Member of the European Parliament

A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.

When the European Parliament was first established, MEPs were directly appointed by the governments of member states from among those already sitting in their own national parliaments. Since 1979, however, MEPs have been elected by direct universal suffrage. Each member state establishes its own method for electing MEPs – and in some states this has changed over time – but the system chosen must be a form of proportional representation. In some member states the MEPs are elected to represent a single national constituency; in others they are elected from sub-national regions.

For a list of current MEPs, see Members of the European Parliament 2014–2019.

Election

From 1 January 2007, when Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU, there were 785 MEPs, but their number was reduced to 736 at the elections in 2009. With effect from the elections held in May 2014 the number has risen again and now stands at 751, with each member state having at least six and at most 96 MEPs.

MEPS

MEPS can refer to:

See also