The European Union - Institutions
Council of the European Union
APPROVING THE EU BUDGET The money the EU can spend every year is decided jointly by it and the European Parliament.
Council of the European Union
Also informally known as the EU Council, this is where national ministers from each EU country meet to adopt laws and coordinate policies.
The Court of Justice of the European Union
COMPOSITION It has one judge per EU country. It is helped by eight 'advocates-general' whose job is to present opinions on the cases brought before the Court. They must do so publicly and impartially. Each judge and advocate-general is appointed for a term of six years, which can be renewed. The governments of EU countries agree on whom they want to appoint. To help it cope with the large number of cases brought before it, and to offer citizens better legal protection, a 'General Court' deals with cases brought forward by private individuals, companies and some organisations, and cases relating to competition law. The 'EU Civil Service Tribunal' rules on disputes between the European Union and its staff.
European Commission
COMPOSITION The 27 Commissioners, one from each EU country, provide the Commission's political leadership during their 5-year term. Each Commissioner is assigned responsibility for specific policy areas by the President. The current President of the European Commission is José Manuel Barroso who began his second term of office in February 2010. The President is nominated by the European Council. The Council also appoints the other Commissioners in agreement with the nominated President. The appointment of all Commissioners, including the President, is subject to the approval of the European Parliament. In office, they remain accountable to Parliament, which has sole power to dismiss the Commission. The day-to-day running of the Commission is taken care of by the Commission's staff - administrators, lawyers, economists, translators, interpreters, secretarial staff, etc. organised in departments known as Directorates-General (DGs). 'Commission' can be used to refer to the 27 individual Commissioners, the permanent staff or the institution as a whole.
Council of the European Union
COORDINATING ECONOMIC POLICIES EU member countries have decided they want an overall economic policy for Europe, coordinated by the economics and finance ministers of each country. A further objective is to create more jobs and improve education, healthcare and welfare systems. Although each country is responsible for its own policy, they can agree on common goals and learn from each other's experience.
European Parliament
DEMOCRATIC SUPERVISION It exercises influence over other European institutions in several ways. When a new Commission is appointed, its 27 members - one from each EU country - cannot take up office until it has approved them. If the Members of the it disapprove of a nominee, they can reject the entire slate. It can also call on the Commission to resign during its period in office. This is called a 'motion of censure'. It keeps check on the Commission by examining reports it produces and by questioning Commissioners. Its committees play an important part here. MEPs look at petitions from citizens and sets up committees of inquiry. When national leaders meet for European Council summits, it gives its opinion on the topics on the agenda.
European Parliament
Directly elected by EU voters every 5 years, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent the people. Parliament is one of the EU's main law-making institutions, along with the Council.
European Commission
ENFORCING EUROPEAN LAW As 'guardian of the Treaties', it checks that each member country is applying EU law properly. If it thinks a national government is failing to apply EU law, it first sends an official letter asking it to correct the problem. As a last resort , it refers the issue to the Court of Justice. The Court can impose penalties, and its decisions are binding on EU countries and institutions.
Council of the European Union
FOREIGN AND DEFENCE POLICY National governments have independent control in these areas, but are working together to develop a joint foreign and defence policy (known as the 'Common Foreign and Security Policy'). It is the main forum for this cooperation. The EU does not have an army. But to help it respond more quickly to international conflicts and natural disasters, some EU countries provide troops for a rapid reaction force, whose role is limited to humanitarian work, rescues and peace-keeping.
European Council
HISTORY It began informally in 1974 as a forum for discussion between EU leaders. It rapidly developed into the body which fixed goals and priorities for the bloc. Acquiring formal status in 1992, in 2009 it became one of the EU's 7 official institutions.
European Council
HOW DOES IT MAKE DECISION? It decides by consensus, except if the Treaties provide otherwise. In some cases, it adopts decisions by unanimity or by qualified majority, depending on what the Treaty provides for. The presidents of it, and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy do not have a vote.
European Commission
It is one of the main institutions of the European Union. It represents and upholds the interests of the EU as a whole. It drafts proposals for new European laws. It manages the day-to-day business of implementing EU policies and spending EU funds.
Council of the European Union
JUSTICE EU citizens should have equal access to justice anywhere in the EU. In the Council, justice ministers strive to ensure that court judgements in one EU country - on divorce cases, for instance - are recognised in all other EU countries. Justice and interior ministers coordinate the policing of the EU's external borders, and the fight against terrorism and international organised crime.
European Commission
MANAGING THE EU'S BUDGET AND ALLOCATING FUNDS With the Council and Parliament, it sets broad long-term spending priorities for the EU in the EU 'financial framework'. It also draws up an annual budget for approval by Parliament and the Council, and supervises how EU funds are spent - by agencies and national and regional authorities, for instance. It's management of the budget is scrutinised by the Court of Auditors. It manages funding for EU policies (e.g. agriculture and rural development) and programmes such as 'Erasmus' (student exchanges).
