1.3.1.     The European Parliament: historical background

LEGAL BASIS
The original treaties (* 1.1.1).

Decision and Act concerning the election of the representatives of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage (20 September 1976).

THREE COMMUNITIES, ONE ASSEMBLY
Following the creation of the EEC and Euratom, the ECSC Common Assembly was expanded to cover all three Communities. With 142 Members, the Assembly met for the first time in Strasbourg on 19 March 1958 as the 'European Parliamentary Assembly', changing its name to 'European Parliament' on 30 March 1962.

FROM APPOINTED ASSEMBLY TO ELECTED PARLIAMENT
Before direct election MEPs were appointed by each of the Member States' national parliaments. All Members thus had a dual mandate.

The Summit Conference in Paris on 9-10 December 1974 decided that direct elections ‘should take place in or after 1978' and asked Parliament to submit new proposals to replace its draft Convention of 1960. In January 1975 Parliament adopted a new draft, on the basis of which the Heads of State or Government, after settling a number of differences, reached agreement at the meeting of the European Council of 12-13 July 1976.

The Decision and Act on European elections by direct universal suffrage were signed in Brussels on 20 September 1976. After ratification by all the Member States, the text came into force on 1 July 1978. The first elections took place on 7 and 10 June 1979.

SUBSEQUENT ENLARGEMENT
When Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom joined the European Communities on 1 January 1973 (the first enlargement), the number of MEPs was increased to 198.

For the second enlargement, with the accession of Greece on 1 January 1981, 24 Greek Members were delegated to the EP by the Greek Parliament, to be replaced in October 1981 by directly elected Members. The second direct elections were held on 14 and 17 June 1984.

On 1 January 1986, with the third enlargement, the number of seats rose from 434 to 518 with the arrival of 60 Spanish and 24 Portuguese Members, appointed by their national parliaments and subsequently replaced by directly elected Members. The third direct elections were held on 15 and 18 June 1989.

Following German unification, the composition of the European Parliament was adapted to demographic change. In accordance with Parliament's proposals in a resolution on a scheme for allocating the seats of its Members, the number of MEPs elected in June 1994 increased from 518 to 567. After the fourth EU enlargement, the number of MEPs increased to 626, with a fair allocation of seats for the new Member States, in line with the resolution mentioned above. Since 1 January 1995, membership of the European Parliament has been as follows:

GRADUAL INCREASE IN POWERS

Replacement of Member State contributions by the Community's own resources (* 1.5.1.) led to a first extension of Parliament's budgetary powers under the Treaty of Luxembourg, signed on 22 April 1970. A second treaty on the same subject, strengthening Parliament's powers, was signed in Brussels on 22 July 1975 (* 1.1.2.).

The Single Act enhanced Parliament's role in certain legislative areas (cooperation procedure) and made accession and association treaties subject to its consent.

The Maastricht Treaty, by introducing the codecision procedure in certain areas of legislation and extending the cooperation procedure to others, marked the beginning of Parliament's metamorphosis into the role of co-legislator. It gave Parliament the power of final approval over the membership of the Commission, which was an important step forwards in Parliament's political control over the European executive.

The Treaty of Amsterdam extended the codecision procedure to most areas of legislation and reformed the procedure, putting Parliament as co-legislator on an equal footing with the Council. With the appointment of the President of the Commission being made subject to Parliament's approval (after nomination by the Member States), Parliament further increased its control over the executive power.

06/09/2000