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The Week in Germany: Current Affairs March 20, 2008 European Parliament Celebrates 50th Anniversary
The European Parliament, the world's largest directly elected international parliament, turned 50 on March 19, 2008 and celebrated its anniversary with speeches, musical performances by the European Youth Orchestra, and a cake large enough to feed all 785 members, a considerably larger assembly than the European Parliament of 1958 that only had 142 members. European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering said: "Today, we are 785 members from 27 European nations; we represent seven political groups and more than 150 national political parties; we are both a legislative and a budgetary authority, on an equal footing with the [EU] Council of Ministers; we exercise oversight over the European Commission and elect its President; we are the representatives of close to 500 million Union citizens; we reflect all political tendencies in the European Union; and we have become self-assured and a major player in European politics." In congratulating the Parliament, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said that Parliament's power has strengthened Europe as a whole. The first direct elections to the EU assembly, which meets in both Brussels
and Strasbourg, were held in 1979 and its powers have increased over the
years. A majority of legislation passed by the Parliament in recent years
has focused on environmental, health and consumer safety issues. Much
of the environmental legislation the 27 EU member states observe was passed
in Brussels by the European Parliament. Links: 50th
anniversary of the European Parliament celebrated in Strasbourg Delegation of the European Commission to the USA German MEP Elected European Parliament President (TWIG, Jan. 19, 2007) |
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