View source for Member of the European Parliament

{{short description|Person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament}}
{{redirect|MEPs|other uses|MEP (disambiguation)|and|MEPS (disambiguation)}}
{{distinguish|Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe}}
{{for|a list of current MEPs|List of members of the European Parliament (2024–2029)}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Politics of the European Union mini|legislature}}

A '''Member of the European Parliament''' ('''MEP''') is a person who has been [[Election|elected]] to serve as a popular representative in the [[European Parliament]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Rule 1 in Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/omk/sipade3?L=EN&PROG=RULES-EP&OBJID=0&PUBREF=-//EP//TEXT+RULES-EP+20060703+RULE-001+DOC+XML+V0//EN&LEVEL=1&SAME_LEVEL=1&NAV=S&HNAV=Y |url-status=dead |publisher=Europarl.europa.eu |date=20 September 1976 |access-date=28 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210120010/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do;jsessionid=9C64885556B6DA4DDA66C40091124471.node2?navigationBar=YES&pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+RULES-EP+20060703+RULE-001+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=EN&objRefId=0 |archive-date=10 December 2019}}</ref>

When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the [[European Coal and Steel Community]]) first met in 1952, its members were directly appointed by the governments of member states from among those already sitting in their own national parliaments. Since 1979, however, MEPs have been elected by direct [[universal suffrage]] every five years. Each [[Member state of the European Union|member state]] establishes its own method for electing MEPs – and in some states this has changed over time – but the system chosen must be a form of [[proportional representation]]. Some member states elect their MEPs to represent a single national constituency; other states apportion seats to sub-national regions for election.

There may also be non-voting observers when a [[Enlargement of the European Union|new country is seeking membership of the European Union]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-09-14 |title=Observer MEPs must squeeze into overcrowded Parliament |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/observer-meps-must-squeeze-into-overcrowded-parliament/ |access-date=2022-08-28 |website=POLITICO |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Election ==
{{main|Elections to the European Parliament}}
From 1 January 2007, when [[Romania]] and [[Bulgaria]] joined the EU, there were 785 MEPs, but their number was reduced to 736 at the elections in 2009. With effect from the elections held in May 2014 the number had risen to 751. This has been reduced to 705 members after the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union in January 2020, with each member state now having at least six and at most 96 MEPs.<ref>{{cite web |title=The European Parliament: historical background {{!}} Fact Sheets on the European Union {{!}} European Parliament |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/11/the-european-parliament-historical-background |website=europarl.europa.eu |access-date=15 May 2019}}</ref> From the 2024 elections, there will be 720 members.

Elections are held once every five years, on the basis of [[universal suffrage]]. There is no uniform [[voting system]] for the election of MEPs; rather, each member state is free to choose its own system, subject to three restrictions:
* The system must be a form of [[proportional representation]], under either the [[party-list proportional representation|party list]] or [[Single Transferable Vote]] system.
* The electoral area may be subdivided if this will not generally affect the proportional nature of the voting system.
* Any [[election threshold]] on the national level must not exceed five percent.

The allocation of seats to each member state is based on the principle of [[degressive proportionality]], so that, while the size of the population of each nation is taken into account, smaller states elect more MEPs than would be strictly justified by their populations alone. As the number of MEPs granted to each member state has arisen from treaty negotiations, there is no precise formula for the apportionment of seats. No change in this configuration can occur without the unanimous consent of all national governments.

=== Length of service ===
[[European Parliament|The European Parliament]] has a high turnover of members compared to some national parliaments. After every recent election, just over half of elected members had not been members in the previous parliament. [[Elmar Brok]] served the longest continuous term from the first elections in 1979 until 2019 (40 years).<ref>{{cite news |last=Mischke |first=Judith |title=Veteran MEP Elmar Brok says he won't stand in European Parliament election |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/german-mep-elmar-brok-not-running-in-european-parliament-election/ |work=Politico |date=21 January 2019 |access-date=28 May 2024}}</ref>

