Stephen Clark’s and Julian Priestley’s recent book Europe’s Parliament: People, Places, Politics lets their readers discover and rediscover the European Parliament. The authors – the current head of web communications and the former Secretary General of the institution – show people who matter, places that are important, and politics as it happens in reality.

In the preface to the book, Jacques Delors points to the contribution of this book to help “understand this European adventure, the big steps as well as the small ones that must be taken” and recalls the “unique experience of dialogue and debate with fellow parliamentarians from other member states”.

This synthesis written by Valentin Kreilinger puts a focus on three specific topics that correspond to the key words in the title of the book: 

– MEPs with visibility (“people”) who can receive “glittering prizes”, 

– the question of the seat(s) of the parliament (“places”),

– and the European Parliament as an actor in the Political System of the European Union (“politics”) with a focus on the crucial role of the rapporteur in the legislative process.

The book itself is structured into thirteen chapters with numerous photos from the Parliament’s archives – there are many more People, many more Places, and more Politics than those included in this synthesis.