Campaign across the European Union: Next month's elections to the European Parliament will be the biggest exercise in continental-scale democracy Europe has ever seen - but it is an exercise in which only half of the EU's citizens are likely to take part.
For the 732 MEPs elected next month, convincing voters of their usefulness could well be the biggest challenge of the next five years. The European Parliament is, however, an increasingly powerful institution, which makes important decisions that affect the lives of all Europeans.
Among the more confusing features of the EU's institutional structure is the misleading nature of any comparison between European bodies and their national counterparts. The European Parliament, for example, shares many of the characteristics of a national parliament, with political groups, plenary debates and a president who plays a role similar to that of the Ceann Comhairle in Ireland.
The European Parliament is unlike any other, however, insofar as it has no right to initiate legislation - a right that is held exclusively by the European Commission. This is an important limitation but it has not prevented the parliament from becoming more influential in shaping EU decisions.
In many policy areas, EU initiatives need the approval of both the parliament and the Council of Ministers, where national governments meet. If the new constitutional treaty is adopted, almost all decisions will need the parliament's approval.
The parliament shares with the Council of Ministers control over the EU budget and the parliament has twice rejected an annual budget plan.
Although the parliament's official seat is in the French city of Strasbourg, MEPs spend only one week there every month, when they attend plenary sessions. The rest of their time is spent in Brussels, where the bulk of MEPs' work is done in committees.
There are 17 standing committees, focusing on everything from foreign affairs and defence to transport, tourism and the environment. The parliament can also set up temporary committees or committees of inquiry into political issues.
Membership of the committees is determined, like much else in the parliament, by the political groups, which are allocated seats according to their strength. Almost all MEPs are in one of seven groups, with the rest registering as "non-attached".
The largest group in the outgoing parliament is the European People's Party/European Democrats (EPP/ED), a coalition of Christian Democrats (including Fine Gael) and the British Conservatives. Some 232 of the 626 MEPs elected in 1999 belong to this group, which is also expected to emerge as the largest in the new parliament, although there is little prospect of an overall majority for any group.
The second largest group is the Party of European Socialists, which includes Labour's Mr Proinsias De Rossa and the SDLP's Mr John Hume among the 175 of its members elected in 1999. Although it is smaller than the centre-right group, the Socialist group is more politically coherent, with none of the divisions between Europhiles and Eurosceptics that add colour to debates within the EPP/ED.
The outgoing president of the Parliament, Mr Pat Cox, is a former leader of the European Liberal, Democratic and Reform Party and Ireland's outgoing Green MEPs, Ms Patricia McKenna and Ms Nuala Ahern, belong to the Green group, led by Mr Daniel Cohn-Bendit. Fianna Fáil MEPs sit with one of the parliament's smallest groups, the Union for Europe of the Nations, led by the former French interior minister, Mr Charles Pasqua, and home to a small number of MEPs with a conservative outlook.
Many MEPs complain that their important legislative work is obscured by reports of a lavish expenses regime and occasional scandals over financial irregularities. MEPs are paid at different rates depending on their country of origin but most earn generous salaries.
Irish MEPs earn about €80,000 per annum, similar to a TD's salary and they pay tax at Irish rates. Every MEP can claim a further €262 in cash each morning he or she spends in Brussels or Strasbourg, to cover accommodation and subsistence.
They are also entitled to more than €15,000 per month in office and secretarial expenses.
The most glaring anomaly in the expenses system concerns travel, with each MEP receiving the full, business class return fare between their home and the parliament each week, regardless of the actual price of the ticket purchased.
The parliament and the Council of Ministers failed to agree earlier this year on a plan to reform the pay and expenses system. MEPs in some countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, have adopted a voluntary code of conduct, however, promising to claim only those expenses for which they can provide receipts.
The issue of pay and expenses is expected to feature in election campaigns in some countries during the next few weeks, notably in Germany where the popular press has recently become alert to the issue. Other issues likely to command attention throughout the EU include the constitutional treaty and the question of whether to start formal accession talks with Turkey.
The election results will become known a few days before an EU summit in Brussels must choose a successor to Mr Romano Prodi as Commission president. The new Commission president and his or her team must be approved by the incoming European Parliament and EPP/ED has threatened to block any candidate that is not drawn from the centre-right.
Few observers expect the centre-right to win enough seats to make good their threat but a strong showing by either of the big groups could give the leaders pause as they choose Mr Prodi's successor.