HOW THE EU WORKS

European Commission

27 Commissioners and their “Cabinets”

33 Directorates General (DG)

● Units

European Parliament

754 MEPs

20 Committees (LIBE, ITRE, JURI) Non-political secretariat

Political groups (ALDE, EPP, Greens/EFA, etc.) Own staff (for ex. on http://eppgroup.eu)

European Parliament 2009-2014

European Council

Member States and their “Perm Reps” More than 150 Committees and Working groups Presidency: Jul-Dec 2012: Cyprus, Jan-Jun 2013:

Ireland

Ordinary Legislative Procedure

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislature_of_the_European_Union#Ordinary_legislative_procedure

European Parliament

➔ One “lead Committee”➔ Opinion Committees➔ Rapporteur and Shadow rapporteurs➔ Discussions in Committee meetings➔ Amendments➔ Vote in Committees➔ Vote in Plenary

EDRi papers: Activist guideTop ten advocacy tips:

● 01 Be early.

● 02 Be reliable.

● 03 Be honest.

● 04 Be understanding.

● 05 Be nice!

● 06 Be thorough.

● 07 Be brief.

● 08 Be consistent.

● 09 Be personal.

● 10 Be a bridge builder.

Useful Links:

https://pad.foebud.org/HowEU

EDRi booklet: “Activist guide through the Brussels maze”

http://edri.org/papers