The European Union

• Motto:
In Varietate Concordia

"United in Diversity"
 The European Union: Key Facts
Headquarters:
• The Commission and its main bureaucracy are in
Brussels, Belgium
• The European Parliament is in Strasbourg, France
• The Court of Justice of the EU is in Luxembourg
• The European Central Bank is in Frankfurt, Germany
• Members: 27 member countries (with Croatia joining
July 2013 and Brexit in 2021)
• Website: www.europa.eu
 • IGO
• Regional organization
• SNO
What is the meaning of
supranationality?
• The European Union is a vast collection of
international institutions, law, and political
arrangements.
• It integrates the economies of its twenty-seven
member states.
• The EU has created powerful central
authorities, including a bureaucracy and a legal
hierarchy between the center and the member
states; by contrast, the AU, ASEAN and the
OAS leave most powers of decision in the
hands of meetings of their heads of government.
Schengen Zone

The Schengen
Area
encompasses
most EU
countries,
except for
Bulgaria,
Croatia,
Cyprus,
Ireland and
Romania.
Euro Zone:

Bulgaria,
Croatia,
Czech Republic,
Denmark,
Hungary,
Poland,
Romania, and
Sweden.
Key Structures
• European Council (Highest political level)
– Defines general political direction and priorities of the Union.
– Head of the states gather quarterly.
• Council of the European Union (=Council of Ministers)
– Comprised of ministers from all EU members, representing their governments.
– Represents the nat’l govs.
– The EU’s main decision making body.
• European Commission
– Executive organ and bureaucracy of the EU.
– Represents the common EU interests.
– Has direct regulatory power within member states on many issues
• European Parliament
– Directly elected by the EU citizens.
– Represents the people of Europe.
– Has authority of «co-decision» with the Council of Ministers.
• Court of Justice of the European Union
– Judicial authority of the EU
– Hears cases on whether member states and the European institutions are acting
properly within EU law.
• The European Central Bank
• The European Court of Auditors
Key legal texts of the European Union:
• Treaty Establishing the European Coal and Steel Community
(1951): created the ECSC : a customs union, a monetary
union, a single labor market, and more. It has created a single
market for the heavy industries of the 6 original member states
(France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and
Luxembourg).
• Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (Rome,
1957): established the European Economic Community. Free
roaming of the capital, workers, goods and services.
• Treaty of European Union (Maastricht, 1992): changed the
EEC into the European Union. + Established EU
citizenship. Common foreign security policy & justice and
home affairs.
• Treaty of Lisbon (2009): reframed the relationships among EU
institutions and between these institutions and EU citizens.
• The European Union is a set of linked inter-
state institutions, a collection over overlapping
treaties, and a system of distributed authority
among local, national, and supranational
levels.
• At the core of the EU is a common market for
goods, services, people, and money.
• The EU = common market = EU deals with
this issue by demanding that its members
adopt standardized policies on a wide range of
issues including labeling, taxation, health
standards, agricultural subsidies, and more.
• The European integration “project” has
generally operated on the “bicycle theory”
which suggests that “just like a bicycle has to
keep going to avoid falling over...”

• Thus, once the free-trade area was essentially

completed in the 1970s European leaders
turned to integration and coordination on new
issues, notably in political and monetary
affairs.
 Institutions and Legal Framework
• The rules and institutions of the EU have their legal authority as a result of the
explicit and consensual delegation of the power to them by sovereign states in the
Treaties of Rome, Maastricht, Lisbon, and beyond. These treaties form the “primary”
legislation of the EU.
• The core legal document of the EU today is the Lisbon Treaty, which as of 2009,
amended the formal framework of the EU set out by the Maastricht Treaty of the
1992 and the Rome Treaty of 1957, along with other more minor agreements.
• The Lisbon Treaty takes the existing institutions of the EU and modifies their powers
and their inter-relations. For instance, it reduces the need for unanimity in the Council
of Ministers, thus making it easier to pass decisions but guaranteeing more conflict
over compliance; it promotes the European Parliament relative to the Council of
Ministers, in the interest of increasing democratic over-sight, though at the cost of
requiring both bodies to consent to the same legislation. It also attaches a Charter of
Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which defines a set of individual rights
for the EU citizens and protects them from the decisions of the EU itself.
• The key institutions of the EU include the European Council, the European
Commission, the European Parliament and the Court of Justice of the European
Union. These are arranged in and around a basic framework of legal and political
commitments by the states whose broad outlines are simple to chart.
• These institutions can create directives, regulations, decisions,
and other products which are binding on EU members.
• The complexities of the EU arise in large part because these
institutions and their products have different powers over
different areas of policy and in relation to different EU members.
• The European Commission encompasses the administrative
apparatus of the EU. It is the EU’s executive branch, headed by
twenty-seven “commissioners”.
• The Commission is responsible to the European Parliament in
something like the way that the British Cabinet is responsible to
its parliament: a motion by the EU Parliament to dissolve the
Commission would require all the Commissioners to resign.
• The Council of the EU is body of the ministers from each
government, also known as the Council of Ministers, though not
the Council of Europe and not the European Council.
• For many EU decisions, the reconciliation principle is simple: EU
law takes precedence over a contradictory national law. This is
the rule known as the “supremacy” of EU law and it developed over
time largely through the decisions of the European Court of Justice. It
has now been codified in the Lisbon Treaty of 2009.
• EU law prevails.
• The consequences of legal supremacy are compounded by the fact
that many EU regulations and articles have “direct effect” in national
law. That is, they create rights which an EU citizen can use in the
domestic courts against a contrary claim of the national government.
• The legal relations between the EU, its governments, and its citizens
are vastly complicated by the fact that the EU takes many kinds of
decisions and these vary in their legal status, and there are competing
institutions of the EU and beyond it which may find themselves
interpreting those rules in relation to competing claims.
• In its simplest form: the central accomplishment of the project of
European integration has been the creation of a single economic
market and a common external tariff policy.
 Main Organs
• According to the Treaty on the European Union (the Maastricht
Treaty,1992) §4.1:

