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European Parliament

The European Parliament is the only European institution that directly represents the voice of the 500 million EU citizens.736 members of European Parliament (MEPs) represent the EU citizens through their action in their political groups and their work in different committees and delegations.

Since 1979 the European Parliament Members (MEPs) have been elected through direct universal suffrage every five years. Each EU Member State decides how the European elections are organised in its own country (either on a regional or national basis), and under its own electoral laws and procedures. Yet, all Member States follow the same system of proportional representation.

You can find further information translated in all the EU languages on the European Parliament website.

Older people's organisations and the European Parliament

The role of the European Parliament has increased with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. It is therefore all the more important for older people’s organisations to establish good contacts with the MEPs of their country. The MEPs can develop some contacts with their national governments to promote the interests of older people. You can find the list of the MEPs for each country at the following link.

Your national parliaments are also represented in the European Parliament. You can find all the contact details of these representatives at the following link :

Contact details of your MEPs

The importance of the Council and the Parliament in EU decision-making means that they are important targets for lobbying activities. Since the members of the Council represent the Member States and the MEPs represent their local constituents, they are often most effectively targeted by national and local organisations. AGE encourages and helps to facilitate its member organisations to take an active lobbying role at these levels.

In this section, you will find :