Structure of European Union
Institutions and relations between them
Made by: Dominika Kliber
Table of Contents
European Parliament
European Commission
Institutions in brief
European Council
Court of Justice of the European Union
Economic bodies and institutions
European Committee of the Regions
Council of the European Union
European Ombudsman
Data Protection Institutions
Relations between the institutions
Interinstitutional bodies
Institutions in Europe- map
The end
Institutions in brief...
What exactly will we talk about?
- Main institutions, that play a big role in the European Union's functioning are: European Parliament, Council of the European Union, European Commission and European Council.
- The EU has a number of other institutions and interinstitutional bodies that play specialised roles for example in economy, in human rights and obligations system or even EU's staff management.
- We're going to focus on how they exactly work, what do they do and what are the connections and relations between them.
So let's get started...
The European Parliament
The European Parliament is the EU's law-making body. Its headquarters is located in Strasbourg, France, but most of the legislative work takes place in Brussels, Belgium. The Parliament consists of 705 MEPs and it is directly elected by EU voters every 5 years. It was Established in 1952 as Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community and since 1962 it's been operating as European Parliament. Current president: David-Maria Sassoli (Italy)
What does the Parliament do?
The Parliament has 3 main roles...
Legislative
Supervisory
Budgetary
Democratic scrutiny of all EU institutions; electing the Commission President and approving the Commission as a body; examining citizens' petitions and setting up inquiries; questioning Commission and Council andelection observations
Establishing the EU budget, together with the Council; approving the EU's long-term budget, the "Multiannual Financial Framework"; discussing monetary policy with the European Central Bank
Passing EU laws (with the Council of the EU, based on European Commission proposals); deciding on international agreements or enlargements
European Council
The European Council brings together EU leaders to set the EU's political agenda. It represents the highest level of political cooperation between all of the EU countries. It's made up of the heads of state/government of all EU countries, the European Council President, and the European Commission President. It's chaired by its President, who is elected by the European Council itself for two-and-a-half-year term. It usually meets 4 times a year – but the President can convene additional meetings to address urgent issues. It's headquarters is located in Brussels, Belgium and the current President is Charles Michel.
What does the European Council do?
Common international relations
It sets the EU's common foreign & security policy, taking into account EU strategic interests and defence implications.
Dealing with issues...
The EC deals with complex or sensitive issues that cannot be resolved at lower levels of intergovernmental cooperation.
Appointment of officials
It nominates and appoints candidates to certain high profile EU level roles, such as the ECB and the Commission.
European Commission
The European Commission is the EU's politically independent executive arm. It is alone responsible for drawing up proposals for new European legislation, and it implements the decisions of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. It consists of a team/'College' of 27 Commissioners (one from each EU country), led by the Commission President (currently: Ursula von der Leyen), who decides who is responsible for which policy area.
What does the Commission do?
But it also: Represents the EU internationally...
First things first: proposes new laws...
It protects the interests of the EU and its citizens on issues that can't be dealt with effectively at national level, gets technical details right by consulting experts and the public and together with the Court of Justice, ensures that EU law is properly applied in all the member countries.
It speaks on behalf of all EU countries in international bodies, in particular in areas of trade policy and humanitarian aid and negotiates international agreements for the EU. The EC also Manages EU policies & allocates EU funding.
Council of the European Union
Together with the European Parliament, the Council is the main decision-making body of the EU. In the Council of the EU, government ministers from each EU country meet to discuss, amend and adopt laws, and coordinate policies. There are no fixed members of the EU Council- it meets in 10 different configurations, each corresponding to the policy area being discussed. Depending on the configuration, each country sends their minister responsible for that policy area. Who chairs the meetings then? Well, each EU country holds the presidency on a 6-month rotating basis. Location of the headquarters: Brussels, Belgium
What does the Council do?
LAW
negotiates and adopts EU laws, together with the European Parliament, based on proposals from the European Commission
The main tasks of the council include...
Coordination
coordinates European Union's countries' policies
Agreements
concludes agreements between the EU and other countries or international organisations
budget
adopts the annual EU budget (jointly with the European Parliament)
Only the people can change and enrich things in the institutions and transmit them to future generations.
