INSTITUTIONS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

There are currently five 'institutions of the European Union' which govern the Union. They are outlined in the treaties of the European Union in the following order: the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union (the Council); the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Communities and the European Court of Auditors.^[1]

Contents

Background

Political institutions

Parliament

Council

Commission

Judicial institutions

Reform Treaty changes

Locations

Other bodies and agencies

See also

References

External links

Background

The first institutions were created at the start of the 1950s with the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, which was later joined by two similar communities in the 1960s and merged into a single organisation in 1967 with the Merger Treaty. The institutions were largely similar in makeup and role, although smaller due to there being only six states at the time. However at that time, the Parliament (founded as the Common Assembly) was unelected and only consultative. Its first elections were held in 1979 and gained more powers through through the successive treaties, as did the Commission.^[2][3][4]
Much of this changing has been the shifting of the power balance away from the Council and towards the Parliament. The role of the Commission has often been to mediate between the two or tip the balance.^[5] However the Commission is becoming more accountable to the Parliament: in 1999 it forced the resignation of the Santer Commission^[6] and forced a reshuffle of the proposed Barroso Commission in 2004.^[7]
The development of the institutions, with incremental changes from treaties and agreements, is testament to the evolution of the Union's structures without one clear "master plan". Some such as Tom Reid of the Washington Post said of the institutions that "nobody would have deliberately designed a government as complex and as redundant as the EU".^[8] The new Reform Treaty is a further attempt to modify the institutions (see below) after the Constitution, which would have replaced all previous treaties, was rejected.^[9]

Political institutions

There are three political institutions which hold the executive and legislative power of the Union. The Council represents governments, the Parliament represents citizens and the Commission represents the European interest. Essentially, the Council, Parliament or another party place a request for legislation to the Commission. The Commission then drafts this and presents it to the Parliament and Council, where in most cases both must give their assent. Although the exact nature of this depends upon the legislative procedure in use. Once it is approved and signed by both chambers it becomes law. The Commission's duty is to ensure it is implemented by dealing with the day-to-day running of the Union and taking others to Court if they fail to comply.

Parliament

Main articles: European Parliament

The Parliament is the only directly elected body

The Parliament shares the legislative and budgetary authority of the Union with the Council. The Parliament's President (its speaker) is Hans-Gert Pöttering (EPP), who was elected from the Parliament's members in 2007.^[10]
It 785 members are elected every five years by universal suffrage and sit according to the political allegiance. They represent nearly 500 million citizens (which is second largest democratic electorate in the world) and form the only directly elected body in the Union. Despite forming one of the two legislative chambers of the Union, it has weaker powers that the Council in some areas, and does not have legislative initiative. It does however has powers over the Commission which the Council does not. It has been said that its democratic nature and growing powers have made it one of the most powerful legislatures in the world.^[11][12]

Council

Main articles: Council of the European Union

The Council is the main decision making body

The Council (informally known as the Council of Ministers) is a body holding legislative and executive powers and is thus the main decision making body of the Union. Its Presidency rotates between the states every six months, but every three Presidencies now cooperate on a common programme. This body is separate from the European Council which is a similar but is composed of national leaders: see below.^[13]
The Council meets in various forms depending upon the topic but essentially it is one national minister per state. For example, if agriculture is being discussed, the Council will be composed of each national minister for agriculture. They represent their governments and are accountable to their national political systems. Votes are taken either by majority or unanimity with votes allocated according to population. In these various forms they share the legislative and budgetary power of the Parliament, and also led cooperation in the second and third pillars: the Common Foreign and Security Policy along with Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters.

Commission

Main articles: European Commission

The Commission froms the executive

The Commission is the executive arm of the Union. It is a body composed of one appointed from each state, currently twenty-seven, but is designed to be independent of national interests. The body is responsible for drafting all law of the European Union and has a monopoly over legislative initiative within the European Community pillar. It also deals with the day-to-day running of the Union and has a duty to uphold the law and treaties (in this role it is known as the "Guardian of the Treaties").^[14]
The Commission is led by a President who is nominated by the Council (in practice the European Council) and approved by Parliament. The remaining Commissioners are proposed by member states, in consultation with the President, and then have to be approved by the Parliament as a whole before the Commission can take office. The current President is José Manuel Barroso (EPP), his commission was elected in 2004 and has a mandate until 2009.

Judicial institutions

Main articles: European Court of Justice, European Court of Auditors

The Court of Justice has the last word on Union law

The Court of Justice is the highest court of the Union on matters of Union law and is composed of 27 judges (one per state) with a President elected from among them (currently Vassilios Skouris). Its role is to ensure that Union law is allied in the same way across all states and to settle legal disputes between institutions or states. It has become a powerful institution as Union law overrides national law. In 2001 it ruled that parts of the German Constitution were illegal according to the treaties and had to be amended. This realted to the ban on women participating in military combat.^[15][16]
The Court of Justice is assisted by a lower court called the Court of First Instance and a Civil Service Tribunal which are designed to reduce the workload of the main court.
The fifth institution is the Court of Auditors, which ensures that taxpayer funds from the budget of the European Union have been correctly spent. It is the only institutions not mentioned in the original treaties, being set up in 1975. It was created as an independent institution due to the sensitivity of the issue of fraud in the Union (the anti-fraud agency, OLAF, is also built on its independence).^[17]

Reform Treaty changes

The Central Bank and European Council would become institutions under the new treaty

