INTRODUCTION TO AND ANALYSIS OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

Annotatsiya

The European Parliament (EP) has been one of the main institutions and flagships of the European Union. The Parliament is characterized as being dynamic in terms of its composition, structure and power. Many resemblances can be drawn between national parliaments and the EP such as having political groups and being elected by universal suffrage. Nevertheless, the EP is a sui-generis formation that differs in many respects from its national counterparts such as sharing legislation with another institution. The EP is part of the supranational power-sharing structure with strictly defined powers. This research paper investigates the journey that EP has taken since its formation, how it reached its current shape and form, the organizational structure and composition of the EP, how it evolved from being a “talking shop” to co-legislator, what constraints the parliament faces in the process of exercising its decision-making power and many more.