissolved upon completion of their tasks. According to the European Parliament Procedure Regulation, the establishment period of the commission of inquiry shall not exceed.nineNext month, the temporary committee shall not exceed the time limit unless the Parliament decides to extend the time limit.twelveLast month.

one.Common to the European ParliamenttwentyA standing special committee. All parliamentarians participate in the work of one or more committees. There are mainly three special committees involved in foreign relations: First, the Foreign Affairs Committee (hereinafter referred to as the "Foreign Affairs Committee"). There are two sub-committees on human rights and security and defense; The second is the Development Committee. The third is the International Trade Commission. There are also Budget Committee, Budget Supervision Committee, Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, Employment and Social Affairs Committee, Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee, Industry, Research and Energy Committee, Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, Transportation and Tourism Committee, Regional Development Committee, Agriculture and Rural Development Committee, Fisheries Committee, Culture and Education Committee, Judicial Affairs Committee, Civil Liberties, Justice and Internal Affairs Committee, Constitutional Affairs Committee, Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee.petitions) Committee.

The main functions of committees and subcommittees are to review draft legislation and prepare draft resolutions on related issues. The chairman of the Committee will select the rapporteur from the members or alternate members of the whole Committee (Rapporteur), responsible for compiling the report. Committee meetings often invite members of the European Commission and other officials to attend and directly ask questions on relevant issues.

tableoneList of committees of the European Parliament

Committee name?????????????????????? abbreviate???

Foreign affairs Committee????????????????????? AFET????

Development Committee????????????????????? DEVE????

International Trade Commission????????????????? INTA????

budget committee????????????????????? BUDG????

Budget supervision Committee????????????????? CONT????

Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs??????????? ECON????

Committee on Employment and Social Affairs??????????? EMPL????

Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety? ENVI????

Committee on Industry, Research and Energy????????? ITRE????

Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee????? IMCO????

Committee on Transport and Tourism??????????????? TRAN????

District development Committee????????????????? REGI????

Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development??????????? AGRI????

Fishery Committee????????????????????? PECH????

Committee on Culture and Education??????????????? CULT

Judicial affairs Committee????????????????? JURI????

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Internal Affairs? LIBE????

Committee on Constitutional Affairs ?????????????????AFCO????

Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality??????? FEMM????

Petition Committee????????????????????? PETI????

Subcommittee on Human Rights????????????????????? DROI????

Subcommittee on Security and Defence??????????????? SEDE????

2.The European Parliament may, as appropriate, set up a special investigation committee to investigate incidents and problems that violate EU laws, and may also set up an interim committee at any time.2007yearfourmoon25sunMembers voted to set up an interim committee on climate change. The Committee has one year to make recommendations on the EU’s future climate change policy, coordinate the position of the European Parliament in this field, evaluate the latest signs of climate change and estimate the funds needed for action.

three.Members of parliament are assigned to the standing committees on the basis of the nomination proposal of the parliamentary executive board. Generally speaking, the distribution plan takes into account the country and political inclination of members to ensure a more balanced representation. Therefore, the parliamentary party groups will hold consultations on how to allocate it. In addition, it will also be for members.Expertise and willingness to give consideration. According to the distribution scheme, each member becomes a member of a certain committee (some members also hold several positions), and each member can also serve as an alternate member of another committee (Substitute Member), when a member of the Committee is unable to attend the meeting for some reason, he can be replaced by a substitute member of the same party group. Every member of parliament can attend the meetings of various committees as an observer. According to the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament, this distribution will be made twice, the first time during the first plenary session of each parliament and the second time after two and a half years.

Each special Committee hasoneChairman andthreeVice-chairmen and alternate members. The allocation of seats in the Committee depends on the political influence of the party group. Generally, the chairman of the Standing Special Committee is decided after consultation among the party groups, and the chairman rotates according to the different situations of country and political views. The European people’s and democratic party groups areeightA special committee chairman position, the European socialist party group aresevenChairman of a special committee, the European Union for Freedom and Democracy Party hasthreeThe chairman of the special Committee has two positions, namely, the National European Union Party Group and the Left Alliance Party Group.oneChairman of a special committee.

V. Meeting system of the European Parliament

1992yeartwelveThe Edinburgh summit in June decided that the European Parliament would hold an annual meeting.twelveThe plenary meeting continued in Strasbourg,twelveThe second plenary session of the European Parliament was held in Brussels. The plenary session of the European Parliament is generally held.fourDay, every month in the parliament hall in Strasbourg,eightSeptember is the recess period. At the same time, two half-day small plenary sessions are held in Brussels every month.

The party group parliament is held in Brussels. Under normal circumstances, there is a week for the party group meeting every month. Party and group meetings are not open to the public. Each party group took advantage of this session to hold consultations on the topics to be discussed at the plenary session of the European Parliament and determine its position.

The joint meeting of the executive board and the chairmen of the leading party groups meets regularly twice a month, and the meeting is presided over by the speaker. The meeting made a decision by voting. A decision needs to be approved by the majority, and if there is an equal number of people in favor and against it, the speaker will cast a crucial vote.

