INSTITUTIONS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
Five institutions govern the European Union;
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Commission
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Parliament
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Council of Ministers
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Court of Justice
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Court of Auditors
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
The European Commission is at the very core of the European Union. It is a supranational institution, which is independent of the national governments. It proposes policies and legislation, is responsible for administration, ensures that the provisions of the Treaties and the decisions of the institutions are properly implemented, and drafts proposals for the further development of common policy. The Commissioners, including the president, are appointed by common agreement among the Member States and approved by the European Parliament.
The Commission consists of thirty-six directorates-general and specialized services. They are each headed by a director-general, who is equivalent in rank to the top civil service in a government ministry. The director-generals report to a Commissioner, each of who has the political and operational responsibility for one or more directorates-general.
The Commissioners are a combination of 20 men and woman who have generally sat in national parliament, or the European Parliament, or who have held office at ministerial level. The Commission is appointed for a five-year term.
The Commission gets together once a week to adopt proposals, finalize policy papers and take other decisions required of it. Decisions are taken, where necessary, by a majority vote, and when a decision has been accepted it then becomes Commission policy.
Each Commissioner has his or her own private office or cabinet, as well as the staff in the directorates-general for which they are responsible.
Two Commissioners come from each of the “big” Member States;
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Germany
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Spain
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France
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Italy
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United Kingdom
The “smaller” Member States have one from each;
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Belgium
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Denmark
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Greece
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Ireland
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Luxembourg
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The Netherlands
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Austria
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Portugal
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Finland
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Sweden
As the Commission holds central position in the European Union it has special links with the other institutions. The Commission works with the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament in drafting European Union legislation, and attends meetings of the Council and Parliament. Only the Parliament has the power to dismiss the Commission by a vote of censure or no confidence.
As the European Court of Justice has the final say in European Law, the Commission will work closely with this institution.
The Court of Auditors scrutinizes the European Union budget, which is managed by the Commission, and the Court of Auditors will examine the legality and regularity of revenue and expenditure, and ensure the sound financial management of the European Unions budget. Fraud and wastage are 2 common objectives both institutions aim to eliminate.
The Commission also works closely with the European Unions two consultative bodies, the Economic and Social Committee, and the Committee of the Regions, and consults with them on most items of draft legislation.
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
The European Parliament has a limited legislative role due to the co-decision procedure introduced by the Maastricht Treaty. The Parliament acts as the European Union’s public forum, debating issues of public importance and questioning the Commission and the Council. The Parliament can amend or reject the European Union budget. The Members of the European parliament (MEP’s) are directly elected by the people, and form political rather than national groups.
MEP’s represent the 370 million citizens of Europe from all 15 Member States and help ensure democratic control over the running of the European Union.
The Parliament was elected by direct universal suffrage for the first time in 1979. Elections take place every five years. The next European election is in June 2004.
The Parliament meets and debates in public. Its 626 Members, including 87 from the UK, meet for one week a month in Strasburg in plenary session, occasionally in Brussels for shorter plenary sessions, as well as for committee meetings in Brussels during intervening weeks.
MEP’s scrutinize, amend and vote draft legislation. They also approve the annual European Union budget; question Ministers and Commissioners, debate issues affecting the European Union and draw attention to the problems of their constituents.
The Parliament now has co-decision powers and a veto in many areas of the European Union law.
MEP’s have an important say in a wide range of Community legislation that has a direct effect on citizens of the Union. This includes the environment, trade, transport, energy and research policy, consumer protection, equal opportunities, regional policy, educational and cultural matters, and the European Union budget, which supports many projects in the UK.
The powers and roles of the various European Union institutions, including the European Parliament, were originally set out in the 1957 Treaty of Rome. The 1986 Single European Act, the 1993 Maastricht Treaty, the 1997 Amsterdam Treaty, and the 2001 Treaty of Nice have since elaborated them.
The Political Groups
The vast majority of MEPs belong to one or other of the political groups. Members who do not belong to any of the groups are known as 'non-attached Members'. A political group must include MEPs from more than one member state and have a minimum number of members. There are currently seven political groups in the European Parliament. The groups draw on more than a hundred national parties. Several of the political groups have links to parties at European level, recognised by the Treaty, as 'a factor for integration within the European Union which contributes to forming a European awareness and to expressing the political will of the citizens'. Each political group has a chairman, a bureau and a secretariat.