The tasks entrusted to the community shall be carried out by the

following institutions:
- a EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,
- a COUNCIL,
- a COMMISSION,
- a COURT OF JUSTICE,
- a COURT OF AUDITORS.
Each institution shall act within the limits of the powers confined upon
it by this Treaty.
 The European Council
Formation - 1961 (informally)
- 2009 (formally) upon the entry
into force of the Treaty of Lisbon
Location •Europa building, Brussels
President Charles Michel (after Donald Tusk)
Website consilium.europa.eu

• Members: Heads of state or government of EU countries, European Commission

President, High Representative for Foreign Affairs & Security Policy
• Role: Defines the general political direction and priorities of the European Union
• It has no formal legislative power.
• It provides an impetus to guide legislative policies.
• Meetings = EU Summit = (At least) quarterly.
• Decisions of the Eur.Council are taken by consensus, except where the Treaties
provide otherwise.
• Some key decisions:
1969 - Foreign policy and enlargement.
1991 - Agreement on the Maastricht Treaty.
1993 - Leading to the definition of the Copenhagen Criteria.
1998 - Selected member states to adopt the euro.
• Decides on the EU's overall direction and
political priorities – but does not pass laws.
• Deals with complex or sensitive issues that cannot be
resolved at lower levels of intergovernmental
cooperation.
• Sets the EU's common foreign & security policy, taking
into account EU strategic interests and defense
implications.
• Nominates and appoints candidates to certain high profile
EU level roles, such as the ECB and the Commission.
On each issue, the European Council can:
• ask the European Commission to make a proposal to
address it.
• pass it on to the Council of the EU to deal with
 The European Commission (EC)
"The only body paid to think European"
President Ursula von der Leyen (after Jean-Claude
Juncker)
Role Executive branch with legislative powers
Established 16 January 1958; 60 years ago
Seat: Brussels

Role: Promotes the general interest of the EU by proposing and enforcing legislation as
well as by implementing policies and the EU budget.
Members: A team or 'College' of Commissioners, 1 from each EU country.
Commissioners swear an oath, to put the interests of the EU over the interests of their
own nations.

• The European Council appoints the members of the EC.

• The commission president is proposed by the Council.
• The Commission operates as a cabinet government
• (aka College of Commissioners )
• with 28 members of the Commission.
The EC is:
• EU's politically independent executive arm: responsible for proposing
legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and
managing the day-to-day business of the EU.
• Protects the interests of the EU and its citizens on issues that can't be
dealt with effectively at national level;
• 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 Council of the European Union
Seat: Brussels
Presidency (Leadership) Germany
Since July 2020
Secretary General Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen

Role: Voice of EU member governments, adopting EU laws and coordinating EU policies

