DECISION-MAKING INSTITUTIONS

The three main decision-making institutions of the European

Union are:
the European Parliament (EP), which represents the EUs
citizens and is directly elected by them;
the Council of the European Union, which represents the
individual member states;
the European Commission, which represents the interests of
the Union as a whole.
This institutional triangle produces the policies and laws that
apply throughout the EU. In principle, it is the Commission that
proposes new laws, but it is the Parliament and Council that
adopt them. The Commission and the member states then
implement them, and the Commission enforces them.
The powers and responsibilities of the EU institutions, and the
rules and procedures they must follow, are laid down in the
Treaties on which the EU is founded. The Treaties are agreed by
the presidents and prime ministers of all the EU countries and
then ratified by their parliaments.

The European Parliament

The European Parliament is the only European body that directly
represents the citizens of the European Union. It expresses the
democratic will of the EUs 495 million citizens and represents
their interests in discussions with the other EU institutions.
The European Parliaments origins go back to the founding
treaties of the 1950 when the European Parliamentary Assembly
was created.
The European Parliament has offices in France, Belgium and
Luxembourg:
The monthly plenary sessions which all Members of
European Parliament attend, are held in Strasbourg
(France)- the Parliaments Seat
Parliamentary committee meetings and any additional
plenary sessions are held in Brussels

 Luxembourg is home to the administrative offices (the

General Secretariat).
Political Groups of the Parliament
One interesting feature of the Parliament, which has been true
since not long after its establishment, is that the Members of the
European Parliament sit according to political party rather than
nationality. The Parliament aims to speak for the European
interest above the national interest.
There are eight political groups in the European Parliament,
ranging from socialist and environmental parties to right-ofcentre parties:
The Group of the European People's Party (Christian
Democrats) and European Democrats. This is the largest
group at the Parliament with 278 Members
The socialist group. This group includes 216 Members
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats. This group includes 104
Members
Union for Europe of the Nations. It includes 44 Members
The Greens/European Free Alliance. 42 Members
European United Left/Nordic Green Left. 41 Members
Independence Democracy Group. This group includes 24
Members
Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty Group, established in January
2007, is the newest political grouping in the Parliament . This
group includes 23 MEPs.
Non-attached members (these members are not affiliated with
any political grouping). There are 13 non-attached MEP's.

The Powers of the European Parliament

The European Parliament has three fundamental powers:

1. Legislative power
The Parliament is Passing European laws jointly with the
Council in many policy areas. The fact that the EP is directly
elected by the citizens of the EU helps guarantee the democratic
legitimacy of European law. It can accept, amend or reject the
content of European law.
In some fields (for example agriculture, economic policy, visas
and immigration), the Council alone legislates, but it has to
consult Parliament. In addition, Parliaments assent is required
for certain important decisions, such as allowing new countries to
join the EU.
The Parliament also provides impetus for new legislation by
examining the Commisions annual work programme, considering
what new laws would be appropriate and asking the Commission
to put forward proposals.
2. Budgetary Power
The power of the purse. The entire EUs annual budget is decided
jointly by the Parliament and the Council of the European Union.
The Parliament can propose the modification of budget lines and
has the power to accept or reject the budget as a whole. In this
way the Parliament has an important influence on EU spending.
The Parliamentss Committee on Budgetary Control monitors how
the budget is spent and each year the Parliament decides
whether to approve the Commissions handing of the budget for
the previous financial year.
3. Supervisory Power
The Parliament exercises supervision over all EU institutions and
in particular the (un-elected) Commission. IT has the power to
approve or reject the nomination of Commissioners, and has the
right to make the Commission as whole resign through a motion
of censure. When a new Commission takes office, its members
are nominated by the governments of the EU countries, but they
cannot be appointed without Parliaments approval. Parliament
interviews each of them individually, including the prospective

Commission President, and then votes on whether to approve the

Commission as a whole. In the near future, the Parliament will
also elect the President of the European Commission on the
proposal of the European Council.
More generally, the Parliament exercises control by regurarly
examining reports sent to it by the Commission and by working
clisely with the Council in certain areas, including input into
every EU Summit. The Members of the Parliament regurarly ask
the Commission and the Council written and oral questions, and
the Council President takes part in plenary debates.
Parliament also examines petitions from citizens and has the
power to set up temporary committees of inquiry. It also has an
appointed Ombudsman who deals with complains by citizens
against EU institutions.

How is Parliaments work organised?

