where is eu parliament?
Brussels
entailment
 Its development since its foundation is a testament to the evolution of the Union 's structures without one clear " master plan " . Some such as Tom Reid of the Washington Post said of the union , " nobody would have deliberately designed a government as complex and as redundant as the EU " . Even the Parliament 's two seats , which have switched several times , are a result of various agreements or lack of agreements . Although most MEPs would prefer to be based just in Brussels , at John Major 's 1992 Edinburgh summit , France engineered a treaty amendment to maintain Parliament 's plenary seat permanently at Strasbourg . 

entailment
 The Parliament is based in three different cities with numerous buildings . A protocol attached to the Treaty of Amsterdam requires that 12 plenary sessions be held in Strasbourg ( none in August but two in September ) , which is the Parliament 's official seat , while extra part sessions as well as committee meetings are held in Brussels . Luxembourg hosts the Secretariat of the European Parliament . The European Parliament is the only assembly in the world with more than one meeting place and one of the few that does not have the power to decide its own location . 

entailment
 Like the other institutions , the Parliament 's seat was not yet fixed . The provisional arrangements placed Parliament in Strasbourg , while the Commission and Council had their seats in Brussels . In 1985 the Parliament , wishing to be closer to these institutions , built a second chamber in Brussels and moved some of its work there despite protests from some states . A final agreement was eventually reached by the European Council in 1992 . It stated the Parliament would retain its formal seat in Strasbourg , where twelve sessions a year would be held , but with all other parliamentary activity in Brussels . This two seat arrangement was contested by Parliament but was later enshrined in the Treaty of Amsterdam . To this day the institution 's locations are a source of contention . 

contradiction
 For much of its life , the European Parliament could have been justly labeled a ' multi @-@ lingual talking shop ' . 

neutral
 The European Parliament ( EP ) is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union ( EU ) . Together with the Council of the European Union ( the Council ) and the European Commission , it exercises the legislative function of the EU . The Parliament is composed of 751 ( previously 766 ) members , who represent the second largest democratic electorate in the world ( after the Parliament of India ) and the largest trans @-@ national democratic electorate in the world ( 375 million eligible voters in 2009 ) . 
