European Parliament is a State Owned organization headquartered in Belgium. Founded in 1958, it has an estimated 9,770 employees. The organization functions as the elected body of the European Union, comprising 751 members who are elected by the people of the EU member states. These Members work in close unison with the Commission and the Council to shape the laws and policies of the EU.
The European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee on June 26 approved the digital euro, a central bank-backed digital currency. Designed to reduce Europe’s dependence on US-controlled payment networks, with a projected 2029 launch, this follows the committee's backing of the draft rules by 43 votes to 14, as Visa and Mastercard together account for 61% of euro area card payments and nearly all cross-border transactions. Previously, on June 25, Spain mounted a legal challenge against the European Union’s drive to broaden the range of nationalities among its civil servants, joining Italy and France in objecting to the European Parliament’s decision to run hiring rounds reserved for nationals of under-represented countries like Austria. Earlier the same day, the European Parliament called for the temporary suspension of plans to make drugmakers pay for wastewater treatment, which under the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive, would hold pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies primarily responsible for covering the costs of removing micropollutants. Also on June 25, a European Parliament official confirmed that a proposed uniform 1% tax on gambling across the EU gained momentum in broader conversations around the bloc’s budget, following its proposal by EP Vice President Victor Negrescu in February.
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