Preparing for the plenary session. The Members of the European
Parliament debate the Commissions proposals in committees
that specialise in particular areas of EU activity and on the basis
of a report prepared by one of the committee members, the so
called rapporteur. The report gives the background of the
proposal. The issues for debate are also discussed by the political
groups.
The plenary session. Each year, 12 four-day plenary sessions are
held in Strasbourg and six two-day sessions are held in Brussels.
At these sessions, Parliament examines proposed legislation and
votes on amendments before deciding on the text as a whole.
The Members of the Parliament also meet in unofficial, voluntary,
cross-party groups known as Intergroups.
Intergroups bring together the Members of the Parliament to
discuss issues of common interest that exceeds political divisions.
These groups can be an important mean to raise awareness about
issues of particular concern (both within and outside the
Parliament). Intergroups can also be a means for interest groups
to establish good contacts with a group of Members of the
Parliament who share many of their concerns.

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

The Council of the European Union holds the executive power
and is the EUs main decision-making body.
Each Member State participates in preparing the work of the
Council and in its decision-making
The meetings of the European Council usually take place in
Brussels
The Council is made up of the ministers of the Member States. It
meets in nine different configurations depending on the subjects
under discussion. For example, the General Affairs and External
Relations configuration is made up of foreign affairs ministers,
the Justice and Home Affairs configuration of justice and home
affairs ministers, etc.
Its Minister is empowered to commit their government during the
Councils meetings and is politically accountable to their own
national parliament and the citizens that parliament represents.
This ensures the democratic legitimacy of the Councils decisions.
The 9 Configurations of the Council of the European Union are:

General Affairs and External Relations

Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN)
Cooperation in the fields of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)
Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs
Competitiveness (Internal Market, Industry and Research)
Transport, Telecommunications and Energy
Agriculture and Fisheries
Environment
Education, Youth and Culture

The Council has six key responsibilities.

1. European Legislation. The main role of the Council is to
approve European Laws that are normally put forward by
the Commission. Much EU Legislations is adopted jointly

2.

3.

4.
5.

6.

with the European Parliament ( the so-called co-decision

procedure)
Economic Policy Co-ordination. Member States have
agreed to develop an overall economic policy based on
close co-ordination through the Economic and Financial
Affairs Council (ECOFIN).
International Agreements. Each year the Council officially
signs a number of agreements between the European Union
and the non-EU countries, as well as with international
organizations.
EU Budget. The EUs annual budget is approved jointly by
the Council and the European Parliament.
EU Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Member
States have retained independence on this issue and so the
European Institutions play a limited role here. However, the
EU countries have recognised the advantages of working
together on these issues and the Council is the main forum
in which inter-governmental co-operation takes place.
EU Co-operation in Criminal Matters- Justice and Home
Affairs. The same conditions regarding the National
independence apply here too. EU citizens are free to live
and work in whichever EU country they choose, so they
should have equal access to civil justice everywhere in the
European Union.
Also in order to tackle cross-border crime cross-border
cooperation is required between the national courts, police
forces, customs officers and immigration services of all EU
countries.

How is the Councils work organised?

The Presidency

The Presidency of the Council rotates between the Member

States every six months. The country that holds the Presidency
takes charge of the Council agenda, chairs all the meetings and
mediates between the Member States. The Presidency has an
important influence in the work of the Council during its term, as
it has the opportunity to promote particular legislative and
political decisions. The Presidency also plays a major role in
representing the Council within the EU and internationally.
The Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe, which was
signed in Rome on 29 October 2004, but has never come into
force, provided for one of the more notable changes to the
institutional framework of the EU by stipulating that individual
six-month presidencies be replaced by joint eighteen-month
presidencies by three member states, the so-called Troikas.
Although the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe is not
legally binding, member states have decided to adopt the
concept of the presiding Trio.
The presidency is assisted by the General Secretariat, which
prepares and ensures the smooth functioning of the Councils
work at all levels.
In 2004, Javier Solana was reappointed Secretary-General of the
Council.
A Deputy Secretary-General in charge of managing the General
Secretariat assists the Secretary-General.
Ministers
The Ministers meet in the different configurations of the
Council. Some configurations meet up once a month while others
as seldom as twice a year. The preparatory work done by the
officials in their committees is crucial in allowing the Council to
reach agreements.
Officials (COREPER)
Each Member State has a permanent team (representation) in
Brussels to defend national interests at EU level. The head of
each representation (known as permanent representative) acts
as an ambassador to the EU. These ambassadors meet weekly
within the Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER) to

