st held 10-13 June 2004 (next to be held June 2009)
election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats by party - EPP-ED
268, PES 202, ALDE 88, Greens/EFA 42, EUL/NGL 41, IND/DEM 36, UEN
27, independents 28; note - seats by party as of 1 January 2007 -
EPP-ED 277, PES 218, ALDE 106, UEN 44, Greens/EFA 42, EUL/NGL 41,
IND/DEM 23, ITS 20, independents 14

Judicial branch:
Court of Justice of the European Communities (ensures that the
treaties are interpreted and applied uniformly throughout the EU;
resolve constitutional issues among the EU institutions) - 27
justices (one from each member state) appointed for a six-year term;
note - for the sake of efficiency, the court can sit with 13
justices known as the "Grand Chamber"; Court of First Instance - 27
justices appointed for a six-year term

Political parties and leaders:
Confederal Group of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left or
EUL/NGL [Francis WURTZ]; European People's Party-European Democrats
or EPP-ED [Joseph DAUL]; Group of the Alliance of Liberals and
Democrats for Europe or ALDE [Graham R. WATSON]; Group of
Greens/European Free Alliance or Greens/EFA [Monica FRASSONI and
Daniel Marc COHN-BENDIT]; Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty Group
[Bruno GOLLNISCH]; Independence/Democracy Group or IND/DEM
[Jens-Peter BONDE and Nigel FARAGE]; Socialist Group in the European
Parliament or PES [Martin SCHULZ]; Union for Europe of the Nations
Group or UEN [Brian CROWLEY and Cristiana MUSCARDINI]

International organization participation:
European Union: ASEAN (dialogue member), ARF (dialogue member),
IDA, OAS (observer), UN (observer), WTO
European Community: Australian Group, CBSS, CERN, FAO, EBRD, G-10,
NAM (observer), NSG (observer), OECD, UNRWA, ZC (observer)
European Central Bank: BIS
European Investment Bank: EBRD, WADB (nonregional member)

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador John BRUTON
chancery: 2300 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037
telephone: [1] (202) 862-9500
FAX: [1] (202) 429-1766

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador C. Boyden GRAY
embassy: 13 Zinnerstraat/Rue Zinner, B-1000 Brussels
mailing address: same as above
telephone: [32] (2) 508-2222
FAX: [32] (2) 512-5720

Flag description:
on a blue field, 12 five-pointed gold stars arranged in a circle,
representing the union of the peoples of Europe; the number of