the European Union

intergovernmentalism

interactions between national governments

supranationalism

forces or actors at the european level

executive branch

european commission

european council

legislative branch

European Parliament

european council

judicial branch

court of justice of the EU

important principles of EU law

direct effect

supremacy of EU law over national law

mutual recognition

European single market

goods, services, capital, labour

constraints on EU policy-making

EU does not collect taxes

budget is small

creation and regulation of single market