Council of the European Union
PASSING EU LAWS It shares the final say on new EU laws proposed by the Commission with the parliament.
European Parliament
PASSING EUROPEAN LAWS In many areas, such as consumer protection and the environment, it works together with the Council (representing national governments) to decide on the content of EU laws and officially adopt them. This process is called 'co-decision'. Under the Lisbon Treaty, the range of policies covered by co-decision has increased, giving it more power to influence the content of laws in areas including agriculture, energy policy, immigration and EU funds. It must also give its permission for other important decisions, such as allowing new countries to join the EU.
European Commission
PROPOSING NEW LAWS It has the 'right of initiative' - it can propose new laws to protect the interests of the EU and its citizens. It does this only on issues that cannot be dealt with effectively at national, regional or local level (subsidiarity principle). When the Commission proposes a law, it tries to satisfy the widest possible range of interests. To get the technical details right, it consults experts through various committees and groups. It also holds public consultations. The Commission's departments produce a draft of the proposed new law. If at least 14 of the 27 Commissioners agree with it, the draft is then sent to the Council and Parliament. After debating and amending the draft, they decide whether to adopt it as a law.
European Commission
REPRESENTING THE EU INTERNATIONALLY It speaks on behalf of all EU countries in international bodies like the World Trade Organisation. It also negotiates international agreements for the EU such as the Cotonou Agreement (on aid and trade between the EU and developing countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific).
Council of the European Union
SIGNING INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS It signs agreements on behalf of the EU - on subjects as diverse as the environment, trade, development, textiles, fisheries, science, technology and transport.
European Parliament
SUPERVISING THE BUDGET It adopts the EU's annual budget with the Council. It has a committee that monitors how the budget is spent, and every year passes judgement on the Commission's handling of the previous year's budget.
The Court of Justice of the European Union
TYPES OF CASES The Court gives rulings on the cases brought before it. The five most common types of cases are: requests for a preliminary ruling - when national courts ask the Court of Justice to interpret a point of EU law actions for failure to fulfil an obligation - brought against EU governments for not applying EU law actions for annulment - against EU laws thought to violate the EU treaties or fundamental rights actions for failure to act - against EU institutions for failing to make decisions required of them direct actions - brought by individuals, companies or organisations against EU decisions or actions
European Parliament
The number of MEPs each country has is roughly in proportion to its population. No country can have fewer than 6 or more than 96 MEPs. MEPs are grouped by political affiliation, not by nationality.
Council of the European Union
VOTING Decisions are taken by qualified majority as a general rule. The bigger a country's population, the more votes it has, but in fact the numbers are weighted in favour of the less populous countries: Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom: 29 votes Spain and Poland: 27 Romania: 14 Netherlands: 13 Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary and Portugal: 12 Austria, Bulgaria and Sweden: 10 Denmark, Ireland, Lithuania, Slovakia and Finland: 7 Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg and Slovenia: 4 Malta: 3 TOTAL: 345 When it votes, 'qualified majority voting' applies. A qualified majority is reached when: a majority (sometimes even two thirds) of the 27 EU countries vote in favour at least 255 of the possible 345 votes are cast Furthermore, a member country can ask for a check to see whether the majority represents minimum 62% of the total population. If this is not the case, the proposal cannot be adopted. In votes concerning sensitive topics - like security and external affairs and taxation - decisions by the Council have to be unanimous. This means that one single country can veto a decision. From 2014 a system known as 'double majority voting' will be introduced. For a proposal to go through, it will need the support of 2 types of majority: a majority of countries (at least 15) and a majority of the total EU population (the countries in favour must represent at least 65% of the EU population).
European Council
WHAT DOES IT DO? Setting the EU's general political direction and priorities, and dealing with complex or sensitive issues that cannot be resolved at a lower level of intergovernmental cooperation.
European Council
WHAT DOES IT DO? Though influential in setting the EU political agenda, it has no powers to pass laws.
European Council
WHAT IS IT? It brings together the heads of state or government of every EU country, the Commission President and the European Council President, who chairs the meetings. The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy also takes part.
Council of the European Union
WHO ARE THE MEMBERS? There are no fixed members as such. At each meeting, each country sends the minister for the policy field being discussed - e.g. the environment minister for the meeting dealing with environmental matters. That meeting will then be known as the "Environment Council"
Council of the European Union
WHO CHAIRS THE MEETINGS? The foreign ministers' Council has a permanent chairperson - the EU's High Representative for foreign and security policy. All other Council meetings are chaired by the relevant minister of the country holding the rotating EU presidency. For example, any environment Council meeting in the period when Estonia holds the presidency will be chaired by the Estonian environment minister.
