European Union

Institutions and legal framework

EU institutions

The functioning of the European Union is supported by several institutions:

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• The European Parliament (732 members 750 max.)
• The Council of the European Union (or 'Council of Ministers') (25 members)
• The European Commission (25 members)
• The European Court of Justice (incorporating the Court of First Instance) (25 judges (& 25 judges of CFI))
• The European Court of Auditors (25 members)
• The European Council (25 members) - whose unique role is perhaps better described as that of a "quasi-institution"

There are several financial bodies:

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• European Central Bank (which alongside the national Central Banks, composes the European System of Central Banks)
• European Investment Bank (including the European Investment Fund)

There are also several advisory committees to the institutions:

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• Committee of the Regions, advising on regional issues
• Economic and Social Committee, advising on economic and social policy (principally relations between workers and employers)
• Political and Security Committee, established in the context of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, monitoring and advising on international issues of global security.

There are also a great number of bodies, usually set up by secondary legislation, which exist to implement particular policies. These are the agencies of the European Union. Examples are the European Environment Agency, the European Aviation Safety Agency and the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market.

Related Topics:
Secondary legislation - Agencies of the European Union - European Environment Agency - European Aviation Safety Agency - Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market

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Lastly, the European Ombudsman investigates complaints of maladministration by EU institutions.

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Location of EU institutions

The EU has no official capital and its institutions are divided between several cities:

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• Brussels, Belgium - Considered the de facto capital of the EU
• Seat of the European Commission and the Council of the European Union
• Venue for the European Parliament's committee meetings and mini-sessions
• Host city for all European Council summits (since 2004)
• Strasbourg, France
• Seat of the European Parliament and venue of its twelve week-long plenary sessions each year
• Also the location of two key European organisations — the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights — which are different from the EU and have a wider membership than the EU
• Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
• Seat of the European Court of Justice and the Secretariat of the European Parliament
• Seat of the European Investment Bank
• Frankfurt, Germany
• Seat of the European Central Bank
• The Hague, The Netherlands
• Seat of EUROPOL (the European Police Office)

Legal framework

European Union law comprises a large number of overlapping legal and institutional structures. This is a result of its being defined by successive international treaties, with each new treaty amending and supplementing earlier ones.. In recent years, considerable efforts have been made to consolidate and simplify the treaties, culminating with the final draft of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. If this proposed treaty is adopted, it will replace the set of overlapping treaties that form the current constitution of the EU with a single text.

Related Topics:
European Union law - Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe

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The earliest EU treaty was the Treaty of Paris of 1951 (took effect in 1952) which established the European Coal and Steel Community between an original group of six European countries. This treaty has since expired, its functions taken up by subsequent treaties. On the other hand, the Treaty of Rome of 1957 is still in effect, though much amended since then, most notably by the Maastricht treaty of 1992, which first established the European Union under that name. The most recent amendments to the Treaty of Rome were agreed as part of the Treaty of Accession of the 10 new member states, which entered into force on 1 May 2004.

Related Topics:
Treaty of Paris - 1951 - 1952 - European Coal and Steel Community - Treaty of Rome - 1957 - Maastricht treaty - 1992 - Treaty of Accession - 1 May - 2004

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The EU member states have recently agreed to the text of a new constitutional treaty that, if ratified by the member states, would become the first official constitution of the EU, replacing all previous treaties with a single document. Although accepted by many countries, this document was rejected in a French referendum with a 55% majority on May 29th and in the Dutch referendum with a 62% majority on June 1st.

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If the Constitutional Treaty fails to be ratified by all member states, then it might be necessary to reopen negotiations on it. Most politicians and officials agree that the current pre-Constitution structures are inefficient in the medium term for a union of 25 (and growing) member states. Senior politicians in some member states (notably France) have suggested that if only a few countries fail to ratify the Treaty, then the rest of the Union should proceed without them, possibly creating an "Avant Garde" or Inner Union of more committed member states to proceed with "an ever-deeper, ever-wider union".