== MEPs within the Parliament ==
[[File:European Parliament2024.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[List of members of the European Parliament (2024–2029)|Members]] of the [[10th European Parliament]]:{{ubl|
{{legend2|{{party color|European People's Party}}|[[European People's Party group|EPP]] ({{MEPcount|EPP}})}}|
{{legend2|{{party color|Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats}}|[[Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats|S&D]] ({{MEPcount|SD}})}}|
{{legend2|{{party color|Patriots for Europe}}|[[Patriots for Europe|PfE]] ({{MEPcount|PFE}})}}|
{{legend2|{{party color|European Conservatives and Reformists}}|[[European Conservatives and Reformists Group|ECR]] (80)}}|
{{legend2|{{party color|Renew Europe}}|[[Renew Europe|Renew]] ({{MEPcount|RE}})}}|
{{legend2|{{party color|European Greens–European Free Alliance}}|[[Greens–European Free Alliance|Greens/EFA]] ({{MEPcount|GEFA}})}}|
{{legend2|{{party color|European United Left–Nordic Green Left}}|[[The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL|The Left]] ({{MEPcount|TLEP}})}}|
{{legend2|{{party color|Europe of Sovereign Nations}}|[[Europe of Sovereign Nations Group|ESN]] (26)}}|
{{legend2|{{party color|Non-Inscrits}}|[[Non-Inscrits]] (29)}}}}
]]
{{See also|Political groups of the European Parliament}}

MEPs organise themselves into cross-national [[Political groups of the European Parliament|political groups]], except for a few non-attached members known as ''[[Non-Inscrits]]'' who choose not to join a Group (or no Group wants them). The two largest groups are the [[European People's Party Group]] (EPP Group) and the [[Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats|Socialists & Democrats]] (S&D). These two groups have dominated the [[Parliament]] for much of its life, continuously holding between 40 and 70 percent of the seats together. No single group has ever held a majority in Parliament.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|title=The European Parliament and Supranational Party System |last=Kreppel |first=Amie |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2002 |url=http://193.60.94.203/97805218/06251/sample/9780521806251ws.pdf |access-date=12 June 2007}}{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> As a result of being broad alliances of national parties, European groups parties are decentralised and hence have more in common with parties in federal states like Germany or the United States than unitary states like the majority of the EU states.<ref name="Kreppel">{{cite web|title=Understanding the European Parliament from a Federalist Perspective: The Legislatures of the USA and EU Compared |first=Amie |last=Kreppel |publisher=Center for European Studies, [[University of Florida]] |year=2006 |url=http://web.clas.ufl.edu/users/kreppel/COMFEDFINAL.pdf |access-date=26 September 2008}}</ref> Although, the European groups, between 2004 and 2009, were actually more cohesive than their US counterparts.<ref>{{cite web|title="What to expect in the 2009–14 European Parliament": Analysis from a leading EU expert |publisher=European Parliament website |year=2009 |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/story_page/008-60547-292-10-43-901-20090911STO60546-2009-19-10-2009/default_en.htm |access-date=17 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210105843/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/story_page/008-60547-292-10-43-901-20090911STO60546-2009-19-10-2009/default_en.htm |archive-date=10 February 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Cohesion rates |publisher=Vote Watch |year=2010 |url=http://www.votewatch.eu/cx_european_party_groups.php |access-date=17 February 2010}}</ref>

Aside from working through their groups, individual members are also guaranteed a number of individual powers and rights within the Parliament:
* the right to vote on all legislative proposals, the EU budget and all other items placed before the Parliament.
* the right to table a motion for resolution
* the right to put questions to the [[Council of the European Union]], the [[European Commission|Commission]], and to the leaders of the Parliament
* the right to table an amendment to any text in committee or (jointly with others) in plenary
* the right to make explanations of vote
* the right to raise points of order
* the right to move the inadmissibility of a matter

