Navigation

European Union

EU institutions

What sets the European Union apart from more traditional international organizations is its unique institutional structure. In accepting the European Treaties, member states relinquish a measure of sovereignty to independent institutions representing national and shared interests. The institutions complement one another, each having a part to play in the decision-making process.

The Council of the European Union is the main decision-making institution. It is made up of ministers from the 15 member states with responsibility for the policy area under discussion at a given meeting: foreign affairs, agriculture, industry, transport, the environment and so on.

The Council, which represents the member states, enacts Union legislation (regulations, directives and decisions). It is the Union's legislature, as it were, although it shares this function with the European Parliament. The Council and Parliament also have joint control over the Union's budget. The Council adopts international agreements negotiated by the Commission. And lastly, the Council is responsible for coordinating the general economic policies of the member states.

The Presidency of the Council rotates, changing hands every six months. The ground for the Council's discussions is prepared by a committee of Member States' permanent representatives to the Union, which is assisted in turn by working parties of civil servants from the appropriate national ministries. There is also a General Secretariat, based in Brussels.

The European Council evolved from the practice, started in 1974, of organizing regular meetings of Heads of Government of the Community. The arrangement was formalized by the Single Act in 1987. The European Council meets at least twice a year, and the President of the Commission now attends in his own right. The President of the European Parliament addresses each European Council meeting.

As European affairs became more and more important in the political life of the member states, it became clear that there was a need for national leaders to meet to discuss the important issues being examined by the Union. The Treaty of Maastricht sanctioned the role of the European Council as the launch pad for the Union's major political initiatives and a forum for settling controversial issues not resolved within the Council of the European Union.

The European Parliament provides a democratic forum for debate. It has a watchdog function and also plays a part in the legislative process. Elections for the European Parliament are held by direct universal suffrage every five years (the first were held in June 1979). Parliament currently has 626 seats. Parliament normally meets in plenary session in Strasbourg. Brussels is the usual venue for meetings of its 20 committees, which prepare the ground for meetings in plenary, and of its political groups. Parliament's Secretariat is in Luxembourg.

Parliament shares the legislative function with the Council: it has a hand in the drafting of directives and regulations, putting forward amendments which it invites the Commission to incorporate into its proposals. Parliament also shares budgetary powers with the Council. It can adopt the budget or reject it, as it has on several occasions in the past. When that happens, the whole procedure begins again from scratch. Parliament makes full use of its budgetary powers to try to influence policy.

Lastly, Parliament is the body which exercises democratic control of the Community. It approves the appointment of the Commission President and can dismiss him or her by a motion of censure supported by a two-thirds majority of its members. It also comments and votes on the Commission's program each year.

The European Commission is another key Community institution. The number of Commissioners was increased to 20 on 5 January 1995 (two each for France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, and one each for the remaining countries). Commissioners are appointed by the member states for a term of five years, and the Commission is subject to confirmation by Parliament. Under the Treaty of Amsterdam the President of the Commission is appointed by common accord of the governments of the Member States, subject to approval by the European Parliament. Finally, the governments of the member states, together with the President-designate, appoint the other members of the Commission. The entire Commission is then subject to the Parliament's vote of approval.

The Commission enjoys a great deal of independence in performing its duties. It represents the Community interest and takes no instructions from individual member states. As the guardian of the Treaties, it ensures that regulations and directives adopted by the Council are properly implemented. It can bring a case before the Court of Justice to ensure that Community law is enforced. The Commission has sole right of initiative and can intervene at any stage in the legislative process to facilitate agreement within the Council or between the Council and Parliament. It also has an executive function in that it implements decisions taken by the Council - under the common agricultural policy, for instance. And it has significant powers in relation to the conduct of common policies in areas such as research and technology, development aid and regional cohesion.

The Commission is backed by a civil service, mainly located in Brussels and Luxembourg. It comprises 25 departments, called Directorates-General, each responsible for implementation of common policies and general administration in a specific area.

The Court of Justice, which sits in Luxembourg, comprises 15 judges and nine advocates-general appointed for a renewable six-year term by agreement between the member states, which select them "from persons whose independence is beyond doubt". The Court's role is to ensure that Community law is interpreted and implemented in line with the Treaties. For example, the Court may rule that a member state has failed to act on an obligation under the Treaties; check the instruments enacted by the Community institutions for compatibility with the Treaties when an action for annulment is brought; and censure the European Parliament, Council or Commission for failure to act.

The Court of Justice is also the only body with the power to give an opinion on the correct interpretation of the Treaties or the validity and interpretation of instruments enacted by the Community institutions when requested to do so by a national court. If a question of this kind is raised in a case before a national court the Court of Justice may, and in certain cases must, be asked to give a preliminary ruling.

The Treaty of Amsterdam explicitly confers jurisdiction on the Court to check that Community instruments respect fundamental rights. It also extends the Court's jurisdiction to matters affecting the freedom and security of the people.

 

Updated on at Thursday, June 14, 2007