The Reform Treaty outlines a number of changes to the institutional structure of the Union. It is still being agreed but the current draft, which largely follows the changes proposed in the European Constitution which would alter the names of some institutions, increase the powers of the Parliament and make the following bodies formal institutions.^[18]
The European Council would become an institution. At present it is an informal body linked to the Council; it being composed not of ministers but of state leaders together with the Commission President. It meets four times a year to define the Union's policy agenda and give impetus to intergration. Its presidency works in the same basis as that of the Council, rotating between each member every six months. The holder of the Presidency has no formal powers, but has influence over agenda and representation. The body as a whole has been described as the highest political body of the European Union. Under the proposed treaty, it would be made more formal and have its own, permenant, ''President of the European Council'' - but it would still be an administrative position. The European Council would gain the executive powers of the Council (now called the Council of Ministers) such as the power to appoint the Commission President and High Representative.^[19]
The European Central Bank, is the second body set to become an institution. It is the central bank for the eurozone (the 13 states which have formerly adopted the euro) and thus controls monetary policy in that area with an agenda to maintain price stability. It is at the centre of the European System of Central Banks which comprises all EU national banks. The bank is governed by a board comprising of national bank governors and a President, currently Jean-Claude Trichet, appointed by the Council. This power of appointment will pass to the European Council. From the start the bank was designed to be independent of political influences, which has been questioned by figures such as Nicolas Sarkozy. With the agreement to make the bank an institution, Trichet has expressed concern that it could undermine the bank's independence. He fears that the bank would be bound by the same code as the other institutions, to cooperate and pursue a common agenda. This may encourage leaders to put political pressure on the banks decisions.^[20][21]

Locations

Main articles: Location of European Union institutions

The institutions are not concentrated in a single capital city, they are instead based across three cities, Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg. The current arrangement was agreed in 1992 and attached to the Treaty of Amsterdam.^[22] The treaty states that the Commission and Council would be based in Brussels, the Courts in Luxembourg and the Parliament in Strasbourg. However some departments of the Commission and meetings of the Council take place in Luxembourg, while the Parliament has its committees and some sessions in Brussels and its secretariat in Luxembourg. Of the new institutions, the Central Bank is based in Frankfurt^[23] while the European Council is based in Brussels (but has some extrodinary meetings elsewhere).^[24]

Other bodies and agencies

The EESC and CoR advise the other institutions

There are a number of other bodies and agencies of note that are not formal institutions. There are two advisory committees to the institutions which in some cases must be consulted: the Economic and Social Committee (EESC) advises on economic and social policy (principally relations between workers and employers) being made up of representatives of various industries and work sectors. Its 344 members, appointed by the Council for four-year terms, are organised into three fairly equal groups representing employers, employees and other various interests;^[25] while the Committee of the Regions (CoR) is composed of representative of regional and local authorities who hold an electoral mandate. It advises on regional issues. It has 344 members, organised in political groups, appointed every four years by the Council.^[26] The is also the European Investment Bank, which provides long term loans to help development and intergration.^[27]
There are a number of specialised and decentralised agencies operated by the Commission, or sometimes the Council. They are set up by legislation or a treaty to deal with specific problems or areas. These include the European Environment Agency or Europol.^[28] In addition to these there are also three inter-institutional bodies: the Office for Official Publications, which publishes and distributes official Union publications;^[29] the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO), a recruitment body which organises competitions for posts within Union institutions;^[30] and the European Administrative School (EAS), which provides specific training for the staff of Union institutions.^[31] Another body is OLAF, a major independent anti-fraud agency. Its mission is to protect the financial interests of the Union.^[32] Two further posts are: the European Ombudsman deals with citizens grievances against the Union's institutions and is elected for five-year terms by the Parliament;^[33] the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) ensures the institutions respect citizens' privacy rights in relation to data processing.^[34]

See also

★ List of the names of bodies of the European Union in its official languages

★ European Union: Governance

★ Brussels and the European Union

References

1. Consolidated versions of the treaty on European Union and of the treaty establishing the European Community
2. European Parliament
3. Council of the European Union
4. European Commission.
5. Democratizing the European Union: Issues for the twenty-first Century (Perspectives on Democratization, , Catherine, Hoskyns, Manchester University Press, ,
6. The resignation of the Santer-Commission: the impact of 'trust' and 'reputation'
7. “We have to democratise procedures”
8. The United States of Europe, , Tom, Reid, Penguin Books, ,
9. Q&A: The Reform Treaty
10. Parliament's powers and procedures
11. Parliament - an overview. Welcome
12. Professor Farrell: "The EP is now one of the most powerful legislatures in the world"
13. Institutions: The Council of the European Union
14. Institutions: The European Commission
15. Germany votes for women in combat
16. Institutions: Court of Justice
17. Institutions: Court of Auditors
18. Draft treaty modifying the treaty on the European Union and the treaty establishing the European community
19. The European Council under Construction
20. ECB, ESCB and the Eurosystem
21. Central bank chief urges change to EU treaty
22. The seats of the institutions of the European Union
23. Protocol (No 8) on the location of the seats of the institutions and of certain bodies and departments of the European Communities and of Europol (1997)
24. Evolution of the European Council: The implications of a permanent seat
25. The European Economic and Social Committee
26. PRESENTATION / Role
27. About the EIB
28. Agencies of the EU
29. Activities
30. European Personnel Selection Office
31. Welcome to the eas
32. OLAF
33. At a glance
34. Welcome to the home page of the European Data Protection Supervisor

External links

★ EU institutions and other bodies, Europa (web portal)