Lecture 5 (Week 40) - Institutional architecture of the EU Flashcards
What is the Institutional Architecture of EU?
● The EU is governed by treaty. (205)
● Since the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty (2009), it has been governed by 2 treaties:
o TEU: The Treaty on European union.
o TFEU: The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
● Appolishes the “three Pillar structure”
● Three founding treaties:
○ Treaty of Paris (1951)
○ The two treaties of Rome (1957)
■ They were supplemented by three further treaties:
● Treaties in the 1960 and early 70s
○ One emereded the councils and the Commissions of the three Communities
○ Other two concerned the budgetary distribution
Which to consultative institutions is there? what is goal of the institution?
The European Economic and Social Committee:
● To advise the Council, Commission and European Parliament
○ Either at their request or on the Committee’s own initiative
● To encourage civil society to become more involved in EU policy-making
● To bolster the role of civil society in non-EU countries and to help set up advisory structures.
● Also have the right to be consulted on legislative proposals (209)
The Committee of the regions(CoR):
● Provides institutional representation for all the EU’s territorial areas, regions, cities and municipalities.
● Purpose is to involve regional and local authorities in the EU decision-making process
○ Encourage greater participation by citizens.
● Also have the right to be consulted on legislative proposals (209)
The European Commission´ role?
Responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the EU.
○ Commissioners swear an oath at the European Court of Justice (Luxembourg), pledging to respect the treaties and to be completely independent in carrying out their duties during their mandate.
● The Commissioners are proposed by the Council of the European Union, on the basis of suggestions made by the national governments, and then appointed by the European Council after the approval of the European Parliament.
○ Common (not a formal requirement), that the commissioners have previously held senior political positions (member of the EP or a government minister)
■ The Politician uniformly gets a more influential post, depending on their earlier position.
● The commission may withdraw or amend its own proposals at any stage as long as the Council of the EU has not acted in them.
Moreover:
Manages EU policies & allocates EU funding
- sets EU spending priorities, together with the Council and Parliament
- draws up annual budgets for approval by the Parliament and Council
• supervises how the money is spent, under scrutiny by the Court of Auditors
Enforces EU law
• together with the Court of Justice, ensures that EU law is properly applied in all the member countries
Represents the EU internationally
- speaks on behalf of all EU countries in international bodies, in particular in areas of trade policy and humanitarian aid
- negotiates international agreements for the EU
The European Parliament role?
Together with the Council of the European Union, it adopts European legislation, commonly on the proposal of the European Commission.
The three main rules legislative, Supervisory Budgetary::
Legislative:
Passing EU laws, together with the Council of the EU, based on European Commission proposals
Deciding on international agreements
Deciding on enlargements
Reviewing the Commission’s work programme and asking it to propose legislation
Supervisory:
Democratic scrutiny of all EU institutions
Electing the Commission President and approving the Commission as a body. Possibility of voting a motion of censure, obliging the Commission to resign
Granting discharge, i.e. approving the way EU budgets have been spent
Examining citizens’ petitions and setting up inquiries
Discussing monetary policy with the European Central Bank
Questioning Commission and Council
Election observations
Budgetary:
Establishing the EU budget, together with the Council
Approving the EU’s long-term budget, the “Multiannual Financial Framework.”
● The Parliament is composed of 705 members (MEPs).
○ It represents the second-largest democratic electorate in the world
■ (after the Parliament of India)
- ● Implemented to include democracy
Since 1979 the EP has tried to insert itself into the decision-making process effectively.
○ Originally the EP had to consult with the Council of the EU on new legislative proposals, but the Council could ignore the EP if they wished.
○ After a series of reforms from the SEA to the Lisbon Treaty, the ordinary legislative procedure now applies to most policy areas.
Now the EP can block legislation = they are no more part of the decision making process.
Originally:
● The Council of the EU was obligated to consult the EP before deciding on legislative proposals made by the Commission but could ignore the EP’s opinion if it wished.
○ This only remains in a few policy areas (abandoned in SEA and Lisbon) (213).
What is the Budgetary Procedure?