Before votes in plenary sessions, the groups consider reports from Parliament's committees in the light of their political views and often table amendments to them. They also play an important part in deciding on the agendas for plenary sessions and choosing the topical issues to be placed on these agendas.
Political groups and their numbers of MEPs
European Peoples Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats 232
Party of the European Socialists 175
European liberal Democrats and Reform Party 53
European United Left/Nordic Green Left 49
Green/European Free Alliance 45
Union for Europe of the Nation Group 23
Europe for Democracies and Diversities 18
Non-attached 31
It should be noted that no one internal political group rules in the European Parliament as it is ruled by coalition politics.
The European parliaments powers are Political, Legislative and Budgetary.
Political
- Approves appointment of the Commissions President
- Approves appointment of commission after public hearings
- Questions the council and commission
- Can censure and dismiss the whole commission
Legislative
- Delivers opinion on commission proposals
- Shares final decision on most proposals with council
- Assent required for enlargement of European Union and agreement with third countries
Budgetary
- Can modify certain proposed expenditure
- Approval required for annual budget
- Budgetary Control Committee checks expenditure (together with Court of Auditors)
Committees within the European Parliament
Within the European Parliament there are 17 permanent Committees dealing with different subject areas. Each Committee has a number of MEPs who are full members, and others who are 'substitute' members. There are also a number of temporary Committees which are formed as important matters arise - for example, on Echelon or genetic technology.
When a piece of draft legislation is sent to Parliament from the Commission, it is given to the relevant Committee to deal with. The Committee, by co-ordinating the political groups, allocates one of its members as 'Rapporteur'. The Rapporteur is responsible for writing a Report on the Commission document on behalf of the Committee. A typical report would consist of a number of amendments, or changes to the text, where the Rapporteur thinks that improvements need to be made.
Normally, one or more other Committees produce an Opinion on the original proposal. For example, the Civil Liberties Committee is responsible for producing the Report on the proposal for a Community Immigration Policy. The Employment and Social Affairs Committee has been asked to write an Opinion on the proposal, in which they will ask the former Committee to include certain points in its report which cover the subject from the employment and social angle.
Once the Rapporteur has produced the report, other Committee members may also submit amendments to the text. The report then goes to vote in the Committee - the Committee votes on whether to accept each submitted amendment into the text, and finally whether to accept the report as a whole. The majority of reports are accepted, and go on to be voted on by the whole Parliament in the plenary session. This is when the whole Parliament meets together to discuss reports, amend them and put them to the vote, thus adopting its position on the matter. Amendments may therefore also be submitted prior to the plenary vote.
The report adopted by the Parliament then passes to the Council for their consideration. What happens at this stage depends on the procedure the proposal falls under. The number of times a piece of legislation in preparation goes back and forth between players, from the time of the initial proposal to its final adoption as a piece of EU legislation, varies according to the procedure. The legal base of each proposal, as set out in the Treaties, determines which procedure it falls under. The process can take years. Parliament often has to deal with the same proposal twice, as there is frequently a 'Second Reading', after the Parliament's decision the first time round has been considered by the Council and Commission. There are four different procedures.
How much influence the Parliament's own decision on a particular proposal has on the final piece of legislation varies - it is just one of a number of institutions involved in forming legislation. A lot of bargaining and give and take goes on between the different institutions involved. On some matters the Parliament's opinion must be taken into account, and the legislation cannot be passed without Parliament's agreement. This is called the co-decision procedure. On others, however, the Parliament gives its opinion but this does not have to be taken into account by the Council, which has the final say. This is called the consultation procedure. There is also a co-operation procedure, which gives the Parliament more say than in consultation but less than in co-decision, but this is now rarely used, and an assent procedure, which is reserved solely for special measures.
It is in the Parliament's interests that as much as possible is based on co-decision procedure, where its powers are strongest, and as little as possible is based on the consultation procedure, where its powers are weakest. The procedure a legislative proposal falls under depends, broadly speaking, on its subject area. Since 1997, more EU legislation is subject to co-decision procedure, but agricultural, justice and home affairs, trade, fiscal, harmonisation and EMU issues are still not.
THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
The Council of Ministers of the European Union enacts legislation, which is binding throughout European Union territory and directs intergovernmental co-operation. It is the most important decision-making body in the European Union, possessing legislative and executive powers. The Council is composed of ministers representing the national governments of the 15 Member States. Different ministers attend Council meeting depending on the subject matter being discussed. The most important is the General Affairs Council (Foreign Ministers), which is responsible for foreign policy as well as the overall co-ordination and steering of the Council’s work. The Council takes decision either by a simple majority of its members, by qualified majority of weighted votes, or unanimously, depending on the subject matter. The Council's decisions are taken either unanimously or by qualified majority depending upon the subject of the legislation. When voting by qualified majority the more populous Member States are accorded more rates than the smaller ones.
