One of the three main institutions of the European Union.

The European Parliament (EP) exercises legislative and budgetary functions, as well as political control and consultation functions. The EP also elects the President of the European Commission and must approve the College of Commissioners, as a whole.

Under the ordinary legislative procedure, the main EU procedure for adopting legislative acts, the EP is co-legislator with the Council of the EU, meaning that both the EP and the Council must adopt the same final text of an act before it can be published in the Official Journal and become law.

Under other legislative procedures, the EP has the right to consent to or be consulted on new EU acts. For example, the EP must consent to a wide range of international agreements negotiated by the EU, in areas such as international trade, before they can become law. The EP also plays an important role in scrutinising various types of EU secondary legislation.

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are elected to be representatives of EU citizens every five years by direct universal suffrage.

For further information, see Practice notes: