Governance

European Union

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the European Union

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The institutions of the EU operate solely within those competencies conferred on it upon the treaties and according to the principle of subsidiarity (which dictates that action by the EU should only be taken where an objective cannot be sufficiently achieved by the member states alone). Law made by the EU institutions is passed in a variety of forms, primarily that which comes into direct force and that which must be passed in a refined form by national parliaments.

Legislative competencies are divided equally, with some exceptions, between the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union while executive tasks are carried out by the European Commission and in a limited capacity by the European Council (not to be confused with the aforementioned Council of the European Union). The interpretation and the application of EU law and the treaties are ensured by the Court of Justice of the European Union. There are also a number of ancillary bodies which advise the EU or operate in a specific area.

European Council

The President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy

The EU receives its political leadership from the European Council, which usually meets four times a year. It comprises one representative per member state—either its head of state or head of government—plus its President as well as the President of the Commission. The member states' representatives are assisted by their Foreign Ministers. The European Council uses its leadership role to sort out disputes between member states and the institutions, and to resolve political crises and disagreements over controversial issues and policies. The European Council should not be mistaken for the Council of Europe, an international organisation independent from the EU.

On 19 November 2009, Herman Van Rompuy was chosen as the first President of the European Council and Catherine Ashton was chosen as the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. They both assumed office on 1 December 2009.

Council

The Council (also called "Council of the European Union"^[48] and sometimes referred to as the "Council of Ministers"^[49]) forms one half of the EU's legislature. It consists of a government minister from each member state and meets in different compositions depending on the policy area being addressed. Notwithstanding its different compositions, it is considered to be one single body.^[50] In addition to its legislative functions, the Council also exercises executive functions in relations to the Common Foreign and Security Policy.

[edit] Commission

Commission President José Manuel Barroso

The European Commission acts as the EU's executive arm and is responsible for initiating legislation and the day-to-day running of the EU. It is intended to act solely in the interest of the EU as a whole, as opposed to the Council which consists of leaders of member states who reflect national interests. The commission is also seen as the motor of European integration. It is currently composed of 27 commissioners for different areas of policy, one from each member state. The President of the Commission and all the other commissioners are nominated by the Council. Appointment of the Commission President, and also the Commission in its entirety, have to be confirmed by Parliament.^[51]

Parliament

The seat of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

The European Parliament forms the other half of the EU's legislature. The 736 (soon to be 750) Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are directly elected by EU citizens every five years. Although MEPs are elected on a national basis, they sit according to political groups rather than their nationality. Each country has a set number of seats and in some cases is divided into sub-national constituencies. The Parliament and the Council of Ministers pass legislation jointly in nearly all areas under the ordinary legislative procedure. This also applies to the EU budget. Finally, the Commission is accountable to Parliament, requiring its approval to take office, having to report back to it and subject to motions of censure from it. The President of the European Parliament carries out the role of speaker in parliament and represents it externally. The president and vice presidents are elected by MEPs every two and a half years.^[52]

Courts

The judicial branch of the EU—formally called the Court of Justice of the European Union—consists of three courts: the Court of Justice, the General Court, and the European Union Civil Service Tribunal. Together they interpret and apply the treaties and the law of the EU.^[53]

The Court of Justice primarily deals with cases taken by member states, the institutions, and cases referred to it by the courts of member states.^[54] The General Court mainly deals with cases taken by individuals and companies directly before the EU's courts,^[55] and the European Union Civil Service Tribunal adjudicates in disputes between the European Union and its civil service.^[56] Decisions from the General Court can be appealed to the Court of Justice but only on a point of law.^[57]

Legal system

Further information: Law of the European Union, Treaties of the European Union, and European Union legislative procedure

The Court of Justice in Luxembourg can judge member states over EU law.

The EU is based on a series of treaties. These first established the European Community and the EU, and then made amendments to those founding treaties.^[58] These are power-giving treaties which set broad policy goals and establish institutions with the necessary legal powers to implement those goals. These legal powers include the ability to enact legislation^[59] which can directly affect all member states and their inhabitants.^[60] Under the principle of supremacy, national courts are required to enforce the treaties that their member states have ratified, and thus the laws enacted under them, even if doing so requires them to ignore conflicting national law, and (within limits) even constitutional provisions.^[61]

The main legal acts of the EU come in three forms: regulations, directives, and decisions. Regulations become law in all member states the moment they come into force, without the requirement for any implementing measures,^[62] and automatically override conflicting domestic provisions.^[59] Directives require member states to achieve a certain result while leaving them discretion as to how to achieve the result. The details of how they are to be implemented are left to member states.^[63]

EU member states have a standardised passport design, burgundy coloured with the name of the member state, Coat of Arms and with the words "European Union" given in their official language(s) at the top; in this case those of Ireland.

When the time limit for implementing directives passes, they may, under certain conditions, have direct effect in national law against member states. Decisions offer an alternative to the two above modes of legislation. They are legal acts which only apply to specified individuals, companies or a particular member state. They are most often used in Competition Law, or on rulings on State Aid, but are also frequently used for procedural or administrative matters within the institutions. Regulations, directives, and decisions are of equal legal value and apply without any formal hierarchy.

One of the complicating features of the EU's legal system is the multiplicity of legislative procedures used to enact legislation. The treaties micro-manage the EU's powers, indicating different ways of adopting legislation for different policy areas and for different areas within the same policy areas.^[64] A common feature of the EU's legislative procedures, however, is that almost all legislation must be initiated by the Commission, rather than member states or European parliamentarians.^[65] The two most common procedures are co-decision, under which the European Parliament can veto proposed legislation, and consultation, under which Parliament is only permitted to give an opinion which can be ignored by European leaders. In most cases legislation must be agreed by the council.^[66]

National courts within the member states play a key role in the EU as enforcers of EU law, and a "spirit of cooperation" between EU and national courts is laid down in the Treaties. National courts can apply EU law in domestic cases, and if they require clarification on the interpretation or validity of any EU legislation related to the case it may make a reference for a preliminary ruling to the Court of Justice. The right to declare EU legislation invalid however is reserved to the EU courts.

Fundamental rights

As a product of efforts to establish a written fundamental rights code, the EU drew up the Charter of Fundamental Rights in 2000. The Charter is legally binding since the Lisbon Treaty has come into force.^[67] Also, the Court of Justice gives judgements on fundamental rights derived from the "constitutional traditions common to the member states,"^[68] and may even invalidate EU legislation based on its failure to adhere to these fundamental rights.^[69]

Although signing the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is a condition for EU membership,^[70] the EU itself is not covered by the convention as it is neither a state^[71] nor, prior to the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty, had the competence to accede.^[72] Lisbon Treaty and Protocol 14 to the ECHR have changed this: the first binding the EU to accede to the Convention and the second formally allowing this. Nonetheless the Court of Justice and European Court of Human Rights co-operate to ensure their case-law does not conflict.^[73] The EU opposes the death penalty and promotes its world wide abolition.^[74] Abolition of the death penalty is a condition for EU membership.