== Job of an MEP ==
Every month except August the Parliament meets in [[Strasbourg]] for a four-day plenary session. For the rest of the time, it is based in Brussels, where some six supplementary plenary sessions are held for two days each,<ref>[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/plenary/staticDisplay.do?language=EN&id=2100&pageRank=3 European Parliament – Work in Session] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921045621/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/plenary/staticDisplay.do?language=EN&id=2100&pageRank=3 |date=21 September 2011 }} Retrieved 20 May 2010</ref> and where the Parliament's committees, political groups, and other organs also mainly meet.<ref>Indeed, Brussels is de facto the main base of the Parliament, as well as of the Commission (the EU's  executive) and the Council (the other legislative chamber). [http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/introduction/home.do?language=EN European Parliament in brief.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111125082214/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/introduction/home.do?language=en |date=25 November 2011 }} Retrieved 20 May 2010.</ref> The obligation to spend one week a month in Strasbourg was imposed on Parliament by the member state governments at the 1992 [[European Council]] meeting in Edinburgh.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=LEGISSUM:a21000|title=The European Parliament § Future organisation of the European Parliament|website=EUR-Lex|quote=A Protocol on the seats of the institutions will be annexed to the various Treaties, confirming the agreement reached at the Edinburgh European Council (December 1992) chaired by [[John Major]] and stating that the European Parliament is to have its seat "in Strasbourg where the twelve periods of monthly plenary sessions, including the budget session, shall be held". Any additional plenary sessions are to be held in Brussels, as are the meetings of the various Parliamentary committees. 'The General Secretariat of the European Parliament and its departments shall remain in Luxembourg.'}}</ref>

== Payment and privileges ==
The total cost of the European Parliament is approximately €2.247 billion per year according to its 2023 budget, with the cost of translation and interpretation, and the cost of its buildings in two main locations, being significant extra burdens not faced by national parliaments.<ref>{{cite web |title=Executive Summary 2024 Estimates – European Parliament |url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/budget/data/DB/2024/en/SEC01.pdf |access-date=31 July 2023}}</ref>

=== Salary ===
Until 2009, MEPs were paid (by their own Member State) exactly the same salary as a member of the lower House of their own national parliament. As a result, there was a wide range of salaries in the European Parliament. In 2002, Italian MEPs earned €130,000, while Spanish MEPs earned less than a quarter of that at €32,000.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3430517.stm|title=Germany blocks MEP pay rises | work=BBC News | date=26 January 2004 | access-date=5 January 2010 | first1=Oana | last1=Lungescu | first2=Laszlo | last2=Matzko}}</ref>

However, in July 2005, the Council agreed to a single statute for all MEPs, following a proposal by the Parliament. Thus, since the 2009 elections, all MEPs receive a monthly pre-tax salary set at 38.5 percent of that of a [[judge]] at the [[European Court of Justice]].<ref>''[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+IM-PRESS+20090626STO57497+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=EN Fresh start with new Members' Statute: The salary – a judgmental question]''. European Parliament Press Release. 7 January 2009.</ref> As of July 1, 2019, the monthly salary is of {{€|{{formatnum:8932.86}}}}, or just over {{€|{{formatnum:107000}}}} per year.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=About {{!}} MEPs {{!}} European Parliament|url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/about|access-date=2020-10-10|website=www.europarl.europa.eu|language=en}}</ref> MEPs also receive a general expenditure allowance of {{€|{{formatnum:4563}}}} per month.<ref name=":0" />

The single statute represented a pay cut for MEPs from some member states (e.g. Italy, Germany and Austria), a rise for others (particularly the low-paid eastern European members) and status quo for those from the United Kingdom, until January 2020 (depending on the euro-pound exchange rate). The much-criticised expenses arrangements were also partially reformed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/file.jsp?id=5254742|title=EP adopts a single statute for MEPs.}}</ref>

=== Financial interests ===
Members declare their financial interests in order to prevent any conflicts of interest. These declarations are published in a register and are available on the Internet.<ref>{{cite web|title=EU Parliament Users' Guide Code of Conduct for Members|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/pdf/meps/CoC_Users_Guide_draft4web_EN_rev.pdf|publisher=European Parliament|access-date=6 March 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221115415/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/pdf/meps/CoC_Users_Guide_draft4web_EN_rev.pdf|archive-date=21 December 2016}}</ref> They must also make a detailed declaration of private interests, listing their memberships of company boards, associations, and public bodies (including those held during the three years prior to their election). They must also publish on-line all meetings that they have had with lobbyists and representatives of third country governments. They may not accept gifts, other than courtesy gifts valued at less than €150. They must declare all sources of outside income if their total outside income exceeds €5000.

=== Immunities ===
Under the protocol on the privileges and immunities of the [[European Union]], MEPs in their home state receive the same immunities as their own national parliamentarians. In other member states, MEPs are immune from detention and from legal proceedings, except when caught in the act of committing an offense. This immunity may be waived by application to the European Parliament by the authorities of the member state in question.

