1. English for Lawyers 4 Lecturer: Miljen Matijašević Session 8
Session 8

2. Today’s session Revision of the last session
Institutions of the European Union

3. Revision of the last session
Introduction to the EU

4. Answer the questions How many member states are there in the EU?
What do the European Communities include?
What are some of the most important historic treaties of the EU?
What were the three pillars of the EU?
What do you know about EU language policy?
What is primary legislation of the EU?
What about secondary legislation?

5. Translate into Croatian
single market
common agricultural policy
economic and monetary union
EU citizenship
transeuropean traffic networks
environmental protection
social policy
common defense policy
human trafficking
bribe and corruption

6. Answers jedinstveno tržište zajednička poljoprivredna politika
gospodarska i monetarna unija
državljanstvo EU
transeuropske prometne mreže
zaštita okoliša
socijalna politika
zajednička obrambena politika
trgovanje ljudima
mito i korupcija

7. Translate into Croatian
member state
enlargement
founding treaty
accession treaty
language policy
official language
working language

8. Answers member state – država članica enlargement – proširenje
founding treaty – osnivački ugovor
accession treaty – ugovor o pristupanju
language policy – jezična politika
official language – službeni jezik
working language – radni jezik

9. Institutions of the European Union

10. Institutions of the EU European Commission
Council of the European Union
European Parliament
European Council
Court of Justice of the European Union
European Court of Auditors

11. Other EU Bodies European Economic and Social Committee
Committee of the Regions
European Central Bank
European Investment Bank
European Ombudsman
European Data Protection Supervisor
Publications Office of the European Union
European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO)

12. Council of the European Union
a.k.a. Council of Ministers
represents the interests of the Member States
SEAT: Bruxelles
members: 28 national government ministers
sits in 10 configurations, depending on the topic of discussion
presidency of the Council – each MS chairs for 6 months – rotation

13. Council of the European Union
THE TEN CONFIGURATIONS:
General Affairs
Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN)
Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)
Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs
Competitiveness
Transport, Telecommunications and Energy
Agriculture and Fisheries
Environment
Education, Youth, Culture and Sport
Foreign Affairs

14. Council of the European Union
tasks of the Council:
passes European legislation (co-decision with the EP) – proposals of the EC
co-ordinates national policies of Member States
concludes international agreements
approves EU budget (shared with EP)
common foreign and security policy
freedom, security and justice
decisions made by a qualified majority vote (55% of MS representing 65% of EU population)

15. European Parliament represents the interests of EU citizens
SEAT: Strasbourg, Bruxelles and Luxemburg
members: 750 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs)
chosen by EU citizens in elections for the EP
elections held every 5 years
representation by political groups, not by MS
current president: Martin Schulz (S&D)

16. European Parliament 2014-2019 Political group MEPs
European People’s Party (EPP)
214
Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D)
189
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) 69
European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) 74
Confederal Group of the European United Left – Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) 52
Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) 50
Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) 44
Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) 39
Non-attached (NA) 19
TOTAL
751

17. European Parliament tasks of the European Parliament:
passes European legislation (co-decision with the Council)
approves EU budget (shared with Council)
supervision of other EU institutions
approval of the members of the European Commission
receive reports by the Commission and the Council and can ask them questions

18. European Commission represents the interests of the EU SEAT: Bruxelles
members: 28 members of the Commission; (informally ‘commissioners’)
a ‘government’ for the EU – the executive
EC: 28 Directorates-General (glavne uprave)
members proposed by national governments, approved by the Council and the EP
Current president: Jean-Claude Juncker

19. European Commission tasks of the European Commission:
drafts proposals of EU legislation
implements EU policies
enforces European law (‘guardian of the Treaties’)
controls EU budget

20. European Council defines general directions and priorities of the EU
SEAT: Bruxelles
members: Heads of States or Governments of EU Member States + President and Commission President
headed by the President of the European Council (Donald Tusk); a.k.a. President of the EU
meets every six months

21. The Court of Justice of the EU
supervises the interpretation of EU law, enforces EU law
SEAT: Luxemburg (working language: French)
members: 28 judges

22. The Court of Justice of the EU
jurisdiction:
supervises interpretation and application of EU law by national courts
enforces EU law
settles disputes between Member States, EU institutions, businesses and individuals

23. The Court of Justice of the EU
comprises:
The European Court of Justice
preliminary ruling applications by national courts
some annulment and appeal cases
The General Court
annulment applications by individuals, undertakings and sometimes MS governments
competition law, state aid, trade, agriculture, trade marks

24. The Court of Justice of the EU
The European Court of Justice
usually sits in chambers (3, 5 or 15 judges) or sometimes the whole Court
assisted by 11 independent advocates- general who propose opinions on cases
Written and oral stages
Judgments – majority decisions, read out publicly

25. Court of Justice of the EU
Acts upon applications by national courts or the Commission in five most common types of cases:
requests for a preliminary ruling
infringement proceedings
actions for annulment
actions for failure to act
actions for damages

26. Court of Justice of the EU
preliminary ruling procedure
national courts asking the Court to interpret a provision of EU law
infringement procedure
actions brought against governments of EU member states for failure to apply EU law
action for annulment
brought against EU laws considered to be in conflict with primary legislation or fundamental rights

27. Court of Justice of the EU
action for failure to act
brought against EU institutions for failing to make decisions required of them
actions for damages
brought by individuals, companies or organisations against EU decisions or actions

28. European Court of Auditors
not an actual court
one member from each Member State
tasks:
checks EU income and expenditure (EU budget)
checks the collection of EU taxes from citizens and whether they are spent economically, legally and for the intended purpose
investigates the financial statements of any person or organisation handling EU funds
carries out a yearly audit and report to the EP and the Council

29. Vocabulary practice

30. Translate into Croatian
Council of Europe
European Council
Council of the European Union
co-decision
Directorate-General

31. Answers Council of Europe – Vijeće Europe
European Council – Europsko vijeće
Council of the European Union – Vijeće Europske unije
co-decision – suodlučivanje
Directorate-General – glavna uprava

32. Translate into Croatian
request for a preliminary ruling
infringement proceedings
action for annulment
action for failure to act
action for damages

33. Translate into Croatian
zahtjev za prethodnu odluku
tužba (postupak) zbog povrede
tužba (postupak) za poništenje
tužba (postupak) zbog propusta
tužba (postupak) za naknadu štete

34. Thank you for your attention!