prepare the work of the Council. The role of this committee is to

prepare the work of the Council, with the exception of most
agricultural issues, which are handled by the Special Committee
on Agriculture The COREPER also, oversees the work and tasks of
more than 250 committees of national officials working on
specific technical issues.
Voting in the Council
Decisions in the Council are taken by vote. Each Member State
has a fixed number of votes, related (although not proportional
to) the population of their country. The bigger the countrys
population, the more votes it has, but the numbers are weighted
in favour of the less populous countries
Council decisions are prepared by a structure of some
250 working parties and committees comprising delegates from
the Member States. They resolve technical issues and forward the
dossier to the Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper),
which ensures consistency in the work and resolves technicalpolitical questions before submitting the dossier to the Council.
The Council takes decisions by a vote of Ministers from the
Member States. There are three types of vote depending on the
Treaty provisions for the subject being dealt with: simple
majority (for procedural decisions), qualified majority (a
weighted voting system based on the populations of Member
States; used for many decisions concerning the internal market,
economic affairs and trade) and unanimity (for foreign policy,
defence, judicial and police cooperation, and taxation).
The most common voting procedure in the Council is qualified
majority voting (QMV). This is the system that does not require
unanimous agreement by all Member States, but does require a
high degree of consensus. In order to pass a vote by QMV, the
proposal must be supported by a majority of countries (14 out of
27) and by 255 votes from the total of 345 votes. The countries
supporting the proposal must represent at least 62% of the total
EU population.
As the Union has enlarged and unanimity becomes increasingly
difficult to achieve, more and more policy issues are decided by
QMV

In a great majority of cases, the Council takes decisions on a

proposal from the European Commission and in association with
the European Parliament, either through the consultation
procedure (e.g. in the areas of agriculture, judicial and police
cooperation, and taxation) or through co decision (e.g. the
internal market).
Decisions in some particularly key sensitive areas are still taken
by unanimity (including tax, social policy, defence, foreign policy
and treaty revision). This means each Member State effectively
has a veto on these issues.
The number of votes held by each country and the majority
requires to pass legislation on qualified majority voting have
been the subject of great and heated discussion between Member
States during the negotiations of the new Reform Treaty.
Consequently, from 1 November 2014 onwards, the qualified
majority voting system will be replaced with system based on the
double majority of countries and population. This means that in
order to pass a proposal, the proposal will need to be supported
by a majority of countries, including at least 15 of them and by
at least 65% of the EUs population.

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

The term Commission is used in two senses. First, it refers to
the team of men and women one from each EU country
appointed to run the institution and take its decisions. Secondly,
the term Commission refers to the institution itself and to its
staff.

Informally, the appointed members of the Commission are known

as commissioners. They have generally held political positions
in their countries of origin and many have been government
ministers, but as members of the Commission they are
committed to acting in the interests of the Union as a whole and
not taking instructions from national governments.
The European Commission is designed to be a politically
independent institution that represents and upholds the interests
of the EU as a whole. It is the driving force within the EUs
institutional system as it is responsible for proposing legislation,
implementing decisions, upholding the EUs treaties and the
general day-to day running of the Union.
The Commission is based in Brussels, but it also has offices in
Luxembourg, representatives in all Member States and
delegations in many capital cities around the world.
The Commissioners
The Commission in office is currently composed of one
Commissioner per Member State. The group of 27 Commissioners
are known as the College of Commissioners. The College usually
meets every Wednesday in Brussels.
In view of further enlargement, its long-term future composition
has been the subject of great discussion.
The present Commissions term of office runs until 31 October
2009. Its President is Jos Manuel Barroso.
The Commission remains politically accountable to Parliament,
which has the power to dismiss the whole Commission by
adopting a motion of censure. Individual members of the
Commission must resign if asked to do so by the President and
the other commissioners approve.
The Commission is represented at all sessions of Parliament,
where it must clarify and justify its policies. It also replies
regularly to written and oral questions posed by Members of the
Parliament.
How is a new Commission appointed?

A new Commission is appointed every five years, within six

months of the elections to the European Parliament. The
procedure is as follows:
the member state governments agree together on who to
designate as the new Commission President;
the Commission President-designate is then approved by
Parliament;
the Commission President-designate, in discussion with the
member state governments, chooses the other members of the
Commission;
the new Parliament then interviews each commissionerdesignate and then gives its opinion on the whole team. Once
the new Commission is approved, it can officially start work.
The Commission employs 32.000 staff. These staff members, who
are selected from every EU Member State through very
competitive but open procedures, are administrative officials,
experts, translators, interpreters and secretarial staff.
The Commission as an institution is divided into 41 departments
based around subject areas, which can be broadly grouped into
four types:
Policy: 18 departments
External Relations: 6 departments
General services: 5 departments
Internal Services: 12 departments
Most of the Departments are known as Directorates-General
(DGs). They have their own staff structures, headed by the
Director Genersl. They report directly to one of the
Commissioners who are politically responsible for his or her
department. Other departments are classed as Services.
Powers of the European Commission
The European Commission has four main roles:
1. Proposing legislation.