(of the 87 "QMV"s 62 votes are required to pass a law
and 26 votes are required to block one).
The Presidency of the Council rotates among the Member States every six months. Each presidency concludes with the European Council, hosted by the Head of State or Government of the country holding the Presidency. The European Council brings together Heads of State and Government and the President of the European Commission. As the highest political organ it determines the general policy guidelines and objectives of the European union. It defines the principle and general policy of the Common Foreign and Security policy and makes important personnel decisions such as the appointment of the European Commission President.
The Councils work is prepared by the Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER II), consisting of the Permanent Representatives of the Member States in Brussels and of their Deputies (COREPER I), which meet every week. This committee also overseas and co-ordinates the work of some 250 committee and working parties made up of civil servants from the Member States who prepare at the technical level the matters to be discussed by Coreper and the council.
Role in the business of the Council
Permanent Representatives act on behalf of their national ministers in dealing with Council business in between meetings, agreeing the agenda order for Council meetings and preparing (except on the most controversial issues) agreed positions on agenda items. This is done through the Committee of Permanent Representatives or COREPER, which operates at several levels:
COREPER I consist of the Deputy Permanent Representatives and prepare the more routine issues. Their assistants meet as the Mertens Group to prepare for COREPER I meetings.
COREPER II consists of the Permanent Representatives themselves. This group prepares the most important issues, and attempts to prepare the more controversial ones. Just as the Permanent Representatives prepare for Council meetings, so their assistants prepare for COREPER II meetings through a less formal body known as the Antici Group.
THE COURT OF JUSTICE
The European Court of Justice, sitting in Luxembourg, is the European Union’s “Supreme Court”. It ensures that the Treaties are interpreted and applied correctly by the European Union institutions and Member States.
The Court comprises of 15 judges, one from each Member State, assisted by nine advocates-general. It is also assisted by a Court of First Instance, which has jurisdiction to hear cases in limited cases.
THE COURT OF AUDITORS
The Court of Auditors, based in Luxembourg as well, consists of 15 members appointed by an unanimous decision of the Council after consulting Parliament. It has extensive powers to examine the legality of receipts and expenditures and the sound financial management of the European Budget.
In addition, the European System of Central Banks and the European Central Bank (Frankfurt) are responsible for monetary policy and the EURO in the Economic and Monetary Union, which comprises eleven states at the outset.
COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
Many of the decisions taken in the European Union have direct implication for the regions of the European Union, whether they concern the use of Structural Fund resources or cultural issues. The regions have their say in the European legislative process. Their mouthpiece is the Committee of the Regions. It has two tasks: to represent the interests of the regions and their inhabitants and to ensure that information concerning European Union policy is conveyed directly to the regions.
The Committee of the Regions represents the interests of the local and regional authorities in the European legislative process.
Whenever an European Union decision affects the interests of the region, the Commission or the Council has to consult the Committee of the Regions on matters such as economic and social cohesion, the Trans-European Networks, health care, education, youth or cultural affairs.
In addition, the Committee of the Regions can be consulted whenever the Council or Commission sees fit. The Committee can also adopt positions of its own accord on other political matters which are of interest to the local and regional authorities.
The Committee of the Regions is made up of 222 members who represent the regional and local authorities of the European Union and are appointed by the Council for a four-year term. The members are often regional presidents, mayors of cities or chairmen of city or county councils.
France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom have 24 members each, Spain 21 members, Austria, Belgium, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden have 12 members each, Denmark, Ireland and Finland 9 members each and Luxembourg has 6 members.
TYPES OF LEGISLATION
Legislation adopted by the Commission or the Council can take the following forms set out in the Treaty:
Regulations
These are of a general nature, binding in their entirety and directly applicable in all Member States needing no national implementation. Regulations have direct effect in that they can be invoked by individuals or legal entities of the Member States in national courts as a basis for enforceable rights.
Directives
These are addressed to the Member States and are only binding as to the results to be achieved requiring national legislation to be passed for their implementation. Deadlines are provided for national implementation though in practice these deadlines are not al-ways met by all the Member States. While in principle directives cannot be relied upon by individuals, where the deadline has expired, and provided that the language of the Directive is unambiguous, leaving no discretion to the Member States, then the Directive can have direct effect.
