The EU has a complex
government structure made up of bodies known collectively as the EU
institutions. They are responsible for
making EU laws, managing EU projects, distributing funds and deciding the
future direction of the EU. They bring
together elected representatives, members of national governments and European
bureaucrats.
The Commission is the
EU's permanent administration. It is the only institution which has the
power to propose EU laws and is also responsible for enforcing them. It writes the EU budget and distributes EU
money to members. It also has a role
representing all the members collectively in the negotiation of treaties and
the expansion of the EU's borders. At
the head of the Commission are twenty-seven Commissioners, one from each member
state. The Lisbon Treaty, due to come into force in 2009, will reduce the size of the Commission so that from 2014 only two-thirds of member states will be represented by a Commissioner at any one time.
Each Commissioner is responsible for managing EU policy in a particular area - such as foreign
affairs, education or transport.
British Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, is responsible for trade. One of the Commissioners is nominated to be
the President, to give leadership to the work of the Commission as a
whole. The current President is
Portuguese Commissioner José Manuel Barroso.
The work of the Commission is carried out by over two thousand permanent
EU civil servants based in Brussels, while the Commissioners serve terms of
five years.
This institution is made up of
the Heads of State and Government of the member states, and the President of the
Commission (so Britain's representative is Prime Minister Gordon Brown). It meets for summits four times a year to
discuss the direction of EU policy and any controversial issues which may
arise. The European Council
selects the President of the Commission.
Confusingly, each member state also takes it in turns to be President of
the European Council for six months. When a country holds the Presidency, its Head of Government is the President. However the Lisbon Treaty will reform the rotating presidency so that a non-head of state will be appointed as a permanent President of the European Council.
This institution is
made up of government ministers from all the member states. It meets regularly to discuss new EU
policies. Depending on the topic being
discussed, each country will be represented by the minister in charge of that
policy area. The Council plays a
central role in developing EU legislation, especially in relation to foreign,
defence and home affairs policy, and has the power to issue directives. However, it cannot make new laws and for its decisions to be binding, they must also be agreed by
the European Parliament.
The
European Parliament is the only directly elected EU institution. The Parliament meets in
Brussels and Strasbourg, as well as having offices in Luxembourg. There are seven hundred and eighty-five
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). However, after the 2009 EU election the number of seats will be reduced to 736, and if the Lisbon Treaty is implemented in 2009, it will limit the number of MEP's to a maximum of 750. The number of MEPs each country has reflects its population. Britain has seventy-eight
The
Parliament is seen as giving democratic legitimacy to the EU, but it does not
have the powers of a normal national parliament. It cannot propose legislation. Instead, it can only discuss and vote on laws proposed by the Commission. In order
for a new EU law to pass, it has to have the support of both the Parliament and
the Council of the European Union. The
Parliament also has the power to accept or reject Commissioners. And to sack the Commission through a vote of
censure.
The European Court of
Justice (ECJ) is the court that implements EU law. The court is made up of twenty-seven judges and meets in
Luxembourg. In areas that are covered
by EU law, the ECJ is the highest court in all of the member states. Its judgements can affect not only nations
but also individuals and it serves as the judicial arbiter between member states,
institutions and individuals in cases relating to EU law. Its rulings cannot be appealed and it
outranks national Supreme Courts on EU matters.
Quotes
'The institutions built in the past century… need modernisation and
reform'. Peter Mandelson, EU Trade
Commissioner, 2004
'[The people of Europe] find…the European institutions often remote
and unsympathetic. They ask what Europe does for them'. Tony Blair, British Prime Minister, 1998
'[The Commission is] a bureaucratic monster whose
tentacles leave no village untouched and with nothing better to do than chop
off every difference and blend it into the European sauce.' Gunther
Verheugen, EU Industry Commissioner, 2004-2009
