Institutions of the European Union

The institutions of the European Union are the seven main decision-making bodies of the European Union and Euratom. They work under the Treaties of the European Union and European Union law.

Article 13 of the Treaty on the European Union lists the seven institutions. They are the European Parliament, the European Council, which is made up of the heads of state or government, and the Council of the European Union, which is made up of ministers from the member states and has a council for each area of responsibility. The list also includes the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank, and the European Court of Auditors.

Institutions are different from advisory bodies to the European Union and agencies of the European Union.

Further information: History of the European Union

Most EU institutions were created when the European Community was set up in 1958. Since then, much of the change has been about shifting power away from the council and towards the Parliament. The Commission has often acted as a go-between or tipped the balance. It is also becoming more answerable to the Parliament: in 1999 it forced the resignation of the Santer Commission, and in 2004 it forced a reshuffle of the proposed Barroso Commission. The institutions grew through small changes made by treaties and agreements, rather than one clear "master plan." Tom Reid of The Washington Post said that "nobody would have deliberately designed a government as complex and as redundant as the EU."

The first institutions were created in the early 1950s under the Treaty of Paris, when the European Coal and Steel Community was formed, based on the Schuman declaration, between six states. It aimed to place coal and steel, the materials needed for war, under a supranational authority to encourage peace and economic development. Its main body was an independent executive called the "High Authority." Two supervising bodies were added to balance it: a "Common Assembly," proposed by Jean Monnet and made up of 78 national parliamentarians, and a Council of Ministers, which added an intergovernmental element. The Treaties of Rome later created two similar communities, the European Economic Community and Euratom, and the three were merged in 1967 by the Merger Treaty. The Parliament was supposed to be elected under the Treaties of Rome, but this was delayed until 1979. The Maastricht Treaty and the 2009 Lisbon Treaty later gave more powers to the council and to the Parliament, and the European Council became a distinct institution with a permanent president.

Overview

Organisational chart

European Council	Council of the European Union	European Parliament
Provides impetus and direction	Legislative	Legislative
Based in Brussels, Belgium.	Based in Brussels, Belgium. Meets in Luxembourg, Luxembourg for the months of April, June and October.	Meets in Strasbourg, France and Brussels, Belgium. Secretariat based in Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
summit of the Heads of state or government, the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission. gives the necessary political impetus for the development of the Union and sets its general objectives and priorities does not legislate	composed of twenty-seven national ministers (one per state) formally known as "the Council"; informally known as the "Council of Ministers" acts together with the Parliament as a legislature shares with the Parliament the budgetary power ensures coordination of the broad economic and social policy and sets out guidelines for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) concludes international agreements	acts together with the Council (of the European Union) as a legislature shares with the Council (of the European Union) the budgetary power exerts the democratic control over the institutions including the European Commission and approves the Commission members

European Commission	Court of Justice of the European Union	European Central Bank
Executive	Judicial	Central bank
Based in Brussels, Belgium. Various departments and services hosted in Luxembourg, Luxembourg.	Based in Luxembourg, Luxembourg.	Based in Frankfurt, Germany.
is the executive submits proposals for new legislation to the Parliament and Council (of the European Union) implements policies administers the budget ensures compliance with European law ("guardian of the treaties") negotiates international agreements	ensures the uniform application and interpretation of European law has the power to decide legal disputes between member states, the institutions, businesses and individuals	is the only among the 7 institutions which also is an international entity with treaty capability in its own right forms together with the national central banks the Eurosystem and thereby determines the monetary policy of the eurozone ensures price stability in the eurozone by controlling the money supply

European Court of Auditors
Auditory
Based in Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
checks the proper implementation of the budget

List

There are three political institutions that hold the executive and legislative power of the union. The Council of the European Union represents governments, the parliament represents citizens, and the European Commission represents the European interest. The Commission drafts laws that the Council or Parliament request, and then presents them to Parliament and the Council, where in most cases both must agree. Once both approve and sign a law, it becomes law. The Commission makes sure laws are carried out and takes others to Court if they fail to follow them. The exact steps depend on the legislative procedure in use.

