5 big things the European Parliament did in the last 5 years

The laws the European Parliament passes make a real difference for Europeans, in their daily lives and in their work. Some are felt directly and immediately, some filter through the system via national laws; either way the Parliament makes a difference:

* REACH: Parliament broke legislative deadlock on a fearsomely complex proposal from the European Commission to ensure the passage of new laws requiring the registration of tens of thousands of chemical substances, the removal from circulation of many hazardous and toxic substances and providing research money to find replacements of others. Public health and the environment were the big beneficiaries.

* Passenger rights: Parliament passed into law new rules requiring transport operators to compensate passengers properly for delays and cancellations to which they fall victim. It also ensured that advertised ticket pricing (for example on websites) must clearly show include all charges and taxes passengers must pay.

* Freedom to work across the EU: In one of the hottest political debates of the term - on the so-called "services directive" - members of the European Parliament thrashed out the conclusive deal which allowed Europe to set clear and fair rules allowing providers of services large and small from all EU countries to operate freely across the EU.

* Global warming: The European Parliament addressed what many believe is the big issue of our times passing a package of laws which aims to achieve a 20% cut in greenhouse gas emissions, a 20% improvement in energy efficiency, and a 20% share for renewable energy in the EU energy mix by 2020.

* Cheaper phone calls: The European Parliament passed laws capping the amounts mobile phone companies can charge for calls made and received abroad, bringing an end to many disagreeable post-holiday surprises. Later, it turned its attention to text messages and data, introducing similar provisions.

These are only a taster of Parliament's activities between 2004 and 2009 and it's important that we cast our vote in the elections on the 7th June here in Spain.

Vote 'LOS VERDES - GRUPO VERDE EUROPEO'