Institutions of the European Union

12 Mark question

Institutions of the European Union

• European Commission

• European Parliament

• Council of the EU

• Court of the Justice of the EU

EU Commission (Membership)

• Each member state appoints one commissioner who is supposed to act independently from their nation

• Are appointed to 5 year terms unless removed by parliament

• Are appointed to lead a department by the President

EU Commission (Role)

Responsible for day to day management of the EU, overseeing the different departments and policy areas

EU Commission (Legal functions)

• Puts forward proposals for new laws to be adopted by Parliament and the Council

• ‘Guardian’ of the treaties and ensures they are properly implemented. Duty to intervene if a member state infringes a provision. Will refer the member state to the Court (CJEU)

• Responsible for the administration of the EU and it has powers to implement the Union’s budget and supervise the money

European Parliament (Membership)

• Over 700 MEPs - directly elected by voters in each individual country

• Elected every 5 years, each country gets a number of MEPs proportional to their population

• MEPs will organise themselves by political grouping rather than by nation:

  • Left-wing = S&P

  • Centrist = Renew

  • Right-wing = EPP

European Parliament (Role)

• Represent voters of each country

• Will vote to approve or reject new EU laws

European Parliament (Legal functions)

• Can discuss and debate proposals made by the Commission

• Can co-legislate on an equal footing with the Council

• Can approve / reject a legislative proposal made by the Commission, or propose amendments

• Decides on international agreements

• Decides whether to admit new Member states

Council of the EU (Membership)

• Each country sends a representative (usually the country’s Foreign Minister)

• Sometimes meetings will be between the leaders (e.g. Presidents, Prime Ministers)

Council of the EU (Role)

The principle law-making and decision making body of EU as it is made up of members of each country’s Government

Council of the EU (Legal functions)

• Negotiates, amends and adopts laws

• Ministers responsible for the policy will attend the meeting and usually have the authority from the national Govt. to commit to the new laws / policies

• Approval for new laws requires a double majority:

  • 55% of member sates, that

  • Repesents 65% of total EU population

Court of the Justice of the EU (Membership)

• Each country appoints one judge to a 6 year term

• Judges will select one of them to be the President of the Court

• Judges are appointed from the top courts in each country

• Judges are assisted by 11 Advocates General - also appointed for 6 years

Court of the Justice of the EU (Role)

Ensure that EU law is interpreted and applied uniformly across all countries in the EU

Court of the Justice of the EU (Legal functions)

• Hearing cases to decide whether a Member state has failed to fulfil obligations

• Hearing references from national courts for preliminary rulings on points of EU law

• These rulings are binding on all member states

• Judges rule on the cases

• Advocate Generals research all legal points and present with complete impartiality and independence