Member of the European Parliament

A Member of the European Parliament (English abbreviation MEP) is a member of the European Union's directly-elected legislative body, the European Parliament. MEPs are the European equivalents of a country's national parliamentary members, known as MPs in English; hence, the term Euro-MP is used colloquially in English.

Information about individual members

Members' experience

Around a third of MEPs have previously held national parliamentary mandates, and over 10% have ministerial experience at a national level. Among the 177 MEPs with such experience elected in 1999 were six prime ministers and three former members of the European Commission. Many more MEPs have held office at a regional level in their home countries.

Related Topics:
1999 - Prime minister - European Commission

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Current MEPs also include former judges, trade union leaders, media personalities, actors, soldiers, singers, athletes, and political activists.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many outgoing MEPs move into other political office. A remarkably high proportion of European countries' recent heads of government have previously served in the Parliament.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dual mandates

The so-called dual mandate, where an individual is a member of both his or her national parliament and the European Parliament, is officially discouraged and has been prohibited by a number of EU countries, most recently Italy. Despite this, a small and dwindling number of members do hold a dual mandate; for example, Baroness Ludford MEP and Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne MEP (both UK Liberal Democrats who also sit in the House of Lords).

Related Topics:
European Parliament - Italy - Baroness Ludford - Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne - UK Liberal Democrats - House of Lords

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gender balance

Around a third of MEPs are women, a higher percentage than most national parliaments. This figure varies considerably among the various national delegations, however. Of UK members, for instance, approaching half of the Labour MEPs are female, compared to only about 8% of Conservative members.

Related Topics:
UK - Labour - Conservative

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Length of service

Generally speaking, the European Parliament has a remarkably high turnover of MEPs. For instance, after the 2004 elections, the majority of elected members had not been members in the prior Parliamentary session. Only 14 of them have served continuously since the first elections in 1979, and not one has served continuously for longer.

Related Topics:
2004 - 1979

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~