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See also:

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• EU treaties
• Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe

The role of the European Community within the Union

European Communities: European Community plus Euratom

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The term European Communities refers collectively to two entities -- the European Economic Community (now called the European Community) and the European Atomic Energy Community (also known as Euratom) -- each founded pursuant to a separate treaty in the 1950s. A third entity, the European Coal and Steel Community, was also part of the European Communities, but ceased to exist in 2003 upon the expiration of its founding treaty. Since 1967, the European Communities have shared common institutions, specifically the Council, the European Parliament, the Commission and the Court of Justice. In 1992, the European Economic Community, which of the three original communities had the broadest scope, was renamed the "European Community" by the Treaty of Maastricht.

Related Topics:
European Communities - European Community

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European Union: European Communities plus CFSP and PJCC

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The European Communities are one of the three pillars of the European Union, being both the most important pillar and the only one to operate primarily through supranational institutions. The other two "pillars" – Common Foreign and Security Policy, and Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters – are looser intergovernmental groupings. Confusingly, these latter two concepts are increasingly administered by the Community (as they are built up from mere concepts to actual practice).

Related Topics:
Three pillars of the European Union - Common Foreign and Security Policy - Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters

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Effect of Constitutional Treaty

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If it is ratified, the proposed new Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe would abolish the three-pillar structure and, with it, the distinction between the European Union and the European Community, bringing all the Community's activities under the auspices of the European Union and transferring the Community's legal personality to the Union. There is, however, one qualification: it appears that Euratom would remain a distinct entity governed by a separate treaty.

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Inter-governmentalism and supra-nationalism

A basic tension exists within the European Union between inter-governmentalism and supra-nationalism. Inter-governmentalism is a method of decision-making in international organisations where power is possessed by the member-states and decisions are made by unanimity. Independent appointees of the governments or elected representatives have solely advisory or implementational functions. Inter-governmentalism is used by most international organisations today.

Related Topics:
Inter-governmentalism - Supra-nationalism

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An alternative method of decision-making in international organisations is supra-nationalism. In supra-nationalism power is held by independent appointed officials or by representatives elected by the legislatures or people of the member states. Member-state governments still have power, but they must share this power with other actors. Furthermore, decisions are made by majority votes, hence it is possible for a member-state to be forced by the other member-states to implement a decision against its will.

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Some forces in European Union politics favour the intergovernmental approach, while others favour the supranational path. Supporters of supra-nationalism argue that it allows integration to proceed at a faster pace than would otherwise be possible. Where decisions must be made by governments acting unanimously, decisions can take years to make, if they are ever made. Supporters of inter-governmentalism argue that supra-nationalism is a threat to national sovereignty, and to democracy, claiming that only national governments can possess the necessary democratic legitimacy. Inter-governmentalism is being favoured by more Eurosceptic nations such as the United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden; while more integrationist nations such as the Benelux countries, France, Germany, and Italy have tended to prefer the supranational approach.

Related Topics:
Eurosceptic - United Kingdom - Denmark - Sweden - Benelux - France - Germany - Italy

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The European Union attempts to strike a balance between the two approaches. This balance however is complex, resulting in the often labyrinthine complexity of its decision-making procedures.

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Starting in March 2002, a Convention on the Future of Europe again looked at this balance, among other things, and proposed changes. These changes were discussed at an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) in May 2004 and led to the Constitutional Treaty discussed above.

Related Topics:
Convention on the Future of Europe - IGC

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Supranationalism is closely related to the inter-governmentalist vs. neofunctionalist debate. This is a debate concerning why the process of integration has taken place at all. Inter-governmentalists argue that the process of EU integration is a result of tough bargaining between states. Neofunctionalism, on the other hand, argues that the supranational institutions themselves have been a driving force behind integration. For further information on this see the page on Neofunctionalism.

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