European Union Law-Making institutions

council of the European Union
1. Meets at Intervals
2. Made up of 1 minister from each member state
3. chosen based on subject being discussed
  1. So not just one body of people - different combination of 28 people
4. Presidency revolves between member states
  1. 6 month term of office
  2. can put their own agender forward
5. Voting
  1. unanimous decision needed if on matters of Vital national interest
  2. Simple majority for less important issues (one vote per nation)
  3. Qualified Majority - larger countries get more votes
6. Function
  1. Supreme law maker in the EU
  2. Is regulated - in most cases can only legislate on proposals put forward by EU commission
The European commission
1. Day to day management
  1. Commission President - Appointed by member states Heads of government
  2. One nominated Commissioner per member state
  3. Once appointed commissioners act for the EU not for their member state
2. Function
  1. guardian of the treaties - Makes sure they are followed
  2. Formulates EU policy
  3. Drafts proposed legislation to go before the CEU
  4. Has limited legislative power
  5. Implements EU Legislation
European Parliament
1. Members are directly elected by public vote in their member state
  1. Each countries has their own way to do this
  2. MEP's maintain their political outlook
  3. Elections held every 5 years
  4. Tend to vote for political view not national
2. Function
  1. represents the European citizen
  2. debates and approves proposed new laws
  3. monitors activities of several other EU institutions
    1. Can dismiss the Commission if needed
  4. Debates and adopts the EU budget
European Court of Justice (ECJ)
1. Official name is the court of the European communit (CJEC)
2. Sits in Luxembourg
  1. President of the court of Justice
    1. one appointed judge per member state
    2. formally decides the the case but normally follows advocate generals opinion
  2. Eight Advocate-generals
    1. appointed by unanimous agreement for 6 year terms
    2. job - to provide unbiased opinion
3. Jurisdiction
  1. Preliminary rulings
    1. Article 234 of The treaty of Rome
    2. Any Court of tribunal can ask the court for a preliminary ruling
    3. proceeding in member state suspended until after the ruling
  2. Actions against member states
    1. Can be taken against a member state by the Commission or another member state
    2. They normally have chance to put it right before action is taken
    3. The court must follow the decision made by the court
  3. Actions against EU Institutions
    1. May be bought by other institutions, member states
    2. In exception circumstances also by corporate bodies or individuals
    3. Used to annul acts of the CEU or Commission
    4. used to obtain a declaration that CEU and Comm have failed to act on a treaty
    5. To obtain compensation for damages & review penalties
    6. eu employee disputes heard by the Court of First Instance

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European Union Law-Making institutions

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	Created by Karen Connolly almost 9 years ago