
Like the US Congress, but unlike the British Parliament - the European Parliament does its most important legislative work in committees. When a proposal is made it is allocated to the relevant committee - who then appoint a member as the rapporteur. Their job is to consult with other members; EU Institutions; and others in order to prepare a report which the committee can adopt. The Plenary sessions then debate and vote on the committeee's report.
The list of committees - with links to details of their work and documents - can be found
here.
In my view the best guide to the European Parliament is by Richard Corbett, Francis Jacobs & Michael Shackleton. Further details can be found
here. Much information is also available on the European Parliament's own
website