European Elections 2009: all the news on the European Elections

The Parliamentary Committees

The 20 parliamentary committees of the European Parliament are the "specialised" entities in which most of the legislative work is undertaken. They meet publicly once or twice a month in Brussels to prepare community legislation (regulations, directives, etc.).
For each legislative text put forward by the European Commission, the competent commission at the European Parliament appoints a "rapporteur" who writes a draft report which he presents to the members of his parliamentary committee. Together they study and suggest amendments to the draft before adopting them via a vote. The report, which is approved in the committee, is then ready for adoption during the plenary session.

The political distribution of the committee members reflects the political composition of the European Parliament.

All of the MEPs are members of a parliamentary committee and substitute members of another.

The European Parliament can also create temporary committees (e.g. The temporary committee on climate change), sub-committees (e.g. the Security and Defence sub-committee which answers to the Foreign Affairs Commission), as well as Committees of Inquiry.

To consult the complete list of parliamentary commissions, click here.

The 20 Presidents of the Committees for the 7th legislature are:

Foreign Affairs: Gabriele Albertini, Italy, EPP
Development: Eva Joly, France, Verts/ALE
International Trade: Vital Moreira, Portugal, S&D
Budgets: Alain Lamassoure, France, EPP
Budgetary Control: Luigi de Magistris, Italy, ALDE
Economic and Monetary Affairs: Sharon Bowles, United Kingdom, ALDE
Employment and Social Affairs: Pervenche Beres, France, S&D
Environment, Public Health and Food Safety: Jo Leinen, Germany , S&D
Industry, Research and Energy: Herbert Reul, Germany, EPP
Internal Market and Consumer Protection: Malcolm Harbour, United Kingdom, ECR
Transport and Tourism: Brian Simpson, United Kingdom, S&D
Regional Development: Danuta Hübner, Poland, EPP
Agriculture : Paulo De Castro, Italy, S&D
Fisheries: Carmen Fraga Estévez, Spain, EPP
Culture and Education: Doris Pack, Germany, EPP
Legal Affairs: Klaus-Heiner Lehne, Germany, EPP
Civil Liberties: Juan Fernando López Aguilar, Spain, S&D
Constitutional Affairs: Carlo Casini, Italy, EPP
Women's Rights and Gender Equality: Eva-Britt Svensson, Sweden, GUE/NGL
Petitions: Erminia Mazzoni, Italy, EPP

Within the Foreign Affairs Committee there are two sub-committees:
Human Rights: Heidi Hautala, Finland, Greens/EFA
Security and Defence: Arnaud Danjean, France, EPP

The distribution of women in the European Parliament in the 7th legislature (2009-2014)

Member State	Number of MEPs	Number of women	%
Finland	13	8	61.54
Sweden	18	10	55.56
Estonia	6	3	50.00
Netherland	25	12	48.00
Bulgaria	13	6	46.15
Denmark	13	6	46,15
France	72	33	45.83
Austria	17	7	41.18
Slovakia	13	5	38.46
Latvia	8	3	37.50
Germany	99	37	37.37
Belgium	22	8	36.36
Hungary	22	8	36.36
Portugal	22	8	36.36
Romania	33	12	36.36
Spain	50	18	36.00
UK	72	24	33.33
Cyprus	6	2	33.33
Greece	22	7	31.82
Slovenia	7	2	28.57
Ireland	12	3	25.00
Lithuania	12	3	25.00
Italy	72	16	22.22
Poland	50	11	22.00
Czech Republic	22	4	18.18
Luxembourg	6	1	16.67
Malta	5	0	0.00
Total	736	257	34.92

Source : European Parliament.