1. EU Institutions and Public Affairs Training
2 July 2010

2. Outline The EU institutions and the balance of power
The European Commission
Role, Structure, People
The European Parliament
Role, political landscape, Committees and key MEPs, Voting behaviour patterns
The Council of Ministers
Know your Councils, Role, Presidencies, Levels of negotiation, Voting system
EU Lobbying

3. Today’s objectives
Today we will provide a basic understanding of the key players and functioning of the EU institutions and how to interact with them:
Who are the key players?
What do they do?
How are decisions really made?

4. EU Institutions and balance of power
Commission
proposes
Parliament
Council
amends/decides
amends/decides

5. The Treaty of Lisbon
Treaty of Lisbon entered into force on
1 December 2009
Amends the current EU and EC treaties, without replacing them.
Creation of two new posts:
President of the European Council: Herman Van Rompuy
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy: Catherine Ashton
Impact on institutions (limited) is the following:
Increased involvement of the EP in the legislative process through extended co-decision with the Council on a number of issues such as trade, budget, agriculture, transport, regional aid and justice and home affairs
EP will decide on the entire EU budget together with the Council
Size of the Commission will reduce from 1 per Member State to 1 for two-thirds of Member States from 2014
The number of MEPs will be limited to 750

6. Institutional balance of power
European Commission
Represents the EU interest
Appointed, not elected - civil servants
European Parliament
Represents EU citizens & political ideas
Directly elected
Political groups
Right of scrutiny over the Executive and non-elected body
Council of the European Union
Represents Member States’ governments
Geopolitics (North/South; Atlantic / Mediterranean; East/West)
Size and weight (QMV)
Old and new Member States

7. The Co-decision Procedure
PROPOSAL
FIRST READING
SECOND READING
THIRD READING
ADOPTION
NO TIME LIMIT
MAX. 4 MONTHS
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
[Lead Committee]
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
Working Group:
Government
Perm Reps
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
[Lead Committee]
OPINION
(1st Reading)
OPINION
(2nd Reading)
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
CONCILIATION
PARLIAMENT
COUNCIL
COMMISSION (FACILITATOR)
ADOPTED
LEGISLATION
NO TIME LIMIT
COMMON POSITION
MAX 24 WEEKS
[Timing]
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
Working Group:
Government
Perm Reps
MAX. 4 MONTHS

8. European Commission

9. The European Commission
Who is the Commission?
27 Commissioners – political appointees
23,000 civil servants – jobs for life.
The defender of the European interest
What do they do?
The Administration of the European Union – right of initiative and implementation of existing legislation
Guardian of the Treaty – launches infringements procedures
The European Antitrust Authority
The Trade Negotiator of the European Union
The Think Tank of the European Union

10. European Commission in a nutshell
Commission: total staff of around 24,000 (excl. external staff).
‘College’ of 27 Commissioners
Appointed every 5 years within 6 months of the European Parliament elections (next: November 2014)
Decision making body of the Commission, alongside the relevant Commission’s Directorate Generals
1 Commissioner per Member State
Portfolios similar to national governments
Loyalty to the EU, not to the Member States

11. Drafting of legislative proposals
Council of Ministers
College
of Commissioners
European Parliament
Heads of Cabinets
Commissioner’s
Cabinet
Inter-service consultation
(10-15 days allocated) DG
Director General
Director
Stakeholder
consultation
(duration:
+/- 8 weeks)
Unit

12. European Parliament

13. The European Parliament
Democratic Representation
(only directly elected institution)
Platform for political debate
3 fundamental powers:
Legislative power
Amends and adopts legislative texts
No power to initiate European legislative proposals
Power of political initiative
Budgetary power
Supervisory power
Right to approve/reject newly appointed Commissioners
Power to censure Commission
Regular reports by Commission and Council Presidency
Right to table written and oral questions

14. European Parliament Outline
Elected every 5 years (next: June 2014).
736 MEPs (Germany with the most: 99; Malta with the least: 5).
1or 2 assistants per MEP on average.
Three seats: Brussels (committees), Strasbourg (plenary), Luxembourg (administration)
20 Committees, 2 sub-committees, 1 temporary committee, 35 delegations, informal inter-groups
Secretariat with some 5,000 staff, of whom about 1,500 work in the linguistic services covering a total of 23 working languages.
The EP’s budget for 2009 is €1,53 billion, which covered staff costs, buildings, MEPs' travel allowance and expenses.

