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The Future
of Europe: Spiritual Values and Citizenship (2)
EUROPEAN UNION INSTITUTIONS AND STRUCTURE
Contents:
•
European
Parliament
•
Council
of the European Union
•
European
Commission
•
Other
EU Institutions
•
The EU Pillar System
•
Questions to think about
•
Other Papers in this Series
The
three main institutions of the European Union are the European Parliament,
European Commission and the Council of the European Union. The composition
and key roles of these institutions are summarised below. Other
EU institutions are described at the bottom of the page.
European
Parliament
•
Composed of 626 directly elected members.
• Examines, amends and approves EU legislation in areas where
it has powers of co-decision (mainly first pillar).
• Has a consultative role in matters that fall under the second
and third pillar.
• Approves the EU budget.
• Exercises democratic control over other institutions.
• Members sit in political groups, not national blocs.
• Meetings open to public observers.
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Council
of the European Union
•
Composed of representatives of governments of the 15 Member States.
• Examines, amends and adopts EU legislation.
• Makes decisions either unanimously (mainly second and third
pillar issues) or by qualified majority voting (mainly first pillar)
ie each Member State has a different number of votes related to population
size.
• Council acts on behalf of the EU in making international agreements.
• Meets in private.
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European
Commission
•
Composed of 20 Commissioners and 20,000 staff.
• Right to initiate and draft proposals for new EU legislation
- Only institution with this right on Community matters (first pillar)
- Shares this right with Member States on matters that fall under
the second and third pillar
- Council and Parliament can ask the Commission to put forward a proposal.
• Responsible for implementation of EU law.
• Ensures that EU legislation is implemented by Member States.
• Acts independently of governments of Member States.
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Other
EU Institutions
Court
of Justice: settles disputes over how to interpret and apply
EU legislation
European Court of Auditors: controls the way EU money
is spent
The European Central Bank: in charge of managing
the single currency; decides on European monetary policy eg setting
interest rates. Main objective is to ensure price stability
European Investment Bank: lends money to investment
projects of European interest
The Economic and Social Committee: advisory body
representing interest groups
The Committee of the Regions: represents local and
regional authorities
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The
EU Pillar System
One of
the most confusing elements of the way decisions are made in the European
Union is the ‘pillar system’. Each pillar refers to a
different area of policy in which the European Union has a competence
to act. The method of decision-making used is different in each pillar.
The pillar system is summarised as follows.
First
Pillar |
Second
Pillar |
Third
Pillar |
| The
Community dimension, ie Union citizenship, Community policies,
Economic and Monetary Union, etc. |
Common
foreign and security policy |
Police
and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. |
The
first pillar uses the ‘Community method’:
•
Commission monopoly of the right of initiative;
• widespread use of qualified majority voting in the
Council;
• an active role for the European Parliament;
• uniform interpretation of Community law by the Court
of Justice.
|
The
second and third pillar use the ‘Intergovernmental method’:
•
the Commission's right of initiative is shared with the Member
States or confined to specific areas of activity;
• the Council generally acts unanimously;
• the European Parliament has a purely consultative
role;
• the Court of Justice plays only a minor role.
Note: The Treaty of Amsterdam has transferred some of
the fields covered by the old third pillar to the first pillar
(for example the free movement of persons).
|
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Questions
to think about
Which
institution is most democratic?
- How transparent are the proceedings?
- Who do the institutions represent and who are they accountable to?
- How can citizens participate in European processes and/or try to
influence the decision-making process? Which
method is most democratic, the Community method or the intergovernmental
method?
- Why should different policy areas be subject to different decision-making
procedures?
Do different institutional arrangements and decision-making procedures
result in different outcomes in terms of policy?
How
effective do you think the current system will be in an enlarged
Union?
What
changes to the institutions and decision-making procedures would
make them more democratic and closer to citizens?
Suggestions from the Laeken Declaration:
• direct election of the President of the Commission;
• extension of co-decision so that Parliament has more power
in more areas;
• Council meetings to be open to the public.
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Other
Papers in this Series
(1)
The Future of Europe Debate HTML
PDF (39kb)
(3)
Aims and Values of the EUs HTML
PDF (36kb)
(4)
Discussion: What are ‘Spiritual Values’? HTML
PDF (34kb)
(5)
Discussion: The European Union and Civil Society HTML
PDF (45kb)
(6)
Discussion:
The European Union in World Politics HTML
PDF (46kb)
(7)
To
Find Out More HTML PDF
(44kb)
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