The European Parliament – giving democratic powers to the “people's body”

Purpose – The article has the purpose of looking back to the founding of the European Union (EU).Design/methodology/approach – The article combines narrative with analysis.Findings – It is the author's view that the EU is a success story. The EU's separation of powers between three decision‐making bodies is explained and contrasted with what the author considers to be the regrettable centralisation of power at Westminster. The article looks at the many major challenges which are facing Europeans, including the question of how large the EU should be allowed to grow and the economic challenges from China and India.Originality/value – The value of the article is that it contains the views of a member of the parliament (MEP) who has been a MEP since the first direct elections in 1979 and who is able to reflect on developments with singular first hand knowledge.