Decisions
These are binding in their entirety on their addressees, being either: Member States, companies or private individuals. A decision directed to a company might, for instance, require that company terminates a cartel arrangement and pays a fine.
European Law in the United Kingdom
Any form of law or legislation is considered to have direct applicability within the member states of the European Union and as such within the United Kingdom. These laws and legislation are so structured as to supersede any current local or national laws.
The principle reasoning behind this is that when the United Kingdom or any other country joins the European Union they are asked to Secede Sovereignty, which in general requires them to agree that they shall see any law or legislation handed down by the European Union as being there law, and negate current practices which may conflict with it.
This means that any individual member state now only has the ability to enforce sanctioned legislation and laws from the European Union.
European Law
European Union law is split into three sources which form the body of law.
These three sources are:
- Primary legislation
- Secondary legislation
- Case law
Primary legislation mainly consists of the fundamental treaties of the EU. The original founding treaties have been revised several times in recent years, by the:
- Single European Act (1987);
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- the "Maastricht Treaty" (1992);
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(1997), which entered into force on 1 May 1999;
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, which entered into force on 1 February 2003.
Secondary legislation is shown in various forms but in general follows one of these four principles:
- regulations, which are directly applicable and binding in all Member States without the need for any national implementing legislation.
- directives, which set legislative objectives (with a time limit) for the Member States, but leave them to decide how these objectives are to be translated into national law, and
- decisions, which are binding on those to whom they are addressed (and do not require national implementing legislation), and recommendations and opinions, which are not binding.
The legislative process involves the three institutions, Commission, Parliament and Council in a triangular relationship. In most areas, only the Commission has the right to draft and propose legislation, but only the Parliament and Council have the right to amend and adopt it.
The process of legislation begins with a proposal from the Commission, which must be in line with current European Union treaties, and if passed would help to implement them.
In general every Commission proposal must satisfy the following criteria:
- Identify the European interest
- Activate wide consultation
- Respect the principle of subsidiarity (that "decisions are to be made as close as possible to the citizens" – that is to say at the lowest practical tier of government.)
Secondly the aforementioned proposal passes for interpretation under the following three procedures:
- Co-decision
- Assent
- Consultation
The co-decision procedure was introduced by Article 251 of the Maastricht Treaty (1992). It was simplified and its scope extended by the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997). Commission proposals receive two successive readings, by Parliament and the Council. If the two cannot agree, a "conciliation committee", composed of representatives of both bodies, is convened in order to reach a compromise. This is then submitted to Parliament and the Council for a third reading to secure final adoption.
The assent procedure was introduced by the Single European Act (1986). It means that the Council has to obtain the European Parliament's assent before certain major decisions are taken. Parliament can accept or reject a proposal but cannot amend it.
The consultation procedure requires an opinion from the Parliament before the Council can adopt a legislative proposal from the Commission. Neither the Commission nor the Council is obliged to accept the amendments contained in the Parliament’s opinion. Once the opinion has been produced, the Council can adopt the proposal with or without the amendments.
The Scrutiny Role
The principle duties of the European Scrutiny committee would be to assess the legal or political importance of each European Union document. The committee then decides which are debated.
The Scrutiny committee is also responsible for the monitoring of all ministers within the council as well as keeping legal, procedural and institutional developments in the European Union under review.
The scrutiny committee is an all party select committee appointed under standing order number 143 and so enjoys all the powers that select committees usually have, it has 16 members who are nominated by the house i.e. government motion which is done after consultation.
Pressure Groups
A pressure group can be described as an organized group that does not put up candidates for election, but seeks to influence government policy or legislation. They can also be described as ‘interest groups’, ‘lobby groups’ or ‘protest groups’.
The aim of all pressure groups is to influence the people who actually have the power to make decisions. Pressure groups do not look for the power of political office for themselves, but do seek to influence the decisions made by those who do hold this political power.
A pressure group can use a variety of different methods to influence law. Firstly, it can merely inform legislators of its member’s preferences. Second it may well give money or time to help with an election campaign. Third, its members may threaten, as a group, to vote as a bloc. By doing this they promise to help a cooperative legislator, and threaten to harm a non-cooperative legislator. Fourth, a pressure group may speed up legislation by writing bills and helping legislators make progressive agreements. Finally, a pressure group my attempt to influence members of the executive, who have some law making input and who can partly decide the strength and effectiveness of law enforcement.