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The present EU institutional framework
Decision-making processes
Two processes in integration
• Widening– More members 6 → 27
• Deepening– More powers: common market in coal and steel →
internal market, common foreign policy, monetary union etc.
Member States
• 1952: 6 BeNeLux, Germany, France, Italy• 1973: 9 Denmark, Ireland, UK• 1981: 10 Greece• 1986: 12 Spain, Portugal• 1995: 15 Austria, Finland, Sweden• 2004: 25 Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland,
Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Cyprus, Malta
• 2007: 27 Bulgaria, Romania
Treaty framework• 1951 European Coal and Steel Community• 1957 European Economic Community, EURATOM• 1965 Merger Treaty• 1979 Direct elections to the European Parliament• 1986 Single European Act• 1992 Treaty on the European Union• 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam• 2000 Treaty of Nice• 2009 Treaty of Lisbon
Group work
• Form groups of 5-6 people• Introduce yourselves!• Important dates of the European Union• Write important happenings in Korea!– History– Politics– Family– Sport– Culture– …
Today
• Institutional structure• Decision-making processes
Institutions
• Institutions– European Council– European Commission– European Parliament– Council of Ministers – Court of Justice of the European Union– Court of Auditors– European Central Bank
• Advisory bodies– Economic and Social Committee– Committee of Regions
• Financial bodies– European Investment Bank
• President of the European Council– Representation of the EU
• Heads of State or Government of the Member States
• President of the Commission
• General guidelines for the European integration• Main political decisions
• Represents the interests of the Union• Each Member State appoints a Commissioner• 27 Members
– including President– First Vice-President: High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs
and Security Policy– 6 Vice-Presidents
• Commissioners act independently of Member State– Agenda-setting role: right of initiative– Legislative role: delegated legislation– Implementation– Guardian of the Treaties– Representation of the EU
• Not a government, not a secretariat
Berlaymont building, Brussels
• Represents the interests of the citizens• 751 MEPs• Elected by the citizens for 5 years• Very little power at first• Growing influence with new decision-making procedures
– Legislative power – Supervision of the budget – Supervision of the executive
• International (European) parties• Strasbourg, France; Brussels, Belgium; Luxembourg
Members of the EP
• Regressively proportional to population
• Represents the interests of the Member State Governments
• Has the decision-making power in co-decision with the Parliament
• Made up by the ministers of the Member States• COREPER I-II– Antici group (II), Mertens group (I) prepares
meetings– Permanent Representations of MS– Special committees (agriculture, Art. 207 (133),
PSC…)– ~250 working groups– Council Secretariat
• Presidency rotates between Member States
Council shall meet in different configurations…
1. General affairs2. Foreign affairs (Chaired by the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security
Policy)
3. Economic and financial affairs4. Justice and home affairs5. Employment, social policy, health and consumer affairs6. Competitiveness (internal market, industry, research and space)7. Transport, telecommunications and energy8. Agriculture and fisheries9. Environment10. Education, youth, culture and sport
Voting procedures
• Qualified majority (different systems from 2014, 2017)– 255 votes out of 345– Over half of the Member States– Option: verification that the votes also represent
62% of the EU population • Simple majority – 14 votes
• Unanimous – 27 votes
• 3 Courts:– Court of Justice– General Court– Civil Service Tribunal / specialised courts
• 1 judge per Member State for CoJ, GC (27-27)• 8 advocates-general for the Court of Justice• Plus: Civil Service Tribunal (7 judges)• Responsible for enforcing European law;
interpreting and developing it– In some cases together with national courts– via preliminary rulings and direct actions
• Mandatory jurisdiction
Court of Auditors
• Controls the budget of the EU• Controls all the spendings of all institutions
and bodies• 1 auditor per Member State
European Central Bank– responsible for the stability of the euro, including
regulating the money supply, and, together with the other national central banks, defines and implements the monetary policy of the Union
– Based in Frankfurt-am-Main
Advisory bodies• Economic and Social Committee• representatives of social and economic
aspects of society– farmers, transporters, workers, businessmen and
tradesmen, the professions, consumers and the public in general
• consultative role• integral part of European decision-making:
must be consulted
Advisory bodies• Committee of Regions• representatives of regional and local
government• role is to raise awareness of local and regional
points of view with regard to European legislation
Financial bodies• European Investment Bank– long-term lending bank of the European Union– raises substantial volumes of funds on the capital markets – lends on favourable terms to projects furthering EU policy
objectives
Other bodies• European Ombudsman
– Complaints against institutions: discrimination, unnecessary delay, lack of information…
• Agencies (for example):– Community Fisheries Control Agency (CFCA)– Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO)– European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)– European Environment Agency (EEA)– European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)– European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and
Working Conditions (EUROFOUND)– European Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) – …
Decision-making
Participants
• Commission • Parliament• Council
• Committee of Regions• Economic and Social Committee
Commission…
• has the power of initiative – decide if:– it should act – on what legal basis– in which form (if not defined by the treaty)– has the right to amend or withdraw proposals
Parliament…
• optional consultation• compulsory consultation• co-operation• co-decision• Assent
• other procedures
Council…
• Was main decision-maker• Now co-decision with Parliament• Sometimes assent is required
Co-decision procedure• Ordinary legislative procedure after Lisbon Treaty• introduced by the Treaty on European Union• Council cannot disregard the opinion of Parliament• in the event of disagreement, a conciliation
committee made up of representatives of the Council and of Parliament has to arrive at a text that is acceptable to the two institutions
• two institutions on an equal footing in the legislative roles
• If no agreement is reached, the legislative process fails
Consultation procedure
• division of tasks between the Commission and the Council
• before the Council can take a decision opinion asked from– European Parliament– European Economic and Social Committee – Committee of the Regions
Assent procedure
• introduced by the Single European Act• Parliament has the possibility of expressing its
approval or disapproval of certain Council instruments
• Parliament gives its consent by an absolute majority of its members
• right of veto for Parliament
Assent procedure 2.
• introduced by the Lisbon Treaty• Council has the possibility of expressing its
approval or disapproval of certain Parliament instruments
• right of veto for Council
Separate or different procedures for…• Budget• Common Foreign and Security Policy (only Council,
European Council)• In some cases, cooperation in criminal matters
Which procedure is used?
• Depends on policy area• Settled in the Treaties