1. Politics and Governance
The European Court of Justice

2. The European Court of Justice (ECJ)
The Court of Justice of the European Union – known more usually as the European Court of Justice (ECJ) is the judicial arm of the EU. it has made decisions that have expanded and clarified the reach and the meaning of the EU, that have established key principles (such as direct effect and the supremacy of EU law), and that have helped transform the treaties into something like a constitution for Europe. It is one of the most clearly supranational of EU institutions.

3. How the European Court of Justice Evolved
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) traces its roots back to the founding in 1952 of the Court of Justice of the ECSC.
The treaties of Rome created separate courts for the EEC and Euratom, but a subsidiary agreement gave jurisdiction over all three founding treaties to a single seven-member Court of Justice of the European Communities.
As the membership of the Community grew, so did the number of judges on the Court, with one more added for each new member state. But with the work-load of the Court growing, so grew the backlog of cases and the Court was taking up to two years to issue its more important judgments
As a result, a new subsidiary Court of First Instance was created in to review less complicated cases.
In 2004 the EU Civil Service Tribunal took over responsibility for cases involving disputes between the EU institutions and their staff

4. How the European Court of Justice Evolved
A final change came with the Lisbon treaty:
the Court of Justice of the European Communities was renamed the Court of Justice,
the Court of First Instance was renamed the General Court,
and the two together are now formally known as the Court of Justice of the European Union.

5. How the European Court of Justice Evolved
Among the most important of the Court’s decisions, three in particular stand out:
Direct effect: The principle that EU law is directly and uniformly applicable in all EU member states, and that challenges can be made to the compatibility of national law.
Supremacy of EU law: The principle that in areas where the EU has competence (authority), EU law supersedes national law in cases of incompatibility.
Mutual recognition: The principle that a product or service provided legally in one member state cannot be barred from provision in another member state.

6. How the EJC is Structured
A constitutional court is one created to issue judgments on questions of whether or not the laws or actions of governments and government officials conflict with the spirit or the letter of constitutionally established powers, rights and freedoms.
Not all states have constitutional courts, some choosing to delegate judicial authority to supreme courts which deal also with issues of civil law (laws created by legislatures) and common law (laws created and developed through court decisions).
EU member states with constitutional courts: Austria, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, and all the eastern European states;
EU member states without constitutional courts: Britain, Denmark, Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
The ECJ is more purely a constitutional court because it clarifies the meaning and application of the treaties (the functional equivalent of a European constitution)

7. How the EJC is Structured
Judicial arm of the EU
Headquartered in Luxembourg
Headed by a president elected from among its judges for renewable three-year terms
Consists of 27 judges, each appointed for renewable six-year terms of office, with each member state having control over one appointment
Judges rarely meet as a full court; more often meet as chambers of three or five judges, or as a Grand Chamber of 1 3 judges
Assisted by eight advocates-general appointed for renewable six-year terms and charged with reviewing cases, studying arguments, and delivering opinions
Further assisted by lower 27-member General Court, which hears less complicated cases in selected areas, and by 7-member EU Civil Service Tribunal which hears disputes between the EU institutions and their staff
Supranational in character

8. How the EJC is Structured
The Court of Justice has five main components:
the judges,
the President,
the advocates general,
the General Court,
the EU Civil Service Tribunal.

9. How the EJC is Structured
The Judges
For all 27 judges to hear cases together and to meet as a full court would be an inefficient use of time and resources, so meetings of the full court are reserved only for proceedings to dismiss a European commissioner, a member of the Court of Auditors, or the European Ombudsman.
All other cases are heard by chambers of three or five judges, or by a Grand Chamber of 13 judges when a member state or another EU institution makes a specific request.
To further help manage the workload, each judge has his or her own cabinet of assistants and legal secretaries, equivalent to the cabinets of European commissioners and responsible for helping with research and keeping records.

10. How the EJC is Structured
The Judges
Unlike the case with the College of Commissioners, the European Parliament has almost no say in the appointment process.
There is no requirement that the judges come from different member states, nor even from any member state.
Theoretically, at least, they could all be Estonian or Polish or Spanish, and the Court could even – in the words of former President Lord McKenzie Stuart – be made up ‘entirely of Russians’

11. How the EJC is Structured
The Judges
Nominees to the Court must first be evaluated by a seven-member panel made up of former members of the ECJ, members of national constitutional courts, and lawyers, of whom one is nominated by the European Parliament.
The panel gives its opinion, leaving it to the member states to decide how to proceed.
Once confirmed to the Court, judges – like members of the College of Commissioners – must maintain their independence and avoid promoting the national interests of their home states.
While they can resign from the Court, they can only be removed against their will by the other judges and the advocates general (not by the governments of member states or by the other EU institutions), and then only as a result of an unanimous agreement.