-Jean Monnet (one of the Founding Fathers)
Economic bodies and institutions
Economic institutions play a really important role in functioning of the EU from the inside. Click and see what are they and what do they exactly do!
European Investment Bank
European Central Bank
European Economic and Social Committee
Court of Justice of the EU
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) interprets EU law to make sure it is applied in the same way in all EU countries, and settles legal disputes between governments and institutions. It can also be used by individuals/companies/organisations to take action against an EU institution, if they feel it has infringed their rights. The CJEU is divided into 2 courts: Court of Justice ( 1 judge from each EU country, plus 11 advocates general) and General Court (2 judges from each EU country). In each Court, the judges select a President, who serves a renewable term of 3 years.
What does the CJEU do?
- interpreting the law- courts in different countries might interpret it differently. If a national court is in doubt about the interpretation/validity of an EU law, it can ask the Court for clarification. The same mechanism can be used to determine whether a national law/practice is compatible with EU law.
- enforcing the law- this type of case is taken against a national government for failing to comply with EU law.f the country is found to be at fault, it must put things right at once, or risk a second case being brought, which may result in a fine.
- annulling EU legal acts- if an EU act is believed to violate EU treaties or fundamental rights, the Court can be asked to annul it
- ensuring the EU takes action- the Parliament, Council and Commission must make certain decisions under certain circumstances. If they don't, EU governments, institutions or individuals/companies can complain to the Court.
- sanctioning EU institutions
European Committee of the Regions
Consultation
The higher institutions must consult the CoR when drawing up legislation on matters concerning local and regional government
The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is an EU advisory body composed of locally and regionally elected representatives coming from all 27 Member States appointed for a five-year terms. Through the CoR they are able to share their opinion on EU legislation that directly impacts regions and cities. The CoR appoints a president from among its members for a two-and-a-half-year term (currently: Apostolos Tzitzikostas). Each member can also choose to be part of a political group in the CoR, there are six political groups: the European People's Party (EPP), the Party of European Socialists (PES), Renew Europe, the European Alliance Group (EA), the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) and The Greens. But what does it do exactly? Well...
what if it's not done?
If this is not done, the CoR can bring a case before the Court of Justice
legislative proposals
Once the CoR receives one, it prepares and adopts an opinion and circulates it to the relevant EU institutions.
own opinions?
The CoR also issues opinions on its own initiative.
European Ombudsman
What does the Ombudsman do?
What is it exactly?
The Ombudsman investigates different types of poor administration, for example:
- unfair conduct
- discrimination
- abuse of power
- lack of information or refusal to provide it
- unnecessary delays
incorrect procedures
The European Ombudsman investigates complaints about poor administration by EU institutions or other bodies. These may be lodged by citizens or residents of countries or by EU-based associations/businesses.It's an impartial body, it takes no orders from any government or other organisation. The Parliament elects the Ombudsman for a renewable 5-year term (currently: Emily O'Reilly)
Data Protection Institutions
The European Data Protection Board
European Data Protection Supervisor
EDPB ensures that EU law in this field is consistently applied in all countries. The Board (Chair [currently: Andrea Jelinek] + 2 deputy chairs +each national data protection authority and the EDPS) has regular meetings in Brussels, to discuss and make decisions on data protection related issues.
The EU institutions and bodies sometimes process citizens' personal information - in electronic, written or visual format - in the course of their duties. It's the task of the EDPS to uphold the strict privacy rules governing activities. The Supervisor is appointed for a 5-year term of office (currently: Wojciech Wiewiórowski).
Computer Emergency Response Team
Interinstitutional bodies
It's helping to manage threats to institutional computer systems, liaising with public-sector CERT counterparts in EU countries.
In addition to the main EU institutions, there are also so-called Interinstitutional bodies. So, there they are...
European School of Administration
Its task is to provide training in specific areas for members of EU staff.
European Personnel Selection Office
Its task is to set competitive examinations for recruiting staff to work in all the EU institutions.
Publications Office
It acts as the publishing house for the EU institutions, producing and distributing all official publications.