Members: Government ministers from each EU country, according to the policy area to
be discussed
President: Each EU country holds the presidency on a 6-month rotating basis
• Intergovenmental - 28 national ministers
• The interests of the member states are represented
• Related ministers be present.
• Acts as one of the two chambers of the EU's legislative branch, the other chamber
being the European Parliament.
• Works hand in hand with the Parliament (to adopt the budget, to adopt the legal
regulations etc.)
• Its decisions are made by qualified majority voting in most areas, unanimity in
others, or just simple majority for procedural issues.
• In the Council, government ministers from each EU country meet to
discuss, amend and adopt laws, and coordinate policies.
• The ministers have the authority to commit their governments to the
actions agreed on in the meetings.
• Together with the European Parliament, the Council is the main decision-
making body of the EU.
What does the Council do?
• Negotiates and adopts EU laws, together with the European Parliament,
based on proposals from the European Commission
• Coordinates EU countries' policies
• Develops the EU's foreign & security policy, based on European
Council guidelines
• Concludes agreements between the EU and other countries or
international organisations
• Adopts the annual EU budget - jointly with the European Parliament.
The European Parliament
• Brussels and Strasbourg
• Role: The directly elected parliamentary institution of the
EU with legislative, supervisory, and budgetary
responsibilities
• It exercises the legislative function of the EU (together with
the Council of the EU.)
• Members of the parliament are elected every 5 years (last
election was in May 2019. The next election to the
European Parliament is scheduled to be held in 2024)
• Number of representatives are proportionate to the EU
population.
Germany 96 (12.8%)
France 74 (9.9%)
Italy 73 (9.7%)
UK 73 (9.7%)
Spain 54 (7.2%)
Poland 51 (6.8%)
Romania 32 (4.3%)
NL 26 (3.5%)
Belgium 21 (2.8%)
21 (2.8%)
Czech Rep
ublic
Greece 21 (2.8%)
Hungary 21 (2.8%)
Portugal 21 (2.8%)
Sweden 20 (2.7%)
Austria 18 (2.4%)
Bulgaria 17 (2.3%)
Denmark 13 (1.7%)
Finland 13 (1.7%)
Slovakia 13 (1.7%)
Croatia 11 (1.5%)
Ireland 11 (1.5%)
Lithuania 11 (1.5%)
Latvia 8 (1.1%)
Slovenia 8 (1.1%)
Cyprus 6 (0.8%)
• The Members of the European Parliament sit in political groups – they are not
organised by nationality, but by political affiliation. There are currently 7 political
groups in the European Parliament.
• Some Members do not belong to any political group and are known as non-
attached Members.
1. Group of the European People's Party (Christian
Democrats)
2. Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and
Democrats in the European Parliament
3. Renew Europe Group
4. Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
5. Identity and Democracy Group
6. European Conservatives and Reformists Group
7. The Left group in the European Parliament - GUE/NGL
• The Parliament has 3 main roles:
1. 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
2. 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
3. Budgetary
 Establishing the EU budget, together with the Council
 Approving the EU's long-term budget, the "Multiannual Financial Framework"
Court of Justice of the European Union
• The judicial Organ of the EU. Role: Ensuring EU law is
interpreted and applied the same in every EU
country; ensuring countries and EU institutions
abide by EU law.
• Seated in Luxembourg (Kirchberg)
• it consists of two separate courts: the Court of
Justice (states) and the General Court (individuals).
• A sui generis court system.
• Oversees the uniform application and interpretation
of European Union law.
What does the CJEU do?
• interpreting the law (preliminary rulings) – national courts of EU countries are required
to ensure EU law is properly applied, but courts in different countries might interpret it
differently. If a national court is in doubt about the interpretation or validity of an EU law,
it can ask the Court for clarification. The same mechanism can be used to determine
whether a national law or practice is compatible with EU law.
• enforcing the law (infringement proceedings) – this type of case is taken against a
national government for failing to comply with EU law. Can be started by the European
Commission or another EU country. If the country is found to be at fault, it must put
things right at once, or risk a second case being brought, which may result in a fine.
• annulling EU legal acts (actions for annulment) – if an EU act is believed to violate EU
treaties or fundamental rights, the Court can be asked to annul it – by an EU
government, the Council of the EU, the European Commission or (in some cases)
the European Parliament.
Private individuals can also ask the Court to annul an EU act that directly concerns them.
• ensuring the EU takes action (actions for failure to act) – the Parliament, Council and
Commission must make certain decisions under certain circumstances. If they don't, EU
governments, other EU institutions or (under certain conditions) individuals or
companies can complain to the Court.
• sanctioning EU institutions (actions for damages) – any person or company who has had
their interests harmed as a result of the action or inaction of the EU or its staff can take
action against them through the Court.
The European Central Bank
• Role: To manage the euro, keep prices stable
and conduct EU economic & monetary policy
• Members: ECB President and Vice-President
and governors of national central banks from
all EU countries
• Established in: 1998
• Location: Frankfurt (Germany)
What does the ECB do?
 Sets the interest rates at which it lends to commercial
banks in the eurozone (also known as the euro area), thus
controlling money supply and inflation
 Manages the eurozone's foreign currency reserves and the
buying or selling of currencies to balance exchange rates
 Ensures that financial markets & institutions are well
supervised by national authorities, and that payment
systems work well
 Ensures the safety and soundness of the European banking
system
 Authorizes production of euro banknotes by eurozone
countries
 Monitors price trends and assesses risks to price stability.
The European Court of Auditors
• Role: To check EU funds are collected and used correctly, and help improve EU financial
management.
• Members: 1 from each EU country
• Established in: 1977
• Location: Luxembourg
• Audits EU revenue & expenditure, to check EU funds are correctly raised, spent, achieve
value for money and accounted for.
• Checks any person or organisation handling EU funds – including spot checks in EU
institutions (especially the Commission), EU countries and countries receiving EU aid.
• Writes up findings and recommendations in audit reports, for the European Commission and
national governments.
• Reports suspected fraud, corruption or other illegal activity to the European Anti-Fraud
Office (OLAF)
• Produces an annual report for the European Parliament and Council of the EU, which the
Parliament examines before deciding whether to approve the Commission's handling of the
EU budget.
• Gives its expert opinion to EU policymakers on how EU finances could be better managed
and made more accountable to citizens.