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.

Since the mid-term elections of January 2012, the Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the Parliamentary Committees are:

Foreign Affairs (AFET): Elmar BROK (EPPE, Germany); Fiorello PROVERA (EFD, Italy), Ioan Mircea PASCU (S&D, Romania), Andrey KOVATCHEV (EPPE, Bulgaria), Willy MEYER (GUE/NGL, Spain)
Development (DEVE): Eva JOLY (Greens/EFA, France); Michčle STRIFFLER (EPP, France), Nirj DEVA (ECR, United Kingdom), Iva ZANICCHI (EPP, Italy), Corina CRETU (S&D, Romania)
International Trade (INTA): Vital MOREIRA (S&D, Portugal); Cristiana MUSCARDINI (EPP, Italy), Robert STURDY (ECR, United Kingdom), Pawel ZALEWSKI (EPP, Poland), Yannick JADOT (Greens/EFA, France)
Budgets (BUDG): Alain LAMASSOURE (EPP, France); Jutta HAUG (S&D, Germany), George LYON (ADLE, United Kingdom), Jean-Luc DEHAENE (EPP, Belgium), Ivalio KALFIN (S&D, Bulgaria)
Budgetary Control (CONT): Michael THEURER (ADLE, Germany); Bart STAES (Greens/EFA, Belgium), Iliana IVANOVA (EPP, Bulgaria), Boguslaw LIBERADZKI (S&D, Poland), Boguslaw SONIK (EPP, Poland)
Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON): Sharon BOWLES (ADLE, United Kingdom); Pablo ZALBA BIDEGAIN (EPP, Spain), Arlene McCARTHY (S&D, United Kingdom), Theodor Dumitru STOLOJAN (EPP, Romania), Edward SCICLUNA (S&D, Malta)
Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL): Pervenche BERČS (S&D, France); Nadja HIRSCH (ADLE, Germany), Inęs Cristina ZUBER (GUE/NGL, Portugal), Jean LAMBERT (Greens/EFA, United Kingdom), Thomas MANN (EPP, Germany)
Environment, Public Health and Food Safety: Jo Leinen, Germany , S&D
Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI): Matthias GROOTE (S&D, Germany); Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY (ADLE, Netherlands), Carl SCHLYTER (Greens/EFA, Sweden), János ŔDER (EPP, Hungary), Dan JŘRGENSEN (S&D, Denmark)
Industry, Rechearch and Energy (ITRE): Amalia SARTORI (EPP, Italy); Patrizia TOIA (S&D, Italy), Jens ROHDE (ADLE, Denmark), Dimitrios DROUTSAS (S&D, Greece), Evžen TOŠENOVSKÝ (ECR, Czech Republic)
Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO): Malcolm HARBOUR (ECR, United Kingdom); Eija-Riitta KORHOLA (EPP, Finland), Bernadette VERGNAUD (S&D, France), Gino TREMATERRA (EPP, Italy), Louis GRECH (S&D, Malta)
Transport and Tourism (TRAN): Brian SIMPSON (S&D, United Kingdom); Dominique RIQUET (EPP, France), Peter VAN DALEN (ECR, Netherlands), Silvia-Adriana TICAU (S&D, Romania), Dieter-Lebrecht KOCH (EPP, Germany)
Regional Development (REGI): Danuta Maria HÜBNER (EPP, Poland); Georgios STAVRAKAKIS (S&D, Greece), Markus PIEPER (EPP, Germany), Filiz Hakaeva HYUSMENOVA (ADLE, Bulgaria), Michail TREMOPOULOS (Greens/EFA, Greece)
Agriculture (AGRI): Paolo DE CASTRO (S&D, Italy); Czeslaw Adam SIEKIERSKI (EPP, Poland), José BOVÉ (Greens/EFA, France), Janusz WOJCIECHOWSKI (ECR, Poland), Marit PAULSEN (ADLE, Sweden)
Fisheries (PECH): Gabriel MATO ADROVER (EPP, Spain); Struan STEVENSON (ECR, United Kingdom), Alain CADEC (EPP, France), Guido MILANA (S&D, Italy), Carl HAGLUND (ADLE, Finland)
Culture and Education (CULT): Doris PACK (EPP, Germany); Helga TRÜPEL (Greens/EFA, Germany), Lorenzo FONTANA (EFD, Italy), Lothar BISKY (GUE/NGL, Germany), Morten LŘKKEGAARD (ADLE, Denmark)
Legal Affairs (JURI): Klaus-Heiner LEHNE (EPP, Germany); Luigi BERLINGUER (S&D, Italy), Raffaele BALDASSARRE (EPP, Italy), Evelyn REGNER (S&D, Austria), Sebastian Valentin BODU (EPP, Romania)
Civil Liberties (LIBE): Juan Fernando LÓPEZ AGUILAR (S&D, Spain); Kinga GÁL (EPP, Hungary), Sophie IN'T VELD (ADLE, Netherlands), Salvatore IACOLINO (EPP, Italy), Kinga GÖNCZ (S&D, Hungary)
Constitutional Affairs (AFCO): Carlo CASINI (EPP, Italy); Zita GURMAI (S&D, Hungary), Constance LE GRIP (EPP, France), Morten MESSERSCHMIDT (EFD, Denmark), Ashley FOX (ECR, United Kingdom)
Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM): Mikael GUSTAFSSON (GUE/NGL, Sweden); Lívia JÁRÓKA (EPP, Hungary), Edite ESTRELA (S&D, Portugal), Elisabeth MORIN-CHARTIER (EPP, France), Barbara MATERA (EPP, Italy)
Petitions (PETI): Erminia MAZZONI (EPP, Italy); Chrysoula PALIADELI (S&D, Greece), Willy MEYER (GUE/NGL, Spain), Carlos José ITURGAIZ ANGULO (EPP, Spain), Elena BASESCU (EPP, Romania)

