Search

India is a pluralistic, multi-faith, multilingual (with 22 recognised languages), and multi-ethnic country. In April 2023 it overtook China as the world's most populous country (it had a population of 1.44 billion in 2024). India's 1950 Constitution provides for a quasi-federal set-up, with powers separated between the central union and the 28 state governments. Competences are distributed by administrative level – between the Union (the Centre), the states, or 'concurrently'. The Prime Minister ...

The confirmation hearings of the Commissioners-designate before the European Parliament's committees play a vital role in informing Parliament before it decides on the proposed composition of the College of Commissioners. Ahead of the autumn 2024 hearings, Parliament has adapted the rules for the process, which will apply for the members of the second von der Leyen College. First, the Legal Affairs Committee scrutinises the declaration of interests of each Commissioner-designate. Second, each Commissioner-designate ...

The European Parliament has come a long way since its inception in 1951. Initially a consultative body composed of delegations of national parliaments, it has become a directly elected institution, has obtained budgetary and legislative powers, and now exercises influence over most aspects of EU affairs. Together with representatives of national governments, who sit in the Council, Parliament co-decides on European legislation, in what could be seen as a bicameral legislature at EU level. This publication ...

The European Parliament's powers and influence have evolved significantly since its establishment. Starting out as a Common Assembly – a consultative body made up of delegations from the national parliaments of the EU Member States – in 1979 the European Parliament became a directly elected institution with both budgetary and legislative powers. Today, it is a fully fledged legislative body with competences in a broad range of EU policy areas, and considerable influence over the majority of EU affairs ...

The European Parliament's new Rules of Procedure entered into force on 16 July 2024 – the first day of Parliament's 10th term. The 'Parliament 2024' reforms sought primarily to streamline legislative procedures, enhance budgetary control and improve scrutiny of the Commission. The reforms have tackled conflicts of committee competences to expedite the attribution of files to committees. To address cases of cross-cutting issues falling within the competence of more than three committees, the Conference ...

We first discuss why and how banking supervisors should be held accountable for their activities, then consider the case of the ECB /SSM to report on the academic debate on its faults and merits. We also review the main accountability channels between the ECB and the EP, showing how they have been used since 2014. Finally, we outline some possible steps to improve the ECB’s accountability in the short term.

In June 2024, European citizens voted for their representatives in the European Parliament for the next five years, to defend their interests in the EU. This year's election saw turnout of 51.1%, slightly higher than the previous election in 2019 (50.7%). The number of political groups has increased from seven to eight at the start of the new term. Half of the elected Members (MEPs) elected are new to the European Parliament. Women now make up 38.5% of all MEPs; this share is 2.1 percentage points ...

The ninth parliamentary term formally ended on 15 July 2024, ahead of the constitutive part-session of the European Parliament elected on 6-9 June 2024. Despite their best efforts, the co legislators had not reached agreement on a number of legislative proposals before the end of the ninth term. These will form a major part of the business that needs to be picked up again in the tenth term. To ensure continuity in its work, Parliament has adopted rules on how to deal with unfinished files.

To allocate seats in collegiate bodies, such as parliaments, a method is needed to translate votes proportionally into whole seats. The d'Hondt method is a mathematical formula that is used widely in proportional representation systems, although it leads to less proportional results than other seat allocation systems, such as the Hare-Niemeyer or Sainte-Laguë/Schepers methods. Moreover, the d'Hondt method tends to favour the electoral lists that win the most votes, to the detriment of those with ...

Hungary is a parliamentary democracy with a unicameral parliament, the Országgyűlés (National Assembly). The structure and functioning of Hungary's political system are determined by the Fundamental Law of 25 April 2011, which has been amended 12 times since its entry into force in 2012. The National Assembly elects the President of the Republic (head of state), whose role is primarily representative but entails some complementary and controlling competences vis-à-vis the legislative, executive and ...