The Commission alone is responsible for drawing up proposals for

new European legislation (it has the right of initiative on
legislation), which it presents, to the Parliament and the Council.
2. Implementing EU policies and the budget
The European Commission is the executive body of the EU and is
therefore responsible for managing and implementing the EU
budget and the policies and programmes adopted by the
Parliament and the Council.
3. Enforcing European law
The Commission, together with the European Court of Justice, is
responsible for making sure EU law is properly applied in all
Member States (it is the guardian of the Treaties).
4. Representing the EU on the international stage
The European Commission is an important mouthpiece for the
European Union on the international stage. It enables the
Member States to speak with one voice in international forums
and negotiate international agreements on behalf of the EU.
The Commission generally meets once a week, usually on
Wednesdays, and usually in Brussels. Each item on the agenda is
presented by the commissioner responsible for that policy area,
and the whole team then takes a collective decision on it.
It is the DGs that actually devise and draft legislative proposals,
but these proposals become official only when adopted by the
Commission at its weekly meeting. The procedure is roughly as
follows.
The appropriate Directorate-General will draw up a proposal,
based on extensive consultations. The draft will also be discussed
with other Commission departments with an interest in this
topic, and checked by the Legal Service and the SecretariatGeneral.
Once the proposal is fully ready, it will be put on the agenda of a
Commission meeting. If at least 14 of the 27 commissioners
approve the proposal, the Commission will adopt it and it will
have the whole teams unconditional support. The document will

then be sent to the Council and the European Parliament for

them to decide on the proposal. The Commission may
subsequently make amendments in the light of the comments
from these two institutions and then send the proposal back for
final approval.

The three Councils

Its easy to get confused about which European body is which
especially when very different bodies have very similar names,
such as the three councils.
The European Council
This means the Heads of State or Government of all the EU
countries, plus the President of the European Commission. It
depends on the political system of each country whether their
participant is the president and/or the prime minister. The
European Council meets, in principle, four times a year to agree
overall EU policy and to review progress. It is the highest-level
policymaking body in the European Union, which is why its
meetings are often called summits.
The Council of Europe
This is not an EU institution at all. It is an intergovernmental
organisation, which aims (amongst other things) to protect
human rights, to promote Europes cultural diversity and to
combat social problems. It was set up in 1949 and one of its early
achievements was to draw up the European Convention on
Human Rights. To enable citizens to exercise their rights under
that convention, it set up the European Court of Human Rights.
The Council of Europe now has 46 member countries, including
all 27 European Union countries, and its headquarters is the
Palais de lEurope in Strasbourg (France)
The Council of the European Union
Formerly known as the Council of Ministers, this institution
consists of government ministers from all the EU countries. A
fuller description has been given earlier.

Decision- Making in the European Union

Although it is the European Commission that proposes new
legislation and decides which decision- making process to follow,
it is the Council and the Parliament that pass European laws. The
method followed for each proposal depends upon its legal basis
within the EU treaties. There are three different methods of
decision- making:
1. Co-decision
This is the most common procedure for adopting EU legislation
and requires official approval from both the Parliament and the
Council.
Parliament shares legislative power equally with the Council.
If Council and Parliament cannot agree on a piece of proposed
legislation, there will be no new law. The procedure provides for
two successive readings in each institution. If an agreement is
reached in these readings, the law can be passed. If not, it will
be put before a conciliation committee, composed of equal
numbers of Council and Parliament representatives. Once this
committee has reached an agreement, the agreed text is sent
again to Parliament and the Council so that they can finally adopt
it as law. Conciliation is becoming increasingly rare. Most laws
passed in co-decision are, in fact, adopted either at the first or
second reading as a result of good cooperation between the three
institutions.
2. Consultation
The consultation procedure is used in areas such as
agriculture, taxation and competition. Based on a proposal
from the Commission, the Council consults Parliament, the
European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee
of the Regions.
Under the consultation procedure, Parliament may:
approve the Commission proposal,
reject it, or
ask for amendments.