15. European Parliament Key Facts
20 parliamentary committees
A committee consists of between 30 and 76 MEPs, and has a chair, a bureau and a secretariat. The political make-up of the committees reflects that of the plenary assembly
Committees meet once or twice a month in Brussels. Their debates are held in public.
The committees amend and adopt legislative proposals.
Parliament can also set up sub-committees and temporary committees to deal with specific issues, and committees of inquiry under its supervisory remit.
MEPs might also set up interest groups – not part of formal structures but political platform.

16. The European Parliament Political Make Up85 54
264
184 54 31 35 26 NI

17. European Parliament Decision Making Procedure
Council
Plenary Vote
Deadline for Amendments
Committee Vote
Deadline for Amendments
Committee Debates
EP appoints Committees and
Rapporteurs
Commission

18. Co-decision competence
The co-decision procedure, as established by the Maastricht Treaty, applies to the following policy areas:
Environment (Energy)
Transport
Trans-European networks (Energy)
Research
Non-discrimination on the basis of nationality
The right to move and reside
The free movement of workers
Social security for migrant workers
The right of establishment
The internal market (Energy)
Employment
Customs co-operation
Equal opportunities and equal treatment
The fight against social exclusion
Implementing decisions regarding the European Social Fund
Education
Culture
Health
Vocational training
Consumer protection
Transparency
Implementing decisions regarding the European Regional Development Fund
Preventing and combating fraud
Statistics
Establishment of a data protection advisory body
The Lisbon Treaty has extended the application of the co-decision procedure to a larger number of policy areas, therefore giving more decision-making powers to the Parliament. These areas include agriculture, energy security, immigration, justice
and home affairs, health and structural funds

19. Consultation competence
In the consultation procedure, the Commission submits a proposal to the Council, which then consults the European Parliament. While it is not bound by Parliament's opinion, the Council must nevertheless consult it in a certain number of cases, failing which the proposal cannot become legally binding:
Police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters
Revision of the treaties
Discrimination based on gender, race or ethnic origin, religion, political beliefs, handicap, age or sexual orientation
European citizenship
Legal immigration and the other policies connected to the free movement of people
Competition law
Tax provisions
Economic policy

20. Some EP voting behaviour patterns
Political groups vs. political groups
Committee vs. committee
Alliance of national delegations
Pro-environment MEPs
Ad-hoc coalitions on specific issues

21. The Council of Ministers

22. Council of Ministers: know your Councils
Council of the European Union: also referred to as the Council of Ministers, the Council of the European Union is one of the 3 key EU institutions, together with the Parliament and the Commission.
European Council: this is the official name for the summits of EU leaders, which take place every 3 months, taking high-level political decisions and setting the strategic direction of the EU.
Council of Europe: a separate organisation based in Strasbourg, whose aim is to promote human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation.

23. Council of the EU Who is the Council?
Represents 27 individual Member States
Rotating six-month Presidency sets the Council’s political agenda
Permanent Representations as ‘Ambassadors’
What do they do?
Pass European law - jointly with EP
Co-ordinate Member States policies
Conclude international agreements
Approve EU budget – jointly with EP
Develop EU‘s Common Foreign & Security Policy
Diplomatic, ‘secretive’ decision-making, the least transparent institution.

24. Council of Ministers: its role
Decision-maker, shares with Parliament the responsibility for passing laws and taking policy decisions.
Representative of the 27 national governments.
Meets in different compositions depending on issue: Environment, Competitiveness, etc.
Rotating six-month Presidency sets the Council’s political agenda.
Diplomatic, ‘secretive’ decision-making, the least transparent institution.
Recent attempts to make it more transparent: when the Council addresses a proposal that falls under the co-decision procedure, the public will be able to listen to:
The initial presentation by the Commission and the ensuing debate
The final vote and explanations of voting by Ministers

25. Council of Ministers: 3 levels of negotiation
Working Groups
COREPER
Ministers

26. The Council Decision Making Process
Heads of Government / Ministers
Permanent Representatives
Attachés
National experts
Brussels
Brussels
Member States

