Presentation EP

The European Parliament is the only European institution whose elected members meet and deliberate in public. It is composed of 732 members of Parliament of 27 different nationalities, divided into 8 political groups or "non attached".
There are also 20 specialised permanent commissions, a president and 14 vice-presidents, as well as 20 official working languages.
The European Parliament seats in Strasbourg (F) with additional plenary sessions in Brussels. The secretariat is located both in Brussels and in Luxembourg.

This complex machine shelters the members of Parliament elected by universal suffrage according to procedures specific to each member state.
The Parliament represents the interests of 453 millions citizens of the European Union in all the subjects treated at that level.
The Parliament plays a major part in the elaboration, modification an adaptation process of European laws.

Members of Parliament can formulate political proposals; they invest themselves in the defence of Human Rights and are in constant contact with the members of their national Parliament. Finally the European Parliament adopts (or rejects) the EU budget and notably the institutions budget, which is sensitive for the trade-unions and the staff it represents. The civil servants and agents work in Luxembourg and Brussels and move to Strasbourg once a month for the plenary sessions.

The complexity that lies in the structure of the European Parliament also exists inside and between the trade-unions. For instance, Union Syndicale members in the Parliament are divided between Union Syndicale Brussels and Union Syndicale Luxembourg, which are both affiliated to Union Syndicale Fédérale.

The US-Brussels delegation to the European Parliament is composed of members of the Executive Committee and members of the Staff Committee, which is unique for Brussels and Luxembourg.