12. How the EJC is Structured
The President
is responsible for organizational matters such as assigning cases to chambers, appointing judge-rapporteurs (the Court judges appointed to oversee the different stages through which a case is reviewed. Equivalent to rapporteurs in the European Parliament), and deciding the dates for hearings.
In spite of the growing powers of the Court, presidents are the least known of the senior figures in the EU institutional hierarchy and their work is subject to little public and political scrutiny.
Vassilios Skouris

13. How the EJC is Structured
The Advocates General
court officers whose job is to review cases as they come to he Court of Justice, to study the arguments involved, and to deliver independent opinions in court before the judges decide which laws apply and what action to take.
The opinions of the advocates general are not binding on the judges, but they provide a valuable point of reference.
The Court has eight advocates general appointed to renewable six-year terms.

14. How the EJC is Structured
The Court General
A subsidiary court created in 1989 (as the Court of First Instance) to review less complicated cases coming before the Court of Justice.
It has roughly the same institutional structure as the Court of Justice
The General Court has been particularly active in cases dealing with competition, state aid, and intellectual property.

15. How the EJC is Structured
The EU Civil Service Tribunal
This is one of the EU’s newest institutions, created in to take over from the General Court any cases involving disputes between the EU institutions and their staff.
The subjects range from contracts to pensions, job appraisals, promotions, discrimination, salaries, and workplace facilities.

16. What the Court does
If the Commission is the guardian of the treaties, the Court of Justice is responsible for making sure that in their ‘interpretation and application the law is observed’, and that EU law is equally, fairly, and uniformly applied throughout the member states.
Powers of the European Court of Justice are:
Supreme legal body of the EU and the final court of appeal on all matters relating to EU law.
Issues preliminary rulings when national courts ask for a ruling on the interpretation or validity of an EU law that arises in a national court case.
Makes decisions on direct actions when an individual, corporation, member state or EU institution brings proceedings directly before the Court, usually with an EU institution or a member state as defendant.

18. What the Court does
The whole process may take months, or years in more complex disputes
Court decisions are technically supposed to be unanimous, but votes are usually taken on a simple majority; all votes are secret, so it is never publicly known who – if anyone – dissented.
The work of the Court falls into two main parts:
preliminary rulings
direct actions

19. What the Court does Preliminary rulings
In order to prevent EU laws being interpreted or applied differently in different situations, national courts can (and sometimes must) ask the Court of Justice for a ruling on the interpretation or validity of an EU law that arises in a national court case.
EU institutions can also ask for preliminary rulings, but most are made on behalf of a national court, which is then bound to respect and apply the Court’s response.
The word preliminary is misleading, because the rulings are usually requested and given during a case, not before it opens; hence the rulings are actually concurrent rather than preliminary.

20. What the Court does Direct Actions
These are cases in which one party (which may be an individual, corporation, member state, or EU institution) brings proceedings against another (often a member state or an EU institution) directly before the Court of Justice rather than a national court. They can take one of five main forms:
Actions for failure to fulfil an obligation
Actions for annulment
Actions for failure to act
Actions for damages
Actions by staff

21. What the Court does Appeals and other cases
In cases where the General Court has issued a judgment, and one of the parties in the case is unhappy with the outcome, an appeal can be lodged with the Court of Justice.
The Court can also be asked by the Commission, the Council of Ministers or a member state to rule on the compatibility of draft international agreements with the treaties.
the Court can be called in to arbitrate on contracts concluded by or on behalf of the EU (conditional proceedings)

23. The European Court of Human Rights
Although it is not part of the EU’s network of institutions, and works entirely independently of the EU, no analysis of judicial life in the EU can be complete without addressing the work of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
All member states of the EU – and the EU itself– are signatories of the European Convention and members of the ECHR, which means that in decisions dealing with human rights the Court of Justice must refer to precedent created by the decisions of the ECHR.
Founded in 1959 and now headquartered in Strasbourg, the ECHR was established under the terms of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights, which was in turn adopted under the auspices of the Council of Europe in order to promote the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

24. The European Court of Human Rights
Although it is not part of the EU’s network of institutions, and works entirely independently of the EU, no analysis of judicial life in the EU can be complete without addressing the work of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
All member states of the EU – and the EU itself– are signatories of the European Convention and members of the ECHR, which means that in decisions dealing with human rights the Court of Justice must refer to precedent created by the decisions of the ECHR.
Founded in 1959 and now headquartered in Strasbourg, the ECHR was established under the terms of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights, which was in turn adopted under the auspices of the Council of Europe in order to promote the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

25. The European Court of Human Rights
The Court consists of 47 judges, one for each of the member states of the Council of Europe. As with the European Court of Justice, there is no requirement that each member state should be represented by one of its nationals.
Judges are appointed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for six-year renewable terms of office, and they in turn elect a President and two vice-presidents.
The court is divided into five Sections, in which a Chamber is selected consisting of a Section President and a rotating group. The more important cases are dealt with by a 17- member Grand Chamber.
Any contracting state or any individual who claims to have been harmed by the actions of a contracting state can bring a case to the Court.
Most cases are dealt with in writing, a small minority going before a formal hearing.
Each case s assigned to a Section, which can either declare it inadmissible or else decide to review it, in which case a decision is made by a simple majority vote.
There is a right of appeal to a Grand Chamber, but otherwise a judgment becomes final within three months, and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe is responsible for making sure that the state involved in the case has taken the necessary action to correct the problem.