Relations between them
Relations between the EU bodies and institutions
In the previous part, the individual institutions and tasks they deal with were introduced. Now, the diagrams below will bring you a little closer to the relationship between the various bodies and governing. Click on the magnifying glass to see it clearer.
Diagram no.1
Diagram no.2
Diagram no.3
How it even works?
You still can't figure it out? How does it even connect? Now, a quick explanation on how the EU functions...
Institutions in Europe
Click
and see
Institutions and institutional bodies of European Union are located all over the continent. Click on the chosen point to see, which headquarter is located there and how the building looks like.
Bibliography
https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/institutions-bodies_en
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/section/187/european-union-institutions-and-bodies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutions_of_the_European_Union
How it works?- short video
Relations explained
Basics
Institutions and bodies info
Diagrams of relations
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/how-does-european-union-work
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYQUlMkz3zc
Thank you for your attention!
Structure of EU: Institutions and relations between them
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Created on February 14, 2021
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Transcript
Structure of European Union
Institutions and relations between them
Made by: Dominika Kliber
Table of Contents
European Parliament
European Commission
Institutions in brief
European Council
Court of Justice of the European Union
Economic bodies and institutions
European Committee of the Regions
Council of the European Union
European Ombudsman
Data Protection Institutions
Relations between the institutions
Interinstitutional bodies
Institutions in Europe- map
The end
Institutions in brief...
What exactly will we talk about?
So let's get started...
The European Parliament
The European Parliament is the EU's law-making body. Its headquarters is located in Strasbourg, France, but most of the legislative work takes place in Brussels, Belgium. The Parliament consists of 705 MEPs and it is directly elected by EU voters every 5 years. It was Established in 1952 as Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community and since 1962 it's been operating as European Parliament. Current president: David-Maria Sassoli (Italy)
What does the Parliament do?
The Parliament has 3 main roles...
Legislative
Supervisory
Budgetary
Democratic scrutiny of all EU institutions; electing the Commission President and approving the Commission as a body; examining citizens' petitions and setting up inquiries; questioning Commission and Council andelection observations
Establishing the EU budget, together with the Council; approving the EU's long-term budget, the "Multiannual Financial Framework"; discussing monetary policy with the European Central Bank
Passing EU laws (with the Council of the EU, based on European Commission proposals); deciding on international agreements or enlargements
European Council
The European Council brings together EU leaders to set the EU's political agenda. It represents the highest level of political cooperation between all of the EU countries. It's made up of the heads of state/government of all EU countries, the European Council President, and the European Commission President. It's chaired by its President, who is elected by the European Council itself for two-and-a-half-year term. It usually meets 4 times a year – but the President can convene additional meetings to address urgent issues. It's headquarters is located in Brussels, Belgium and the current President is Charles Michel.
What does the European Council do?
Common international relations
It sets the EU's common foreign & security policy, taking into account EU strategic interests and defence implications.
Dealing with issues...
The EC deals with complex or sensitive issues that cannot be resolved at lower levels of intergovernmental cooperation.
Appointment of officials
It nominates and appoints candidates to certain high profile EU level roles, such as the ECB and the Commission.
European Commission
The European Commission is the EU's politically independent executive arm. It is alone responsible for drawing up proposals for new European legislation, and it implements the decisions of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. It consists of a team/'College' of 27 Commissioners (one from each EU country), led by the Commission President (currently: Ursula von der Leyen), who decides who is responsible for which policy area.
What does the Commission do?
But it also: Represents the EU internationally...
First things first: proposes new laws...
It protects the interests of the EU and its citizens on issues that can't be dealt with effectively at national level, gets technical details right by consulting experts and the public and together with the Court of Justice, ensures that EU law is properly applied in all the member countries.
It speaks on behalf of all EU countries in international bodies, in particular in areas of trade policy and humanitarian aid and negotiates international agreements for the EU. The EC also Manages EU policies & allocates EU funding.
