EU Institutions Flashcards
The structure of the EU
The Treaty of Lisbon 2009 restructured the EU and there are now two treaties setting out the rules; the Treaty of the European Union (TEU) and the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
What are the mains institutions?
The main institutions are; 🔹the commission 🔹the council of the European Union 🔹the European Parliament 🔹the European court of justice (ECJ)
There are also several ancillary bodies, the most important is the Economic and Social Committee.
What is the commission?
The EU’s permanent administration and has many different responsibilities.
What is the composition of the commission?
There are 28 commissioners one from each member state, they are supposed to act independently of their national origin, they act in the interests of the whole EU. They are appointed for a 5 year term and can only be removed during this time by a vote of censure by the European Parliament. The commission in answerable to the European Parliament and the entire commission has to reign if Parliament passes a motion of censure against it, this happened in 1999 over allegations of fraud by they were the re-instated. Each commissioner is responsible for an area of EU policy and heads a department e.g. transport, and is responsible for setting and managing EU policy in their area. Under the Lisbon Treaty the number of commissioners will be slimmed down in 2014 with fewer commissioners than member states.
What is the role of the commission?
It proposes policies and drafts legislation for the council, it’s the motivating force behind legislation ‘the commission proposed and the council disposes’. It is the guardian of treaties and EU law and ensures that they are properly implemented by member states, ifs a member state fails to implement EU law within its country or has infringed a provision in someway it has the duty to intervene and if necessary refer the matter to the ECJ, for example Re Tachographs. It has some legislative powers delegated to it by the Council, it implements decisions taken by the Council and has administrative responsibility for the EU. It has wide power to manage the EU’s common policies e.g. overseas aid and has executive powers to implement the EU’s budget.
Evaluation of the Commission
It is considered to be the most powerful EU body and has many different responsibilities. Commissioners are not directly elected by the electorate but appointed by the Prime Minister, so it is not democratic.
What is the composition of the Council of the European Union?
The Council has a variable membership, the Government of each member state sends a representative, usually a minister, who attends depends on the topic under discussion e.g. if it’s agriculture the minister for agriculture goes or the foreign minister. The council is assisted by a committee of permanent representatives to deal with day to day work, called the Coreper. Members take turns to hold the Presidency of the Council of the EU for 6 months. Twice a year the heads of Government meet in a summit to discuss broad matters of policy, the UK’s representative is the Prime Minister.
What is the role of the Council of the European Union?
It is the main decision making body of the EU, it defines general political decisions and priorities. Under Art 288 of the TFEU it can issue regulations, directives and decisions. The ministers in the council consider the proposals for law and have the power to commit their government to new policies. It also has legislative powers which it shares with the European Parliament under the co-decision procedure. It concludes international agreements that have been negotiated by the commission, the council has to agree unanimously on important questions such as amending the treaties, launching a new common policy or allowing a new country to join the EU, voting is by a qualified majority in proportion to a countries population, ‘the commission proposes and the council disposes’.
What are the advantages of the Council of the European Union?
🔹It enables a lot of decision making to stay in the hands of the ministers who are democratically elected in their home states.
🔹It is more accountable than the Commission because ministers are answerable to national Parliaments and their electorates.
🔹It’s power helps balance the interests of member states with those of the EU.
What are the disadvantages of the Council of the European Union?
🔹Ministers have the power to commit and take decisions in a secret council meeting, it’s difficult for Parliament to keep track of the changes that are made.
🔹Qualified majority voting means that counties sometimes have decisions forced upon them that they don’t support.
🔹It operates in an undemonstrative way and takes decisions largely in secret.
What is the composition the the European Parliament?
Members of the European Parliament (MEP’s) are elected by citizens of all EU countries every 5 years. The Parliament meets in Strasbourg and in Brussels for up to a week in each place in each month. MEP’s sit in political groupings in the Parliament not in country groups.
What is the role of the European Parliament?
It’s main role is to discuss proposals put forward by the Commission, the Parliament has standing committees who discuss the proposals and report back to Parliament for a full debate. Decisions made by the Parliament are not binding but are very influential on the Council of ministers. Under the co-operation procedure the Parliament can give its opinion on draft directives and regulations proposed by the Commission, the commission can be asked to amend its proposals to take account of Parliaments position. Under the Treaty of Lisbon 2009, MEP’s have more say in EU law making.
Evaluation of the European Parliament?
The main criticism is that the Parliament has no real power however recent treaties has increased its power. The Parliament is seen as giving a democratic legitimacy to the EU but it doesn’t have the same power as a national parliament. It can’t propose legislation it can only discuss and vote on laws presented by the commission. It’s agreement is needed for any international treaty that the EU wants to enter it. So it has an important role in deciding whether new members should be allowed to join the EU. The parliament has the power to accept or reject commissioners when they are nominated by member states and to sack the entire the whole commission through a vote of censure. In 1999 it passed a censure over financial irregularities causing all the commissioners to resign, the parliament has power over the budget it must approve it and can veto it.
What is the function of the ECJ?
The function of the ECJ is set out in Article 19 TFEU, this says that the court must ‘ensure that in the interpretation and application of the Treaty the law is observed’.
What is the composition of the ECJ?
It sits in Luxembourg and has 28 judges, one from each member state, 11 judges sit for a full court but usually 3 or 5 judges sit, they judges are appointed under Art 253 TFEU. The judges appointed must hold the highest judicial post in their own country or are leading academics, they are appointed for 6 years and can be reappointed for another 6 years. Judges select from amongst themselves a president of the court. They are assisted by 9 advocate generals who are also appointed for 6 years, under Art 253 TFEU their roles is to help the judges, they research all legal points in a case and present with reasoned conclusions on cases submitted to the ECJ.
