The Work of the National Parliament Office

The Office provides information on individual legislative and non-legislative proposals which are of particular interest to the Commons European Scrutiny Committee, the Lords European Union Committee and both Houses of Parliament.

What issues does the NPO investigate?

  • Cross border healthcare proposals
  • Working Time Directive
  • Financial Crisis response
  • EU-Russia relations
  • Common Fisheries Policy reform
  • CAP reform
  • Europol Directive

The NPO also covers wider European political and institutional developments. Recent examples include:

  • The annual EU Budget and discussions on the review of the budget
  • Perspectives European Security and Defence Policy
  • The Lisbon Treaty
  • EU Enlargement
  • Financial Services reform
  • Climate Change and the energy and climate package
  • The EU Strategy for Africa
  • Energy Security

What else does the Office do?

The NPO supports the work of the Commons and Lords scrutiny committees by:

Explaining and promoting the work of the UK Parliament on EU matters.

  • The Office disseminates UK parliamentary reports and other information within the EU institutions and to outside organisations.

Fostering personal and face-to-face contacts with people in the EU institutions in order to enhance further the reputation of the UK Parliament among EU decision makers and gain influence for the Committees' recommendations.

  • The Office represents each House at conferences, seminars and meetings.

Strengthening relations with other national parliaments and with the devolved administrations.

  • The NPO works closely with the 20 other national parliaments that have an office in Brussels, as well as the Brussels offices of the National Assembly for Wales and the Scottish Parliament. The NPO acts as a contact point with the secretariat of COSAC (the Conference of EU Committees of National Parliaments).

  • The NPO also provides assistance to other select committees in the two Houses, and to individual MPs and Peers, in their work on European issues and on official visits to Brussels and Strasbourg.

Further Information:

The UK National Parliament Office, Brussels
What is the NPO? Who works there and how do I contact them?

The National Parliament Office and Scrutiny of EU Legislation
The NPO's role in how the UK Parliament scrutinises EU legislation.