The meetings of the special committees are held in Brussels. Generally speaking, there is one week in each month for the duration of the committees. Committee meetings are open to the public. During this session, each committee will consider the report to be submitted to the plenary session of the European Parliament for discussion and put forward suggestions for revision or draft resolutions.

VI. Legislative Procedures of the European Parliament

The EU operates in a unique way. The countries that make up the European Union (EU "Member States") are independent sovereign countries, but they concentrate on exercising sovereignty to gain collective power and influence that a single country does not have. Unlike the United States, the European Union is not a federal system, nor is it an organization responsible for coordination between governments like the United Nations. In the past50During the years, its political system constantly evolved. The EU is based on a series of treaties-fromtwentycentury50The Paris Treaty and the Rome Treaty in the 1980 s went to the more recent treaties of Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice. These treaties constitute the so-called "first-level law". According to these treaties, EU member states entrust part of their national sovereignty to EU institutions, and hand over some of their decision-making power to EU institutions to exercise sovereignty centrally, so that decisions on specific issues of common interest can be made in a democratic way at the European level.

The three main decision-making bodies at the EU level are the European Parliament, the EU Council of Ministers and the Council of Europe. The European Parliament represents citizens of the European Union, and its members are directly elected by citizens; The Council of Ministers of the European Union represents member States; Council of Europe represents the overall interests of the EU. Generally speaking, Council of Europe proposed new EU law bills, which were passed by the Parliament and the Council. Other agencies also play a role in specific areas. The Committee and member States are responsible for the implementation of the bill.

(1) The European Parliament adopts three different legislative procedures (except simple consultation), namely "consultation procedure", "voting consent" and "joint decision", and shares legislative power with the European Council.

One is1986The "consultation procedure" introduced by the Single European Law in. The European Commission initiated a bill, and the opinions of the European Parliament and, in most cases, european economic and social committee were needed. According to the consultation procedure, the European Parliament can: approve the motion of the European Commission or reject it; Or ask for revision. If the Parliament requests an amendment, the European Commission can amend its bill according to these opinions, and then the Council of the European Union will examine the bill, and the result may be direct approval without any amendment or approval after modification. If the European Council fails to reach an agreement, the bill will not be passed. The consultation procedure is applicable to agriculture, tax rate, competition and other fields.

The second is1986The "voting consent procedure" introduced by the Single European Law in. According to this procedure, Parliament must vote to decide whether to adopt any proposals such as international agreements negotiated in Council of Europe, EU enlargement, and other proposals including amending election rules. The voting consent procedure means that the Council of Ministers of the European Union must obtain the consensus of the European Parliament before it can make some very important decisions. This procedure is the same as the consultation procedure, except that the European Parliament cannot amend the proposal; It must accept it or reject it. Acceptance ("consensus") requires an absolute majority. Most of the votes are used in agreements with other countries, including agreements that allow new countries to join the European Union.

The third is1992The "Joint Decision Procedure" introduced by the Maastricht Treaty in. This is a procedure that allows the European Parliament to veto bills, which enhances the influence exerted by the European Parliament on the decision-making process of the EU Council of Ministers, and enables the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers to share legislative power. This procedure is now used in most EU laws. The procedure stipulates that if an absolute majority of members object to the "common position" of the Council, then the parliament will have the right to veto the legislative proposal. However, this issue can also be referred to the Coordinating Committee for resolution. In the process of joint decision, if the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament cannot reach an agreement on the submitted laws, new laws cannot be promulgated. This program provides each institution with two subsequent texts. If these texts are agreed, the law will be passed. If no agreement can be reached, it will be submitted to a "mediation committee". This committee is composed of the same number of representatives from the Council of Ministers of the European Union and the European Parliament. Once the mediation committee reached an agreement, the agreed text was again submitted to the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers of the European Union for their final adoption. Actually, mediation has become very rare. Most of the laws passed are actually reached on the basis of the first or second text by common decision. The joint decision-making procedure is applicable to such fields as free movement of personnel, internal market, education, scientific research, environment, pan-European network, health, culture and protection of consumers’ rights and interests. The Treaty of Amsterdam and the Treaty of Nice have been added respectively.23GehesevenThis can be applied to the field of "joint decision procedure", and the joint decision-making power of the European Parliament has changed from the original.15A field expanded toforty-fourA field; Including employment policy, social policy, customs, environmental protection, marine affairs and so on.2006yearsixIn May, the European Parliament reached an agreement with the Council and the European Commission on the reform of institutional procedures, that is, the European Parliament can suspend the implementation decisions taken by the European Commission, and at the same time, it is stipulated that the European Commission must inform the European Parliament of the decisions taken in various official languages. If the Lisbon Treaty is adopted and implemented, the scope of decision-making power enjoyed by the European Parliament will be expanded to70Item or so. By then, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union will enjoy equal rights on more than two-thirds of the bills.

(2) The main functions of parliamentary committees and subcommittees are to examine draft legislation and prepare draft resolutions on related issues. The chairman of the Committee will select the rapporteur from the members or alternate members of the whole Committee (Rapporteur), responsible for compiling the report.