== Individual members ==

=== Members' experience ===
Around a third of MEPs have previously held national parliamentary mandates, and over 10 percent have ministerial experience at a national level. There are usually a number of former prime ministers and former members of the [[European Commission]]. Many other MEPs have held office at a regional or local level in their home states.

Current MEPs also include former judges, trade union leaders, media personalities, actors, soldiers, singers, athletes, and political activists.

Many outgoing MEPs move into other political office. Several presidents, prime ministers or deputy prime ministers of member states are former MEPs, including former Presidents of France [[Nicolas Sarkozy]], [[François Hollande]], [[Jacques Chirac]] and [[François Mitterrand]], the former Deputy PM of the United Kingdom [[Nick Clegg]], Danish former Prime Minister [[Helle Thorning-Schmidt]], and Belgian former PM [[Elio Di Rupo]].

=== Dual mandates ===
{{Main|Dual mandate}}

A dual mandate, in which an individual is a member of both their national parliament and the [[European Parliament]], was officially discouraged by a growing number of political parties and member states, and is prohibited as of 2009. In the 2004–2009 Parliament, a small number of members still held a dual mandate. [[Ian Paisley]] and [[John Hume]] once held triple mandates as MEP, [[Member of Parliament]] in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]], and [[Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly]] simultaneously.

=== Gender ===
{{Image frame 
 | caption= Evolution of the proportion of women and men in the European Parliament<ref name=edjnet /><ref name=edjnet2 />
 | content = 
{{Chart|definition=Proportion of women in the European Parliament.chart|data=Proportion of women in the European Parliament.tab|Width=450}}
}}
Women are generally under-represented in politics and public life in the EU, as well as in national parliaments, governments and local assemblies.<ref name=edjnet>{{cite news |last1=Raibagi |first1=Kashyap |title=In parliaments across Europe women face alarming levels of sexism, harassment and violence |url=https://www.europeandatajournalism.eu/index.php/eng/News/Data-news/In-parliaments-across-Europe-women-face-alarming-levels-of-sexism-harassment-and-violence |access-date=3 June 2019 |work=VoxEurop/EDJNet |date=22 May 2019}}</ref> The percentage of women in the EU parliament has increased from 15.2 percent after the [[1979 European Parliament election|first European Parliament election in 1979]] to 41 percent after [[2019 European Parliament election]]. To reach gender parity, women should hold 50 percent of seats and positions of power. However, according to the goal set by the [[European Institute for Gender Equality]], a ratio between 40 and 60 percent is considered acceptable.<ref name=Pavone>{{cite news |last1=Pavone |first1=Gina |title=How gender balanced will the next European Parliament be? |url=https://www.europeandatajournalism.eu/eng/News/Data-news/How-gender-balanced-will-the-next-European-Parliament-be |access-date=10 June 2019 |work=OBC Transeuropa/EDJNet |date=26 March 2019}}</ref>

After the [[2014 European Parliament election]] 11 countries of 28 reached this goal in their own quota of elected candidates. While in nine EU countries there were mechanisms in place to facilitate female representation, only in four of these countries did women exceeded 40 percent of elected candidates. On the other hand, in eight countries this goal was reached despite the absence of such systems.<ref name=Pavone /> The [[European Parliament Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality|FEMM Committee]] requested a study exploring the results of the election in terms of gender balance.<ref>{{cite book |title=Analysis of political parties' and independent candidates' policies for gender balance in the European Parliament after the elections of 2014 |year=2015 |url=https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/574af67d-6d06-11e5-9317-01aa75ed71a1/language-en |publisher=Publications Office of the EU |isbn=9789282378700 |access-date=7 June 2019}}</ref> EU institutions have focused on how to achieve a better gender balance (at least 40 percent) or gender parity (50 percent) in the next Parliament, and for other high-level posts in other institutions.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Shreeves |first1=Rosamund |last2=Prpic |first2=Martina |last3=Claros |first3=Eulalia |title=Women in politics in the EU |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2019/635548/EPRS_BRI(2019)635548_EN.pdf |publisher=European Parliament |access-date=3 June 2019}}</ref>