27. Politics and Governance
Specialized Agencies

28. Specialized Agencies
Particularly since the early 1990s, and as the policy reach of integration has spread, so specialized EU agencies have been created in to order to encourage better policy coordination.
There has been no template or overall plan for their development, and their size, reach and powers vary. Some are part of the EU structure, others are independent.
The creation of these agencies has mainly occurred below the public radar, yet their growth is significant as they have given the EU more of the trappings of a conventional system of government.

29. Financial Bodies
With economic issues long at the heart of European integration, banks have been at the heart of institutional development.
The Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank (1958) lends on favourable terms to capital projects that support the goals of the EU.
The Bank does not make a profit and deals only in large loans, rarely lending more than half the total investment cost of a project, and often co-financing projects with other banks.
The EIB’s shareholders are the member states of the EU, which each subscribe to the Bank’s capital of nearly €250 billion,

30. Financial Bodies
The Frankfurt-based European Central Bank (1998) is charged with helping manage the euro by ensuring price stability and setting interest rates.
The structure of the ECB is based on the model of the German Bundesbank. Created in 1957, and based in turn on the model of the US Federal Reserve, the Bundesbank was famous for both its competence and its independence.
The ECB probably has more independence than the Bundesbank or any existing national central bank; where their powers can be changed by national law, the powers of the ECB are based on a treaty whose terms can only be changed by agreement of all the EU member states.

31. Financial Bodies
New regulatory institutions have been created as part of the EU’s response to the global economic crisis, with responsibility for monitoring the EU’s financial sector.
The European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) is in charge of the macro-economic supervision of the EU’s financial sectors, and responsible for identifying emerging risks in hope of avoiding more financial crises.
The European System of Financial Supervisors (ESFS) is responsible for ensuring stability in individual financial firms.
The European Banking Authority (headquartered in London) replaced the advisory Committee of European Banking Supervisors, and has the task of encouraging consistent regulation and supervision in the banking sector with a view to better protecting depositors and investors.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (headquartered in Paris) oversees the EU market for financial services, and has the power to investigate selected financial products, such as credit default swaps, and ban them if needed.
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (headquartered in Frankfurt, along with the ESRB) encourages closer supervision of the EU insurance and pensions market.

32. Regulatory (Decentralized) Agencies
These are independent bodies set up under EU law (nearly 30 in all), mainly funded out of the EU budget, and given technical, management, or informational responsibilities.
They cannot always regulate, but take decisions on the application of EU standards, and influence policy through the provision of information.
Headquartered in different EU capitals or regional cities, they include agencies dealing with such issues as vocational training, worker safety, registration of trade marks, aviation and maritime safety, monitoring drug use, and gathering environmental information.

33. Regulatory (Decentralized) Agencies
The Commission (2008) divides them into four types:
Those with the power to adopt decisions legally binding on third parties (such as the European Aviation Safety Agency and the European Chemicals Agency).
Those that provide scientific and technical advice to the Commission, and to the member states where needed (such as the European Food Safety Authority).
Those with operational responsibilities (such as the European GNSS Supervisory Authority, which manages Europe’s global navigation satellite systems programme).
Those acting as a clearing house for information.

34. List of Regulatory Agencies

35. Executive Agencies
Temporary bodies set up by the Commission to help carry out narrow and specific executive tasks. Some examples are:
Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA)
Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized enterprises (EASME)
European Research Council Executive Agency (ERC Executive Agency)
Executive Agency for Health and Consumers (EAHC)
Research Executive Agency (REA)
Innovation & Networks Executive Agency (INEA)

36. Advisory Bodies
The two major advisory bodies are the European Economic and Social Committee, a policy forum for key economic and social groups, and the Committee of the Regions, which gives a voice to the interests of local government.
Both are based in Brussels, both have 344 members divided up among the member states roughly in proportion to population, and their role is limited to issuing opinions on EU policy.

37. Other Bodies
The European Court of Auditors is the EU’s financial watchdog, charged with making sure that the EU’s accounts are correct, and recognized since Maastricht as a formal EU institution.
Eurocorps is an independent body tracing its roots back to that maintains a multinational European military force for use mainly in humanitarian and peacekeeping operations.
The European Space Agency is an independent body that undertakes research and maintains Europe’s astronaut programme.
Police and judicial cooperation are encouraged by Europol and Eurojust, which help deal with serious forms of cross- border crime.