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When Parliament was first established, MEPs were appointed by member states in national delegations. Since 1979, however, MEPs have been elected by direct universal suffrage.
In the first direct European Parliamentary elections in 1979, 410 members were elected from the then 9 member states. This number has grown steadily with subsequent EU enlargements. The Parliament elected in 2004 has 732 members, drawn from the Union's 25 member states on a basis roughly proportional to each country's population (though by no means precisely proportional - smaller member states have a proportionally greater representation than larger ones).
The maximum figure of 732 was set by the Treaty of Nice and is now intended to remain steady even after future enlargements of the Union. When new member states accede to the EU and acquire representation in Parliament, the number of MEPs elected by the existing member states will be reduced proportionally so that the limit of 732 is not exceeded.
However, this figure can be exceeded temporarily during periods immediately following the accession of new member states. For instance, the highest number of MEPs ever in the parliament was a temporary 788, when parliamentarians from ten new EU member states joined on May 1, 2004. This figure was then adjusted back down to 732 in the subsequent elections on 10-13 June 2004. Similarly, the number of MEPs will rise again temporarily with future enlargements, then be reduced proportionally at subsequent elections.
Virtually all MEPs are members of cross-nationality political groups, organised according to political allegiance. For instance, the UK's Labour MEPs are members of the Group of the Party of European Socialists, and ConservativeThe Conservative Party is the largest centre right political party in the United Kingdom. It is descended from the Tory Party and its members are still commonly referred to as Tories''. It votes with the European People's Party bloc in the European Parlia MEPs are members of the European People's Party.
However, there are considerable differences between this Group structure and most national parliaments' party structure. The rules of the Parliament state that "no member shall receive a binding mandate", and as a result, Group discipline is far laxer than most party political discipline, with national delegations and individual members sometimes voting against the Group 'line' on particular issues. Furthermore, the position taken by a Group on any given issue is determined by discussion within the Group, not handed down by the party leadership. Individual 'back-bench' MEPs do therefore have considerable influence over the development of policy within the Parliament.
Aside from Group politics, individual members are also guaranteed a number of other powers and rights within the Parliament:
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