In the 2019 elections 308 female MEPs were elected (41 percent). Sweden elected the highest percentage of female MEPs: 55 percent. Overall, thirteen countries elected 45 to 55 percent female MEPs, with seven countries reaching exactly 50 percent. On the other hand, [[Cyprus]] has elected zero women, and [[Slovakia]] elected only 15 percent. Other Eastern European countries, namely [[Romania]], [[Greece]], [[Lithuania]] and [[Bulgaria]], all elected fewer than 30 percent female MEPs. Eight member states elected a lower number of women in 2019 than in 2014. [[Malta]], Cyprus and [[Estonia]] lost the most female representation in the EU parliament, dropping by 17 percentage points, while Slovakia dropped by 16. However, despite the drop, Malta still elected 50 percent women in 2019. Cyprus dropped from 17 percent in 2014 to zero women this year, while Estonia dropped from 50 to 33 percent. [[Hungary]], Lithuania and [[Luxembourg]] made the greatest gains (19, 18 and 17 percentage points respectively) when we compare 2019 with 2014, followed by [[Slovenia]] and [[Latvia]], both increasing their percentage of women MEPs by 13 points. Luxembourg, Slovenia and Latvia all elected 50 percent female MEPs.<ref name=edjnet2>{{cite news |last1=Raibagi |first1=Kashyap |title=EU closes in on target for gender parity in the European Parliament |url=https://www.europeandatajournalism.eu/eng/News/Data-news/EU-closes-in-on-target-for-gender-parity-in-the-European-Parliament |access-date=11 July 2019 |work=VoxEurop/EDJNet |date=10 July 2019}}</ref>

=== Age ===
{{As of|2019}}, the youngest MEP is [[Kira Marie Peter-Hansen]] of Denmark, who was 21 at the start of the July 2019 session, and is also the youngest person ever elected to the European Parliament.<ref name=Observer2019>{{cite news |title=40% of MEPs in EU Parliament are female, new figures show |url=https://euobserver.com/tickers/145336 |work=[[EUObserver]] |date=2 July 2019 |access-date=15 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Meet the European Parliament's youngest ever MEP |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-48840665 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=2 July 2019 |access-date=15 August 2019}}</ref> The oldest MEP to date has been [[Manolis Glezos]], who was aged 91 when elected (for the second time) in 2014, and 92 at his final resignation in 2015.

== Election of non-nationals ==
European citizens are eligible for election in the member state where they reside (subject to the residence requirements of that state); they do not have to be a national of that state. The following citizens have been elected in a state other than their native country;<ref>1984 to 2004 from: Corbett, R. ''et al'' (2007) ''The European Parliament'' (7th ed) London, John Harper Publishing. p.21</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Name
! Year {{small|(first<br />election)}}
! Nationality
! State of<br />election
! Party
|-
| [[Christine Crawley]]
| [[1984 European Parliament election|1984]]
| Irish
| UK
| Socialist
|-
| [[Anita Pollack]]
| [[1989 European Parliament election|1989]]
| Australian<ref>In addition, Australian and other Commonwealth citizens residing in the United Kingdom, up until [[Brexit]], were eligible to vote and stand for election there.</ref>
| UK
| [[Party of European Socialists|Socialist]]
|-
| [[Maurice Duverger]]
| [[1989 European Parliament election|1989]]
| French
| Italy
| [[European United Left (1989–1993)|GUE]]
|-
| [[Wilmya Zimmermann]]
| [[1994 European Parliament election|1994]]
| Dutch
| Germany
| Socialist
|-
| [[Olivier Dupuis]]
| [[1994 European Parliament election|1994]]
| [[Belgium|Belgian]]
| Italy
| Radical
|-
| [[Daniel Cohn-Bendit]]
| [[1999 European Parliament election|1999]]
| German
| France
| [[European Green Party|Green]]
|-
| [[Monica Frassoni]]
| [[1999 European Parliament election|1999]]
| Italian
| Belgium
| Green
|-
| [[Miquel Mayol i Raynal]]
| 2001
| French
| Spain
| [[European Green Party|Green]]
|-
| [[Bairbre de Brún]]
| [[2004 European Parliament election|2004]]
| Irish
| UK
| The Left
|-
| [[Willem Schuth]]
| [[2004 European Parliament election|2004]]
| Dutch
| Germany
| Liberal
|-
| [[Daniel Strož]]
| [[2004 European Parliament election|2004]]
| German
| [[Czech Republic]]
| GUE
|-
| [[Ari Vatanen]]
| [[2004 European Parliament election|2004]]
| Finnish
| France
| [[European People's Party|EPP]]
|-
| [[Derk Jan Eppink]]
| [[2009 European Parliament election|2009]]
| Dutch
| Belgium
| [[European Conservatives and Reformists Group|ECR]]
|-
| [[Marta Andreasen]]
| [[2009 European Parliament election|2009]]
| Spanish
| UK
| [[Europe of Freedom and Democracy|EFD]]
|-
| [[Anna Maria Corazza Bildt]]
| [[2009 European Parliament election|2009]]
| Italian
| Sweden
| [[European People's Party|EPP]]
|-
| [[Konstantina Kouneva]]
| [[2014 European Parliament election|2014]]
| Bulgarian
| Greece
| The Left
|-
| [[Henrik Overgaard-Nielsen]]
| [[2019 European Parliament election|2019]]
| Danish
| UK
| [[Non-inscrits|NI]]
|-
| [[Sandro Gozi]]
| [[2019 European Parliament election|2019]]
| Italian
| [[France]]
| [[Renew Europe|Renew]]
|-
| [[Caroline Roose]]
| [[2019 European Parliament election|2019]]
| Belgian
| France
| [[European Green Party|Green]]
|-
| [[Christian Allard]]
| [[2019 European Parliament election|2019]]
| French
| UK
| [[European Free Alliance|EFA]]
|-
| [[Fredis Beleris]]
| [[2024 European Parliament election|2024]]
| Albanian
| Greece
| [[European People's Party|EPP]]
|-
| [[Catarina Vieira]]
| [[2024 European Parliament election|2024]]
| Portuguese
| [[Netherlands]]
| [[European Green Party|Green]]
|}

