Folketing overall vote to be allocated a seat. Parties select their candidates using a closed list. Thus, voters select the party of their choice, not any specific candidate. The Danish political system is characterised by a fusion of powers, with the government being drawn from the ranks of the Folketing. Denmark is governed by a Cabinet and a Prime Minister commanding a majority in the Folketing. In order to command a majority and pass laws, the Prime Minister must form alliances with parties outside government, as well as multiple parties within a coalition Cabinet. During his first term, Lars Løkke Rasmussen,
Member of the European Parliament and various EU agencies. The total cost of the European Parliament is approximately €1.756 billion euros per year according to its 2014 budget, about €2.3 million per member of parliament. As this cost is shared by over 500 million citizens of 28 countries, the cost per taxpayer is considerably smaller than that of national parliaments. Until 2009, MEPs were paid (by their own Member State) exactly the same salary as a member of the lower House of their own national parliament. As a result, there was a wide range of salaries in the European Parliament. In 2002, Italian MEPs earned