The European Parliament is created in 1957, with the Treaty of Rome. Now 375 million European citizens in 15 countries are involved in the process of European integration through 626 representatives in the European Parliament.
The first elections to the European Parliament were held in June 1979 when the peoples of the nations of Europe elected the members of a single parliament.
The European Parliament, which derives its legitimacy from direct universal suffrage and is elected every five years, has steadily acquired greater influence and power through a series of treaties. The1992 Maastricht Treaty and the 1997 Amsterdam Treaty have transformed the European Parliament from a purely consultative assembly into a legislative parliament.
Parliament has 626 seats- Germany has 99 seats, France, Italy and the United Kingdom 87 seats each, Spain 64, the Netherlands 31, Belgium, Greece and Portugal 25 each, Sweden 22, Austria 21, Denmark and Finland 16 each, Ireland 15 and Luxembourg 6. With the prospect of the European Union's enlargement, the Amsterdam Treaty has limited the number of seats to 700.…