The European Parliament shares lawmaking and budget power with the Council. Its 705 members are elected every five years, and they represent nearly 500 million citizens. It is the only directly elected body in the Union. The European Council brings together the heads of state or government of the member states. It meets four times a year to set the Union's direction.

Acts and procedures

Main article: European Union legislative procedure

There are several types of law that can be passed. The strongest is a regulation, an act or law that applies fully and directly. Directives set goals that member countries must reach, but each country makes its own laws to reach them, so it can choose how to do so. A decision is aimed at a particular person or group and applies directly to them. Institutions can also give recommendations and opinions, which are statements that do not have to be followed.

The ordinary legislative procedure is used in almost all policy areas and gives equal power to the two bodies involved. The Commission presents a proposal to Parliament and the Council. Parliament can suggest changes, and the Council can accept the proposal with those changes or send back a "common position." If the Council does not agree, a "Conciliation Committee" is formed. This group includes Council members and an equal number of members of Parliament, and they try to agree on a common position. Once agreed, Parliament must approve it again by an absolute majority. Some special procedures are used for sensitive areas, and these give Parliament less power.

Comparisons

The EU's way of being governed is mostly unique, but some parts can be compared to other systems. The EU's power sharing is a bit like the federalism of Germany, where powers are mostly shared between levels of government and the states have a strong say in decisions at the national level. The EU's setup is also somewhat like the government of Switzerland, which is seen as bringing together a country divided by language and religion, although the EU was not directly copied from it. The European Commission is similar to the Swiss Federal Council because both have all-party representation and members are chosen based on nationality rather than popularity. Leaders in both systems are fairly unknown, and national politics can seem technocratic, which leads to low voter turnout, much like the European Parliament. Both also rely heavily on translation.

Power in the EU is also not held by a single institution. The Lisbon Treaty made the European Council a separate institution with a fixed President. This has been compared to the two leaders in the French republic, a system set up by Charles de Gaulle in 1958, which has a President and a Prime Minister. However, unlike France, the EU Council President does not have strong formal powers, so the Council President may have prestige but little power, while the Commission President has power but less prestige. The European Parliament is better compared with the United States House of Representatives than with the national parliaments of the European Union. It has larger and more powerful committees, decentralised political parties, and is separate from the executive branch, unlike most national governments, which use a parliamentary system. Unlike other parliaments, it cannot start a legislative initiative, but since national parliaments rarely succeed without executive backing, this difference may matter less. The Parliament's amendments succeed often, averaging 80% and 30% for controversial proposals.

The Council is most similar to the German upper house, the Bundesrat, which is very unusual. Its members are limited to members of the governments of the states of Germany, and their governments can recall them, just as with the EU Council. They do not vote individually but as state blocks that follow their governments' agreed position, and each state's voting power depends on its population. The presidency rotates between members, but yearly rather than every six months as in the EU Council. Unlike the EU Council, the Bundesrat's membership does not change depending on the topic. Both face similar criticisms because executives have influence over lawmaking.

Locations

Main article: Location of European Union institutions

The institutions do not all sit in one capital city. Their headquarters are spread across four cities: Brussels, Luxembourg, Strasbourg and Frankfurt. This arrangement was approved in 1992 and attached to the Treaty of Amsterdam. The treaty says the Commission and Council would be based in Brussels, the Courts in Luxembourg City, and the Parliament in Strasbourg. In practice, some Commission departments and Council meetings take place in Luxembourg City, and the Parliament holds committee meetings and some sessions in Brussels, while its secretariat is in Luxembourg City. The Central Bank is based in Frankfurt, and the European Council is based in Brussels, though it holds some special meetings elsewhere.

Brussels' hosting of institutions has made it a major centre for the EU. Together with NATO, it has attracted more journalists and ambassadors than Washington, D.C. The three-city arrangement has been criticised, especially for the Parliament, because so many people travel between the cities. The European Green Party estimated that the arrangement costs 200 million euro and produces 20,268 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Some people prefer Brussels because of the other institutions and groups based there, while others support Strasbourg because of its historical importance to European unity.