Secretariat of the European Parliament

European Parliament building (centre) in Luxembourg

The secretariat of the European Parliament is the administrative body of the European Parliament headed by a Secretary-General. It is based in the Kirchberg district of Luxembourg and around the Brussels-Luxembourg Station in Brussels and employs 4000 officials.

Secretary-General

The Secretary General of the European Parliament is appointed by the Bureau of the Parliament. The post is responsible for administration and assisting the President, MEPs and the Parliaments bodies. He also deals with the day-to-day running of business and prepares basic reports for budget estimates. The Secretary General also has to sign, together with the President, all acts adopted by the Parliament and Council.

The Secretaries-General to date have been;

• Frits de Nerée tot Babberich 1958 - 1963
• Hans Nord 1963 - 1979
• Hans Joachim Opitz 1979- 1986
• Enrico Vinci 1986 - 1997
• Julian Priestley 1997 - 2007
• Harald Rømer 2007 - 2009
• Klaus Welle 2009 - present

Legal Service

The Parliament's legal services advises members and bodies on matters of European law, helping in drafting of legislation and representing the Parliament in Courts.

Directorates-General

Presidency

The Directorate-General for the Presidency (DG PRES) organises plenary sittings and for follow-up activities including protocol, mail, register, archives and security.

Internal Policies

The Directorate-General for Internal Policies (DG IPOL) deals with assisting the work of Parliament’s committees and their chairmen as well as coordinating relations and cooperation with the other institutions and national parliaments. The DG also supplies expert information and research to the members and committees. This is the task of the Policy Departments who produce studies, upon request, on topics for the members. One specific policy department is STOA the Scientific Assessment Technology Options which advises committees and members on such topics

External Policies

The Directorate-General for External Policies (DG EXPO) deals with assisting the work of Parliament’s delegations, committees and their chairmen as well as coordinating relations and cooperation with the other institutions, national parliaments and foreign bodies. It also forms half of the co-secretariat of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly, the Eurolat and the Europan Eastern neighbours parliamentary assembly secretariat. The DG organises both delegation visits to non EU states and visits to the parliament by external state delegations. The DG also supplies expert information and research to the members and committees on topics relating to external countries. This is the task of the Policy Department who produce studies, upon request, on topics for the members. These studies, being produced by or for the European Parliament, are published on the Europarl website.

Communication

The Directorate-General for Communication (DG COMM) deals with public information and media. Its staff includes the spokesperson of the Parliament (currently Jaume Duch Guillot), the press service and a network of public information offices across member states. It also manages the Europarl website.

Personnel

The Directorate-General for Personnel (DG PERS) deals with the human resources of the other DGs, including giving staff access to vocational training.

Infrastructure and Logistics

The Directorate-General for Infrastructure and Logistics (DG INLO) manages the buildings of the European Parliament (spread over Strasbourg, Brussels and Luxembourg) and its member-state offices and equipment.

Translation

The Directorate-General for Translation (DG TRAD) is responsible for written translation of the Parliament's documents.

Interpretation and Conferences

The Directorate-General for Interpretation and Conferences (DG INTE) manages meeting rooms and interpretation for all meetings organised by the Institution.

Finance

The Directorate-General for Finance (DG FINS) deals with the Parliaments budgetary and financial affairs. Preparing and checking the budget and monitoring its subsequent implementation. It is also responsible for official accounting and treasury operations as well as MEPs' finances.

Innovation and Technological Support

The DG Innovation and Technological Support (DG ITEC) consists of The Directorate for Information Technologies (DIT), the central ITC support and computing and network centre and Directorate for Publishing and Distribution which deals with the publication of parliamentary material such as working documents and the official journal.

Staff

As of February 2012

Office	Post	Name	Source
Office of the Secretary-General	Secretary-General of the European Parliament	Klaus Welle	[1]
Legal Service	Jurisconsult of the European Parliament	Christian Pennera	[2]
Directorate-General for the Presidency	Director-General	Francesca R. Ratti	[3]
Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the Union	Director-General	Riccardo Ribera d'Alcalà	[4]
Directorate-General for External Policies of the Union	Director-General	Luis Marco Aguiriano Nalda	[5]
Directorate-General for Communication	Director-General	Juana Lahousse-Juárez	[6]
Directorate-General for Personnel	Director-General	Yves Quitin	[7]
Directorate-General for Infrastructure and Logistics	Director-General	Constantin Stratigakis	[8]
Directorate-General for Translation	Director-General	Janet Pitt	[9]
Directorate-General for Interpretation and Conferences	Director-General	Olga Cosmidou	[10]
Directorate-General for Finance	Director-General	Roger Vanhaeren	[11]
Directorate-General for Innovation and Technological Support	Director-General	Giancarlo Vilella (acting)	[12]

See also

• Directorates-General (of the Commission)
• European Parliament in Luxembourg
• Institutions of the European Union
• Location of European Union institutions

External links

• Secretariat of the European Parliament
• Subcommittee on Security and Defence Minutes Meeting of 6 March 2008 Page 5, List of DGs.