27. Council of Ministers: 3 levels of negotiation
Technical
Political
Working Group level:
COREPER level:
Council of Mins level:
First stage
Attended by attachés from Perm Reps and experts from MS capital cities.
Working group discussions take place in parallel to EP with ongoing advice/intervention from Commission.
Second stage
Negotiate preliminary deals prior to Council meetings.
Trade-offs possible.
Committee of Permanent Representatives
COREPER II: MS Ambassadors
COREPER I: MS Deputy Ambassadors
Final stage
Each Council meeting -Environment, Energy, Competition, etc - consists of relevant ministers from the national governments of all 27 MSs.
Each country has a number of votes in the Council broadly reflecting the size of their population, but weighted in favour of smaller countries.
Most decisions are taken by qualified majority vote, although ‘sensitive’ issues such as defence, taxation, foreign policy require unanimity.
Possibilty to influence

28. Council of Ministers voting system
The Council votes either by unanimity, when everyone has to be in agreement, or qualified majority voting - a system of weighted votes.
QMV is the most common method of decision-making, used in all but the most sensitive issues such as social policy, taxation, defence, foreign policy and treaty revision.
Since the entering into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009, the conditions for passing a vote have been simplified. Indeed, a QMV decision requires now a 'double majority' of 55% of MSs representing 65% of citizens. The aim of this change was to make it more difficult for a minority of countries to block a decision.

29. Council of Ministers voting system
Member State
Votes allocated
Germany 29
United Kingdom
France
Italy
Spain 27
Poland
Romania 14
Netherlands 13
Greece 12
Czech Republic
Belgium
Hungary
Portugal
Sweden 10
Austria
Bulgaria
Member State
Votes allocated
Slovakia 7
Denmark
Finland
Ireland
Lithuania
Latvia 4
Slovenia
Estonia
Cyprus
Luxembourg
Malta 3
Total
345
Qualified majority
255

30. Introducing lobbying

31. Introducing lobbying What is the purpose of EU lobbying?
Essentially to communicate a message in view to:
Achieve a desired legislative outcome
Strategic positioning (in a policy debate, for example) & reputation
What is lobbying in the EU
Conflict avoidance
Be part of the solution
Sustained working relations with EU decision-makers
Reputation
Who are the lobbyists?
Companies, trade associations, NGOs, consumer groups, trade unions, industry federations, governments, international organisations, the media, consultants

32. Lobbying in Brussels: A competitive environment
27 Member States
25,000 policy and decision-makers
194 diplomatic representations
> 3,000 interest groups
> 15,000 lobbyists
4,400 lobbyists accredited by the European Parliament

33. Influences on the Decision Making Procedure
Technical/Regulatory Agencies
Trade Associations
EEA
OFT
SESAR
BusinessEurope
Digital Europe
Europia
IFOAM
Companies
Media
Microsoft
Shell
Nestle
Brussels press corps
Media in key markets
Trade Press
EU Institutions
National Governments
BEUC
European Transport Safety Council
Greenpeace
WWF
Oxfam
EPC, CEPS,
Friends of Europe
Citizen
Organisations
Diplomatic missions
NGOs
Think-tanks
Third countries

34. What does lobbying involve?
Mastering the information flows
Analysing and understanding the issues & impacts
Strategy: Does it matter? (resources) -Taking action
Focused approach on key issues
Influence: Communicating with target audiences in time to achieve goals
Geographical reach to 27 MS

35. Golden Rules for Lobbying
Good knowledge of EU institutions and decision-making process
Following all relevant issues
Anticipating upcoming issues and events – early warning
Analysis of processes
Stakeholder analysis
Coalition Building
Strong personal network and relationships with opinion leaders and decision-makers
Timing is essential
Be honest – Brussels is too small to lose your credibility

36. Multiple channels and levels
Successful Lobby Groups
Gaining Influence
Business
Responsive
Reputation
Innovation
Tech. expertise
Energy
Desired outcome
Regulation
Environment
Transport
Competitiveness
Multiple channels and levels
of communication

37. Is lobbying positive?
“What gives the lobbyists influence is the people who hire them to work for them. It's all the people they represent.” – Bill Clinton
"The practice of lobbying in order to influence political decisions is a legitimate and necessary part of the democratic process. Individuals and organisations reasonably want to influence decisions that may affect them, those around them, and their environment. Government in turn needs access to the knowledge and views that lobbying can bring." – UK House of Commons Select Committee