Institutions of European Union Dr. Gábor Kozma Department of Social Geography and Regional Development Planning University of Debrecen

A., Introduction I. Article 13 on European Union – 7 principal decision making bodies II. Three political institutions - the executive and legislative power of the Union 1. the Council of the European Union represents governments 2. the Commission represents the European interest 3. the European Parliament represents citizens B., The European Council I. Members: the group of head of state or government of the EU member states + the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission II. Meetings

III. Functions: it has not any executive or legislative powers ↓ it sets its general objectives and priorities of the Union it gives the necessary political impetus for the development IV. President Donald Tusk

C. ,European Commission I C.,European Commission I. General thing: the executive body of the European Union responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the EU II. Members – commissioners (28) 1. establishment/appointment of Commission 2. the power of a Commissioner ← their portfolio 3. they do not represent their state in the Commission 4. president: Jean-Claude Juncker – he is a Luxembourgish politician + one of his vice-president is the High Representative of the Union Foreign Affairs and Security Policy: Federica Mogherini – Italian politician

Federica Mogherini Jean-Claude Juncker

3. it draws up the budget of the European Union; III. Functions 1. legislative initiative: only the Commission can make formal proposals for legislation 2. it makes rules and regulations in some areas (for example in competition policy) 3. it draws up the budget of the European Union; 4. it represents the EU in trade negotiations 5. it scrutinises/control the implementation of the treaties and legislation D., European Parliament I. Members 1. It has 751 members and they are directly elected every five years 2. members in Parliament are organised according to their political opinion (8) a., the two largest groups are the European People`s Party (EPP) and the Socialist and Democrats (S&D) b., President of Parliament: Martin Schultz

Distribution of members of European Parliament per countries

Eurosceptic political group

II. Locations - The European Parliament has three places of work 1 II. Locations - The European Parliament has three places of work 1. Luxembourg - the administrative offices (the 'General Secretariat'). 2. Strasbourg and Brussels - meetings of the whole Parliament ('plenary sessions') III. Its functions 1. legislative powers - Council of European Union 2. control over the EU budget 3. European Commission is accountable to Parliament. a., Parliament elects the President of the Commission, b., it approves (or rejects) the appointment of the Commission as a whole 4. it has to approve the enlargement of EU

E., Council of the European Union (Council of Ministers, Council) it represents the governments of the EU`s member states I. Members 1. Government ministers from each EU country, according to the policy area to be discussed 2. there are 10 different configurations II. The Presidency of the Council 1. is not a single post, - a member state's government. 2. every six months the presidency rotates between the states 3. current president – Slovakia (Malta, United Kingdom → Estonia)

III. Its functions 1. it negotiates and adopts EU laws, together with the European Parliament, 2. it develops the EU's foreign & security policy, based on European Council decision 3. agreements between the EU and other countries or international organisations 4. it adopts the annual EU budget - jointly with the European Parliament. F., Court of Justice of the European Union (Court of Justice) I. It reviews the legality of the acts of the institutions of the European Union, II. It ensures that the Member States comply with obligations under the Treaties III. It interprets European Union law at the request of the national courts and tribunals

G. , European Court of Auditors I G., European Court of Auditors I. Its position: It is a professional external investigatory audit agency II. Functions 1. to check if the budget of the European Union has been implemented correctly 2. to check if EU funds have been spent legally and with sound management H., European Central Bank I., European Committee of Regions (CoR) I. Composition 1. nomination – member states 2. appointment – Council of the EU (locally or regionally elected representatives) (consultative body)

J. , European Economic and Social Committe I. Members 1 J., European Economic and Social Committe I. Members 1. same procedure – Committe of Region 2. representatives of three groups: employees, employers, various interests groups (farmers, consumer groups) II. Functions (consultative body)