European Union citizenship is afforded to all nationals of member states of the European Union (EU). It was formally created with the adoption of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, at the same time as the creation of the EU. EU citizenship is additional to, as it does not replace, national citizenship. It affords EU citizens with rights, freedoms and legal protections available under EU law.
Image: Nederlanden paspoort 2011
Image: Croatian biometric passport
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union, it adopts European legislation, following a proposal by the European Commission. The Parliament is composed of 705 members (MEPs), due to rise to 720 after the June 2024 European elections. It represents the second-largest democratic electorate in the world, with an electorate of 375 million eligible voters in 2009.
Image: European Parliament Strasbourg Hemicycle Diliff
Image: Hémycicle du Parlement européen (Bruxelles)
Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in the former House of Europe in Strasbourg, France in January 1967. Willy Brandt, West German minister for Foreign Affairs, is speaking.
A plenary session in the Palace of Europe in April 1985, in Strasbourg, France. It was the EP's hemicycle until 1999 when a new building was constructed in Strasbourg, France.