● The annual budget of the EU takes place in the multiannual financial framework. (meaning that every year a new budget i proposed, but it already has a overall guide line in the multi-annual one)
The Current multiannual Financial Framework runs from 2014-20.
The procedure begins:
○ Commission draws up a draft budget (until 1. september)
○ Council of the EU then approves and adapts (until 1. october)
○ The EP then approve or dismiss the budget (42 days to do so)
■ If yes - the budget is approved
■ If no decision is taken - the budget is approved
Describe the different steps in the ordinary legislation procedure:
The ordinary legislative procedure is the general rule for adopting legislation at the European Union level. It puts the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union on equal footing and applies in 85 defined policy areas covering the majority of the EU’s areas of competence.
- The European Commission submits a proposal to the Council and the European Parliament
- The Council and the Parliament adopt a legislative proposal either at the first reading or at the second reading
- If the two institutions do not reach an agreement after the second reading a conciliation committee is convened
- If the text agreed by the conciliation committee is acceptable to both institutions at the third reading, the legislative act is adopted
If a legislative proposal is rejected at any stage of the procedure, or the Parliament and Council cannot reach a compromise, the proposal is not adopted and the procedure ends.
The procedure starts with a legislative proposal from the Commission and consists of up to three readings. The two co-legislators adopt legislation jointly, having equal rights and obligations - neither of them can adopt legislation without the agreement of the other, and both co-legislators have to approve an identical text.
Describe the different steps in the ordinary legislation procedure:
The ordinary legislative procedure is the general rule for adopting legislation at the European Union level. It puts the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union on equal footing and applies in 85 defined policy areas covering the majority of the EU’s areas of competence.
- The European Commission submits a proposal to the Council and the European Parliament
- The Council and the Parliament adopt a legislative proposal either at the first reading or at the second reading
- If the two institutions do not reach an agreement after the second reading a conciliation committee is convened
- If the text agreed by the conciliation committee is acceptable to both institutions at the third reading, the legislative act is adopted
If a legislative proposal is rejected at any stage of the procedure, or the Parliament and Council cannot reach a compromise, the proposal is not adopted and the procedure ends.
The procedure starts with a legislative proposal from the Commission and consists of up to three readings. The two co-legislators adopt legislation jointly, having equal rights and obligations - neither of them can adopt legislation without the agreement of the other, and both co-legislators have to approve an identical text.
The Consultation Procedure: which bodies of the EU is involve this procedure?
○ The commission submitted a proposal to the council of ministers
○ The council is obliged to seek the opinion of the EP
○ The council can, if wished, simply ignore the opinion and apply or reject the proposal.
○ The Lisbon treaty has reduced the circumstances under which it can be used to about twenty scenarios.
Which power does the EP have: How can they influence the process?
They can hold back their opinion and thereby delay the legislation procedure.
Name the three types of legal Acts:
What pro & cons of the different variations?
- Decisions: are addressed to particular individual legal actors such as companies or individual states.
- Regulations: are directly applicable in all member states. Regulations are legal acts that apply automatically and uniformly to all EU countries as soon as they enter into force, without needing to be transposed into national law. They are binding in their entirety on all EU countries.
- Directives: the most common form of general legislation agreed in the Ministers; it is left to individual member states to decide how they are incorporated into national law – leaving scope for interpretation. EU countries must adopt measures to incorporate them into national law (transpose) in order to achieve the objectives, set by the directive. National authorities must communicate these measures to the European Commission. Transposition into national law must take place by the deadline set when the directive is adopted (generally within 2 years). When a country does not transpose a directive, the Commission may initiate infringement proceedings.
What is the emergency break and in how man policy area is it an option?
● Member governments can suspend the (in which it could be overruled by a QMV) and appeal to the European council.
○ Only introduced in a small number of policy areas.
The Maastricht Treaty (1992) created the three-pillar EU - name the three pillars:
1) The European Communities pillar handled economic, social and environmental policies. It comprised the European Community (EC), the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC, until its expiry in 2002), and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM).
2) The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) pillar took care of foreign policy and military matters.
3) Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCCM) brought together co-operation in the fight against crime. This pillar was originally named Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)
