The institutions of the EU

Question 1

What are the 7 institutions of the EU?

Answer 1

Listed in article 13 TEU

• The European Parliament;
• The European Council;
• The Council of the European Union;
• The European Commission;
• The Court of Justice of the European Union;
• The European Central Bank; and
• The Court of Auditors.

Question 2

Describe the European Parliament. What are its functions?

Answer 2

• comprised of 705 MEPs. These are all democratically elected by the citizens of the Member States for five-year terms of office.
• They are supposed to represent the interests of the citizens of the European Union.
• several functions:
• make legislation.
• It cannot initiate legislative proposals itself (Commission’s role). But legislative proposals will normally have to be approved by the European Parliament before they can become law. It can thereby block legislative proposals or ensure that they are amended.
• they scrutinises the budget for the European Union. Its approval is required before the draft budget can be adopted by the European Union.
• they scrutinise other institutions, especially the Commission (orally/ by written questions
• Finally, the European Parliament debates issues of the day.

Question 3

Describe the European Council. What are its functions?

Answer 3

• comprised of the heads of State or heads of Government of the Member States.
• has its own President who is appointed by the European Council. The President of the Commission is also a member of the Council.
• Functions: (as laid down in Article 15(1))
• Its basic function is to set the general future direction of the European Union and to determine its priorities.
• In practice, the European Council will also deal with issues which are too complex or politically sensitive to be dealt with at a lower level.
• It is the European Council that instigates any amendments to the EU treaties.

Question 4

Describe the Council of the European Union. What are its functions?

Answer 4

• comprised of Government Ministers from the Member States.
• Each Member State will be represented on the Council by one Minister. The Ministers who are present at a meeting of the Council will normally be those with responsibility in their own Government for the area being discussed.
• Most decisions of the Council are determined using a system called qualified majority voting.
• It requires 55% of the Council members to vote in favour of a decision in order for that decision to be adopted. These must comprise at least 15 members of the Council. They must also represent at least 65% of the European Union population. However, at least four Council members must oppose a decision in order for it to be blocked.
• The Council of the European Union represents the interests of the Member States.
• It performs several functions:
• takes part in the process of making legislation. The Council of the European Union normally has to approve legislative proposals before they can become law.
• Like the European Parliament, the Council also scrutinises the budget for the European Union. Its approval is required before the draft budget can be adopted by the European Union.
• they are also responsible for making policy and acts as a forum through which Ministers can co-ordinate policies.
• Finally, it signs international agreements on behalf of the European Union.

Question 5

Describe the European Commission. What are its functions?

Answer 5

• comprises one Commissioner from each Member State. The Commissioners hold office for five years. The Commission as a whole must be approved by the European Parliament.
• The Commission is led by a President. The President is nominated by the European Council. The nominee must be approved by the European Parliament before he or she can take office.
• The final member of the Commission is the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The High Representative is also appointed by the European Council. He or she is responsible for conducting the European Union’s common foreign and security policy where such a policy has been agreed by the Member States.
• The Commission is supposed to represent the interests of the European Union as a whole.
• The Commission initiates legislation. Its legislative proposals normally have to be approved by the Council of the European Union and by the European Parliament before they can become law.
• The Commission administers the policies and the programmes of the European Union.
• It also drafts the annual budget. The budget will have to be approved by the Council of the European Union and by the European Parliament before it can be adopted by the European Union. Once the budget has been adopted, the Commission is responsible for managing it and for allocating funding.
• The Commission has an important role in enforcing EU law.
  ○ the Commission is known as the guardian of the treaties.
• Finally, the Commission is the European Union’s representative on certain international bodies.
• It is also the European Union’s negotiator for international treaties.

Question 6

Describe the EU Courts. What are its functions?

Answer 6

• The European Union has 3 levels of courts.
• The Court of Justice of the European Union lies at the top of the hierarchy. It consists of one judge from each Member State. It also has nine advocate generals.
• The function of an advocate general is to deliver a reasoned opinion on each case. This opinion will be taken into account by the Court of Justice in reaching its decision.
• The General Court is at the next level in the hierarchy. It also consists of one judge from each Member State.
• Finally, article 19 TEU provides for the existence of specialised courts - the Civil Service Tribunal.
• The Court of Justice and the other EU courts are responsible for interpreting and enforcing EU law.
• They also determine the validity of acts and legislation of the European Union.
• there is no appeal from the national courts of the Member States to the EU courts. Instead, national courts can make preliminary references to the Court of Justice. These are questions about EU law which are referred to the Court of Justice by the national court. The Court of Justice will consider arguments by the parties to the dispute and by other EU institutions and the opinion of the Advocate General. It will then make a ruling on the question which was referred to it. This is called a preliminary ruling.

Question 7

Describe the European Central Bank. What are its functions?

Answer 7

• This was two primary functions.
• First, it co-operates with the central banks of the Member States in the European System of Central Banks. The primary objective of this is to maintain price stability.
• The second function of the European Central Bank is to conduct the monetary policy of those Member States who are in the Eurosystem - Member States which have adopted the Euro as their currency.

Question 8

Describe the Court of Auditors. What are its functions?

Answer 8

• It comprises one member from each Member State.

- It is responsible for auditing the revenue and expenditure of the European Union.