Key votes, awards, VIPs... And making it all happen: a continually working machine. EuroparlTV examines the nuts and bolts of plenary sessions.

Behind the scenes of a plenary session

Capital of the French region of Alsace,  sitting on the border with Germany,

and with not a little touch of Venice about it.

And it's home to the landmark  European Parliament

where decisions are taken  by members representing you and me

once a month,  during its plenary session.

Have you ever wondered what goes on  behind the scenes at these sessions?

Well, follow me. First though,  we’re going to start in Brussels.

Let’s wind the clock back for just a moment  to the preceding week here in Brussels

and the preparatory work that goes in to  making sure the plenaries run smoothly

and deliver the intended political objectives.

VIP visits, the award of prizes  celebrating European liberty and culture,

key votes and debates.  But it doesn’t just happen, just like that.

There’s a quiet, constantly pulsing  engine at work here.

A lot of it is centred  around the monthly plenary session.

Here, for example, where hard politics and  compromises are the business of the day,

moderated by a senior member  of the Parliament’s secretariat,

political groups discuss which debates  and votes are to appear on the agenda.

Without majority agreement, it simply  doesn’t happen. So what is on the agenda?

Today’s issues include Europe’s position  in the climate change summit in Lima, Peru,

violence against women  and a right-wing motion of censure

against the entire Commission  of Jean-Claude Juncker.

We as civil servants are here  to assist in the political process.

To guarantee, also, the rights of minorities,

to guarantee that parliamentary procedures  are carried out in a democratic way.

And then we are there  also with a view to ensuring

that when the group leaders meet on  Thursday in the week before Strasbourg

they can concentrate on the political issues.

Thursday is when the  Conference of Presidents of political groups

meets with the President of the Parliament,  Martin Schulz, to set the final agenda.

Anything arising later has to be disclosed  at the plenary and agreed by MEPs.

Okay, that’s some of the preparations  that take place in Brussels.

We’re actually back here in Strasbourg  for the plenary session of November

and who better to take us backstage  than Pascal Feuilloy,

one of the 60 ushers, I think,  in the European Parliament.

Pascal, how long have you been  an usher here?

I've worked for the Parliament  for 15 years.

Well, let’s go in and have a look at some  of the mechanics of the plenary session

and you can explain to me  what happens where.

This is the chamber  of the European parliament.

We have here 751 members  elected by people around Europe.

This is the gallery. People from outside  can come in just to follow the debate.

We can have, per day,  more or less 20,000 people.

Talk me through the breakdown  of the way MEPs sit here.

In the middle you have  the Liberals, the Greens, the Socialists,

and from this part  you have the EPP group.

So it’s really easy to see,  from the podium of the president,

when they want to vote on something,  it’s easy for him to see...

You have to take care  of the thing over there,

because that thing is for  the voting of the members.

He has to introduce this voting card  over there, and then he can vote.

Let me ask you a question,  do you see here in the European Parliament

a different way of doing politics,  party politics,

to what you would have in the parliament  in your home country France

or parliaments in others parts of Europe.

It’s totally different...  It’s less aggressive, I would say.

between different countries,  different cultures.

The vote makes or breaks  European legislation.

And the system that makes it  all go smoothly, in real time,

with everyone knowing  what’s going on, is here.

A sort of engine room  within an engine room.

Let’s go behind the scenes and meet Viorel  Cosma, administrator of voting services.

We follow what the President is saying  in the original,

When the voting terminals are enabled,  the members can cast their vote.

We wait for several seconds. In this lapse  of time they can change their minds,

they can change their vote expression,  and then we display the results.

The next plenary, of course,  will be entirely different:

different debates and issues, different  personalities appearing before the podium.

One thing will remain the same, however.

The continually turning machinery  that makes it all happen.