Lucas Robin-Chevallier
Student number : 349458lr

European Union Institutional Law

The European Parliament – Powers

In a historical perspective and fairly common, a Parliament is the legislative body of a system consisting of one or more assemblies of representatives of one or several peoples. In a democratic system, it is responsible mainly to pass the bill. In parliamentary systems, it has power to overthrow the government. Thus, the European Parliament is one of the strongest characteristics of the European Union, and that tends to distinguish it from traditional international organizations. Originally, simple common assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), it reflected a desire to involve new people in the process of European cooperation. This meeting was merged with those of economic communities and Euratom in 1957. It became a consultative assembly. But faced with the acceleration and intensification of the integration process, it has been wise to increase its role in the European Community. That is why in 1962 it has been renamed "European Parliament" to show to some extent its importance. In 1976, it won the vote by universal suffrage, but his name "Parliament" was officially accepted in 1992 in the Treaty of Maastricht. As the parliamentary assembly of the European Union, one of the three institutions of the institutional triangle (formed with the Commission and the Council of the European Union), it characterizes the regime of political cooperation that is unique to the European Union. Moreover, it is similar to national parliaments in many aspects (e.g. structure and functions), but its organization and its role within the institutional triangle are not the same as that of national parliaments in Member States. Indeed, it cannot be dissolved.

In this context, the changing role of the European Parliament has two essential characteristics. On the one hand, the extension