European Union

This post I wrote a couple days ago, but hadn't gotten to post due to internet connection issues ...

This morning we went to visit the European Union Parliament in Brussels with the students. We arrived rather early (had to be on the bus at 7am, not easy for a bunch of people still suffering from jet lag!) and had to wait before the security people opened up. Once we got in the building we were still early for our tour, so we waited in the café, which wasn’t really open yet either. A nice Belgium woman who helps organize groups and room availability etc. though got us coffee and tea so the time passed quickly. At 9 am we went upstairs to a classroom where we were met by a Portuguese tour guide. She was very enthusiastic about the EU and full of information. After a video she went through more detail of how the Parliament operates. Currently there are more than 750 members representing the 27 countries. All documents are translated into 23 languages. The members of Parliament are elected by popular vote in each country. Average voter turnout is 45% which she lamented as being apathetic, but compared to the US is really impressive! Countries are allocated a certain number of representatives based on their populations with Germany having the most representatives.

Parliament votes on laws recommended by the European Council, which is made up of the heads of states or ministers from each country. The funding for the EU comes from each country and from VAT, value added tax, and from tariffs on imported goods. The amount each country is required to contribute is based on its gross domestic income.

While we were there we attended a session of parliament at which they were discussing an amendment to regulations on food safety for small producers like butchers and bakers in little towns. Representatives from the Food and Agriculture committee spoke as well as representatives of each of the 6 or so political parties that make up the Parliament. At first there were very few representatives in the room, but as the time for voting drew near, they all began coming into the room. The noise level got pretty loud and groups of representatives stood in the aisles chatting until the vice-president overseeing the session reprimanded everyone for their lack of consideration. Translators for the 23 languages sat in booths overlooking the floor and at each seat was a headset through which you could choose what language you wanted to listen to the debate in. Who knew that Suomi was another name for Finland?!