Within the Foreign Affairs Committee there are two sub-committees:
Human Rights (DROI): Barbara LOCHBIHLER (Greens/EFA, Germany); Andrzej GRZYB (EPP, Poland), Agnčs LE BRUN (EPP, France), Metin KAZAK (ADLE, Bulgaria), Joanna SEYSZYN (S&D, Poland)
Security and Defence (SEDE): Arnaud DANJEAN (EPP, France); Kyriakos MAVRONIKOLAS (S&D, Cyprus), Norica NICOLAI (ADLE, Romania), Justas Vincas PALECKIS (S&D, Lithuania), Krzysztof LISEK (EPP, Poland)

Women in the European Parliament after the arrival of the last 18 MEPs in December 2011

Etat membre
Nombre de Députés
européens
Nombre de Femmes
%
FinlandeFinlande

13

8

61.5

EstonieEstonie

6

3

50.0

DanemarkDanemark

13

6

46,1

SuèdeSuède

20

9

45.0

FranceFrance

74

33

44.5

EspagneEspagne

54

22

40.7

SlovaquieSlovaquie

13

5

38.4

Pays-BasPays-Bas

26

10

38.4

SlovénieSlovénie

8

3

37.5

AllemagneAllemagne

99

37

37.3

RoumanieRoumanie

33

12

36.4

BelgiqueBelgique

22

8

36.3

HongrieHongrie

22

8

36.3

ChypreChypre

6

2

33.3

LettonieLettonie

9

3

33.3

IrlandeIrlande

12

4

33.3

BulgarieBulgarie

18

6

33.3

Royaume-UniRoyaume Uni

73

24

32.9

GrèceGrèce

22

7

31.8

PortugalPortugal

22

7

31.8

AutricheAutriche

19

6

31.6

LituanieLituanie

12

3

25.00

ItalieItalie

73

16

21.9

PolognePologne

51

11

21.6

République tchèqueRépublique tchèque

22

4

18.2

LuxembourgLuxembourg

6

1

16.7

MalteMalte

6

0

0.00

Total 754 258 34.2

Source : European Parliament.