Word: parliament
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Voters choose members for a new Parliament...
Answer: Not much, except that they have all just won an election. Soon they will all be commuting to Strasbourg as mint-new members in the Parliament of the European Community, the world's first democratically elected international body...
...member European Parliament replaces an outgoing assembly that was appointed by the governments of the nine Common Market nations. On paper, both old and new Parliaments have only limited consultative powers, but the potential for expansion lies in public hearings and budgetary scrutiny. The fact that its representatives are popularly elected and that many of them carry political clout at home should lend force to the new Parliament's recommendations...
...reading any clear signals into the voting. For one thing, all the successful major parties shared a general commitment to the idea of a more cohesive and active Europe. For another, many of the 180 million eligible voters were clearly bored, confused or irritated by elections to a new Parliament whose purpose was far from clear. In most countries the vote totals were well below those normally attained in national elections...
Spurring the Euro-Parliament on will be Europe's increasing sense of frustration that its economic strength has yet to be translated into more decisive voice in world affairs. "The major questions of the day are being decided by the superpowers," complains Tindemans. "The Middle East, the source of our oil, the SALT signing in Vienna, raw materials. All these things are being done over our heads, and we Europeans must have a voice...