Around the European Parliament in numbers

Last year over a quarter of a million members of the public visited the European Parliament in Brussels and Strasbourg. In addition to this 7,816 Parliamentary questions were tabled over the whole 5 year term and 48,747 amendments were tabled during Plenary sessions. These are just some of the facts that have been accumulated over the last five years. Read on to find some more useful and some not so useful facts...

The Parliamentary term 2004-2009
 
7,816 parliamentary questions asked.
 
2,924 texts approved in plenary session during the 2004-2009 term, 1,355 of which were legislative documents.
 
48,747 amendments were tabled in plenary session.
 
22,000 meetings held between 2004-2009 in the 3 working places and 140 outside.
 
4,784 pages of minutes for each of the 22 official languages spoken.
 
A few languages spoken...
 
23 languages are used in the EP.
 
506 language combinations based on the above.
 
1,220,775 translated pages in 2007.
 
Who's who
 
161.625.000: Approximate number of people who voted in June's European elections.
 
736: MEPs elected in June 2009.
 
1510: accredited Parliamentary Assistants.
 
6,166 staff of the Parliament's secretariat responsible for administration, supporting the Committees, translators, interpreters and press officers.
 
7 political groups
 
20 parliamentary committees
 
4322 lobbyists are registered with Parliament, representing 1,699 organisations (May 2009).
1,100 accredited journalists cover the work of the EP on a regular basis.
 
The buildings...
 
27 working places: Parliament has an office in all 27 EU Members.
 
10,552 offices in the EP
 
156 meeting rooms in all EP buildings
 
Visitors to the European Parliament
 
276,531: Members of the public who took part in the EP visitors' programme in 2008.
 
49:  Formal sittings in which prominent guests gave speeches.
 
19 minutes: The shortest speech the House - delivered by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands on 26 October 2004.
 
50 minutes: The longest speech in Plenary was delivered by released Colombian hostage Íngrid Betancourt on 8 October 2008.
 
Food and drink issues
 
59, 000 meals are served in the restaurant for MEPs each year.
 
94,000 people are served in the shop with sandwiches every year.
 
605, 000 people eat in the main Brussels canteen annually.
 
405, 000 cups of coffee are served in the meeting rooms per year.
 
And finally...
 
1 piano called “Estonia” donated by the Estonian delegation to the EP in 2009.
 
1,102 exhibitions and cultural events organised between 2004 and 2009.