European Parliament and Court of Justice of the European Union

 


European Parliament is the directly elected legislative body of the EU. I visited the building of the parliament in Strasbourg.

There was a presentation on the values, roles, and functioning of the legislative process of the European Parliament & visit to the hemicycle by the Administrator at the European Parliament.

A long discussion was held on a variety of related matters such as the competencies of this key institution and on the initial successful moments such as the European coal and steel community. While the roots of the Parliament are connected to Strasbourg, it's important to note that its administrative and committee work is held in Brussels.

At the time when I was in the parliament, there was an extensive discussion on the 'European citizens initiative to save bees and farmers' stressing on bee-friendly agriculture for a healthy environment.





The court of Justice ensures uniform interpretation and application of the EU law across the Member States. It is composed of 27 judges and 11 Advocate Generals.

It was interesting to note the developments with help of the cases such as the 'Wightman' case and 'Zhu and Chen' case.

In the multilingual system of the EU, there are 24 official languages (Art. 55 TEU) and the internal working language is French.

The lighting of the building especially the lamps in the center hung in a circular formation, the architecture, and the grandeur of the institution are simply unforgettable!



Popular posts from this blog

Takeaways from the Council of Europe

Image
  The Council of Europe is an international organization based in Strasbourg. This is of the key institution that promotes human rights, democracy, and the rule of law across Europe.  I attended the presentation on the work of GRETA (Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings). I was glad to learn that at the Council of Europe, regular summits and meetings are held to discuss key issues and priorities of the organization, and this time in May 2023, the summit will be held in solidarity with Ukraine. Today the flag of the EU which has become a shared symbol of European integration was chosen in 1955 by the Council of Europe and eventually adopted by the EU in 1985. I managed to get collect some interesting facts regarding the Council of Europe but I'm always on the lookout to learn more ...
Read more

Nuances in life

Image
  At times we want to pen down our thoughts of the times when we were speechless. Sometimes the words are not enough. Sometimes the time passes too fast. Or sometimes we sit with a pen but the paper in front remains un-inked for hours.   Every conversation that begins with 'Hello' carves its own path - long or short. Sometimes so short that it begins and ends with the same 'Hello'. Or sometimes we stand and immerse ourselves into the short silences during the conversation.   Why are these nuances in life?   Sometimes the sky is multicolored and sometimes simply blue. At times the breeze is too strong and sometimes it is all still. The walks in the woods relax us and sometimes the stress of performing breaks us.   We are the followers who lead at times. We are the change makers who resist at times. We, who are trained to run, are also at times expected to remain motionless.   Why are these nuances in life?   Some sea shells, broken or intact, lie at the...
Read more

The Noise and The Silence

Image
    The rays of sunlight were reaching out to the muddy road through the leaves of the dense trees. And there was a complete silence. As if the silence was ready to write its own story. The clear blue sky would witness the story writing. Till now several sounds had evoked sentiments, what would the silence want to express? The pages of the book waited to be inked.    In the background, a butterfly was playing with the wind and some birds were flying from one branch to another. But the silence was focussed on the leaves soaked in sunlight. The book laid on her side. The usual hustle and bustle was rendered calm. The benches laid empty. The fresh green grass on the side of the muddy road looked greener than ever before. It felt that the surrounding was helping the silence to express herself.    The silence turned the un -inked pages of the book. And after several years...   The noise and the usual hustle and bustle of the city life returned. The sil...
Read more