This article has been translated from English to Gen Z Slang.
The European Parliament is basically the EU’s squad for making laws, like the ultimate group chat that’s always deliberating. 😅
Spoiler alert: EU citizens get to choose these peeps every 5 years. 🗳️
This whole setup is direct, with real-deal responsibilities for legislating, supervising, and handling the big bucks, aka budget.
The squad is a mix of 705 MEPs (Members of the European Parliament, fam) repping the 27 member states of the EU 2.0. 🌍
So, what’s the European Parliament all about? 🤔
The Parliament’s got three big gigs:
Legislative
- Layin' down EU laws with the Council of the EU, based on European Commission proposals
- Calling the shots on international agreements 🌐
- Deciding on who joins the cool kids club aka enlargements
- Peeping the Commission's to-do list and telling them what to do next
Supervisory
- Keeping all EU institutions in check, total watchdog vibez 🔍
- Voting the head honcho of the Commission and approving the whole squad. Lowkey, they can force a quit if necessary
- Giving the nod or nah on how EU budgets are spent
- Checking out peeps’ petitions and getting to the bottom of things with inquiries
- Chatting with the ECB about money stuff 💸
- Ask the Commission and Council what's up 🤨
- Keeping an eye on elections 👀
Budgetary
- Sorting out the EU budget with the Council 💵
- Giving the thumbs up to the EU’s long-term money plans, aka the “Multiannual Financial Framework”
How they run this joint? 🚀
The number of MEPs reppin' each country is kinda fair play to their population, but there’s a twist: no one gets less than 6 and no one more than 96—total cap is 705 (+President). 🎩
MEPs squad up by political vibes, not their passport.
The President is the Parliament’s hype person to EU squads and others, and gives the green light to the EU budget.
How many spots does each country snag in the European Parliament? 🤷♀️
The seat map in the European Parliament switched up since the UK dipped from the EU. 
Since Feb 1, 2020, the European Parliament is holding down 705 seats, down from 751 after Brexit became official on Jan 31, 2020. 🚪👋
Twenty-seven of those UK spots got shuffled to other countries, and 46 are on hold for future EU peeps that wanna join in on the fun.
Per the cool throwback act of 1976, everyone needs to notify the Euro Parliament to kick off their gigs.
How do they get stuff done in the Euro Parliament? 🚀
They get to business in two main gigs:
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Committees for gettin' legislation ready.
The Parliament rolls deep with 20 committees and two side hustles, each with their own specialty. They break down the legislative proposals, throw in ideas or kill the vibe of bad bills. Political groups get their say too.✍️ -
Plenary sessions to seal the deal.
MEPs get together to cast votes on potential laws and throw in final changes. They usually chill in Strasbourg for four days each month, occasionally hitting up Brussels for extra sessions. 🏛️