If Parliament asks for amendments, the Commission will consider

all the changes Parliament suggests. If it accepts any of these
suggestions it will send the Council an amended proposal.
The decision ultimately rests with the Council, which either
adopts the amended proposal or amends it further. In this
procedure, as in all others, if the Council amends a Commission
proposal it must do so unanimously.
3. Assent
The assent procedure means that the Council has to obtain the
European Parliaments assent before certain very important
decisions are taken. The procedure is the same as in the case of
consultation, except that Parliament cannot amend a proposal: it
must either accept or reject it. Acceptance (assent) requires an
absolute majority of the votes cast.
The assent procedure is mostly used for agreements with other
countries, including the agreements allowing new countries to
join the EU.

The other EU institutions

The European Court of Justice
Often referred to simply as the Court, the European Court of
Justice aims to ensure that EU legislation is interpreted and
applied in the same way across the European Union.

The Court is composed of one judge per member state, so that

all 27 of the EUs national legal systems are represented. For the
sake of efficiency, however, the Court rarely sits as the full court.
It usually sits as a Grand Chamber of just 13 judges or in
chambers of five or three judges.
The European Court of Justice gives ruling on cases brought
before it. The four most common types of case are:
1. The Preliminary ruling:
This means that if a national court is in any doubt about the
interpretation or validity of an EU law it may, and sometimes
must, ask the Court of Justice for advice. This advice is given in
the form of a preliminary ruling.
2.Actions for failure to fulfil an obligation
The Commission can start these proceedings if it has reason to
believe that a member state is failing to fulfil its obligations
under EU law. These proceedings may also be started by another
EU country.
In either case, the Court investigates the allegations and gives its
judgment. The accused member state, if it is indeed found to be
at fault, must set things right at once. If the Court finds that the
member state has not complied with its judgment, it may impose
a fine on that country
3.Actions for annulment
If any of the member states, the Council, the Commission or
(under certain conditions) Parliament believes that a particular
EU law is illegal, they may ask the Court to annul it.
Private individuals who want the Court to cancel a particular law
because it directly and adversely affects them as individuals can
also use these actions for annulment.

If the Court finds that the law in question was not correctly
adopted or is not correctly based on the Treaties, it may declare
the law null and void.
4.Actions for failure to act
The Treaty requires the European Parliament, the Council and the
Commission to make certain decisions under certain
circumstances. If they fail to do so, the member states, the other
EU institutions and (under certain conditions) individuals or
companies can lodge a complaint with the Court so as to have
this failure to act officially recorded.
5.Actions for damages
Any person or company who has suffered damage as a result of
the action or inaction of the Community or its staff may bring an
action seeking compensation before the Court of First Instance.

The European Court of Auditors

The European Court of Auditors was established in 1977 to check
that all EUs revenue is received, that all its expenditure is
incurred in a lawful and regular manner and that the EU budget is
managed soundly.

The European Ombudsman

The position of Ombudsman was creates in 1992 to act as an
intermediary between the citizens and the EU authorities and to
uncover poor or failed administration in the EU institutions and
bodies.
The Ombudsman is totally independent and is entitled to receive
and investigate complaints by citizens and carry out
investigations on his/her own initiative. If he discovers
maladmidistration he informs the institution concerned and
makes recommendations. He may also refer a matter to the

European Parliament who can take whatever political action is

necessary.

Consultative Bodies of the EU

European Economic and Social Committee
Founded in 1957 under the Treaty of Rome, the European
Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is a consultative body
that gives representatives of Europes interest groups, such as
employer organisations and trade unions, and other organised
civil society bodies, such as consumer associations, a formal
platform to express their points of views on EU issues.
The European Economic and Social Committee has three main
roles:
to advise the European Parliament, Council of the European
Union and the European Commission, either at their request or
on the Committees own initiative;
to encourage civil society to become more involved in EU
policymaking;
to enforce the role of civil society in non-EU countries and to
help set up advisory structures.
It is composed of three groups:
Employers
Trade Unions
Various economic and social interest actors, such as
farmers, consumers etc.

Committee of the Regions

Set up in 1994 under the Treaty on European Union, the

Committee of the Regions (CoR) is an advisory body composed of
representatives of Europes regional and local authorities. The
CoR has to be consulted before EU decisions are taken on matters
such as regional policy, the environment, culture, education and
transport all of which concern local and regional government.
The work of the Committee is divided into 6 sections on the
following topics:

Territorial Cohesion
Economic and Social Policy
Sustainable Development
Culture and Education
Constitutional Affairs and European Governance
External Relations