== Observers ==
{{Main|List of observers to the European Parliament (disambiguation){{!}}List of observers to the European Parliament}}
It is conventional for countries acceding to the European Union to send a number of observers to Parliament in advance. The number of observers and their method of appointment (usually by national parliaments) is laid down in the joining countries' Treaties of Accession.

Observers may attend debates and take part by invitation, but they may not vote or exercise other official duties. When the countries then become full member states, these observers become full MEPs for the interim period between accession and the next European elections. From 26 September 2005 to 31 December 2006, [[Bulgaria]] had 18 observers in Parliament and [[Romania]] 35. These were selected from government and opposition parties as agreed by the countries' national parliaments. Following accession on 1 January 2007, the observers became MEPs (with some personnel changes). Similarly, [[Croatia]] had 12 observer members from 17 April 2012, appointed by the Croatian parliament in preparation for its accession in 2013.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20120330IPR42291/parliament-to-welcome-croatian-observer-members|work = [[European Parliament]]|date = 2 July 2019|access-date = 30 March 2012|title = Parliament to welcome Croatian "observer" members}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[EUobserver]]
* [[Apportionment in the European Parliament]]
* [[:Category:Members of the European Parliament]]
* [[List of current members of the European Parliament]]

== References ==
{{Free-content attribution
|title=  How gender balanced will the next European Parliament be?
|author = Gina Pavone/OBC Transeuropa
|publisher = EDJNet
|documentURL=  https://www.europeandatajournalism.eu/eng/News/Data-news/How-gender-balanced-will-the-next-European-Parliament-be
|license=CC BY 4.0
}}

{{Free-content attribution
|title= EU closes in on target for gender parity in the European Parliament
|author = Kashyap Raibagi/VoxEurop
|publisher = EDJNet
|documentURL= https://www.europeandatajournalism.eu/eng/News/Data-news/EU-closes-in-on-target-for-gender-parity-in-the-European-Parliament
|license=CC BY 4.0
}}
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* ''The European Parliament'' (eighth edition, 2011, John Harper publishing), by [[Richard Corbett]], Francis Jacobs and Michael Shackleton.

== External links ==
*[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members.do?language=EN Official Register of MEPs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090328115739/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members.do?language=EN |date=28 March 2009 }}
*[http://www.ena.lu?lang=2&doc=4000 The election of the Members of the European Parliament] European Navigator
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070624114722/http://europa.eu/institutions/inst/parliament/index_en.htm The European Parliament]

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