MEPs interests are threefold: re-election, policy, and office. These three goals are everything but independent of each other , and the relative importance of the three goals is everything but equal. Re-election is the most important goal: Without re-election, there is neither office (within the legislature) nor policy (influence). And it is much harder to influence policy out of office than it is in office (e.g. by using the strategic advantages of holding an important committee chair).

The latest IMF forecast predicts the UK will be the fastest-growing economy among the major developed nations this year.

Applied medicine has included the following

1. To reinvent the European economy through a 'Green New Deal' by ending austerity, restructuring public and private debt and investing massively in sustainable sectors and technologies.

2. To create a more social Europe with stronger workers' rights, better portability of social rights through a 'European Social Card' and the inclusion of employment promotion among the European Central Bank's policy objectives.

1. To fight against unemployment and boosting job creation will be the overarching theme for everything we do in the next five years. In five years, I want to be able to say we have made Europe once more the prime location for business, because the smart new products are developed in European labs, manufactured in European factories by European workers and shipped from European ports to the rest of the world!
2. To relaunch the economy by investing in smart re-industrialization programmes focused on innovation, research and training.

1. To boost the economy by completing the single market, working for an EU-US Free Trade Agreement and better support for the SMEs;
2. To support education reform by promoting apprenticeships and the recognition of diplomas across Europe;
3. To protect the environment and ensure energy security by fixing the emission trading system and investing in a pan-European electricity grid;
4. To promote a more competitive Europe by investing in future oriented sectors such as renewable energy;

1. To put policies that create growth and jobs at the centre of the policy agenda of the next Commission. Creation of a digital single market for consumers and businesses – making use of the great opportunities of digital technologies which know no borders. To do so, it will be necessary to break down national silos in telecoms regulation, in copyright and data protection legislation, in the management of radio waves and in competition law.

• 751 members of the European Parliament;
• The President of the European Commission;
• 27 Commissioners for the member states;
• The President of the European Council, Herman Von Rompuy’s replacement whose mandate comes to an end on 1 December 2014;
• 2 Presidents of the EP for the first and second two and a half years;
• A permanent President of the Eurozone;
• 20 European Parliament Committee Chairs or 22 if you include the two sub-committees in the European Parliament as well;

The development of open democratic procedures in government naturally encourages the emergence and participation of many interest groups, both within and outside of government in public policy decision making.

The EU defines ‘interest representation’ as including all activities carried out with the objective of influencing the policy formulation and decision-making processes of the EU institutions.

The EU Transparency Register clearly states that ‘Think-Tanks and Research Institutions’ dealing with the activities and policies of the European Union must register.

Put simply, a think-tank usually conducts in-depth research into a particular/issue or cause, preferably coming up with some new ideas as well as create specific policy recommendations regarding the issue based on it’s in-depth research, to Government, Business, Trade associations, Unions etc.