Council of the European Union
Together with the European Parliament, the Council is the main decision-making body of the EU. In the Council of the EU, government ministers from each EU country meet to discuss, amend and adopt laws, and coordinate policies. There are no fixed members of the EU Council- it meets in 10 different configurations, each corresponding to the policy area being discussed. Depending on the configuration, each country sends their minister responsible for that policy area. Who chairs the meetings then? Well, each EU country holds the presidency on a 6-month rotating basis. Location of the headquarters: Brussels, Belgium
What does the Council do?
LAW
negotiates and adopts EU laws, together with the European Parliament, based on proposals from the European Commission
The main tasks of the council include...
Coordination
coordinates European Union's countries' policies
Agreements
concludes agreements between the EU and other countries or international organisations
budget
adopts the annual EU budget (jointly with the European Parliament)
Only the people can change and enrich things in the institutions and transmit them to future generations.
-Jean Monnet (one of the Founding Fathers)
Economic bodies and institutions
Economic institutions play a really important role in functioning of the EU from the inside. Click and see what are they and what do they exactly do!
European Investment Bank
European Central Bank
European Economic and Social Committee
Court of Justice of the EU
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) interprets EU law to make sure it is applied in the same way in all EU countries, and settles legal disputes between governments and institutions. It can also be used by individuals/companies/organisations to take action against an EU institution, if they feel it has infringed their rights. The CJEU is divided into 2 courts: Court of Justice ( 1 judge from each EU country, plus 11 advocates general) and General Court (2 judges from each EU country). In each Court, the judges select a President, who serves a renewable term of 3 years.
What does the CJEU do?
European Committee of the Regions
Consultation
The higher institutions must consult the CoR when drawing up legislation on matters concerning local and regional government
The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is an EU advisory body composed of locally and regionally elected representatives coming from all 27 Member States appointed for a five-year terms. Through the CoR they are able to share their opinion on EU legislation that directly impacts regions and cities. The CoR appoints a president from among its members for a two-and-a-half-year term (currently: Apostolos Tzitzikostas). Each member can also choose to be part of a political group in the CoR, there are six political groups: the European People's Party (EPP), the Party of European Socialists (PES), Renew Europe, the European Alliance Group (EA), the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) and The Greens. But what does it do exactly? Well...
what if it's not done?
If this is not done, the CoR can bring a case before the Court of Justice
legislative proposals
Once the CoR receives one, it prepares and adopts an opinion and circulates it to the relevant EU institutions.
own opinions?
The CoR also issues opinions on its own initiative.
European Ombudsman
What does the Ombudsman do?
What is it exactly?
The Ombudsman investigates different types of poor administration, for example:
- unfair conduct
- discrimination
- abuse of power
- lack of information or refusal to provide it
- unnecessary delays
incorrect proceduresThe European Ombudsman investigates complaints about poor administration by EU institutions or other bodies. These may be lodged by citizens or residents of countries or by EU-based associations/businesses.It's an impartial body, it takes no orders from any government or other organisation. The Parliament elects the Ombudsman for a renewable 5-year term (currently: Emily O'Reilly)
Data Protection Institutions
The European Data Protection Board
European Data Protection Supervisor
EDPB ensures that EU law in this field is consistently applied in all countries. The Board (Chair [currently: Andrea Jelinek] + 2 deputy chairs +each national data protection authority and the EDPS) has regular meetings in Brussels, to discuss and make decisions on data protection related issues.
The EU institutions and bodies sometimes process citizens' personal information - in electronic, written or visual format - in the course of their duties. It's the task of the EDPS to uphold the strict privacy rules governing activities. The Supervisor is appointed for a 5-year term of office (currently: Wojciech Wiewiórowski).
Computer Emergency Response Team
Interinstitutional bodies
It's helping to manage threats to institutional computer systems, liaising with public-sector CERT counterparts in EU countries.
In addition to the main EU institutions, there are also so-called Interinstitutional bodies. So, there they are...
European School of Administration
Its task is to provide training in specific areas for members of EU staff.
European Personnel Selection Office
Its task is to set competitive examinations for recruiting staff to work in all the EU institutions.
Publications Office
It acts as the publishing house for the EU institutions, producing and distributing all official publications.
Relations between them
Relations between the EU bodies and institutions
In the previous part, the individual institutions and tasks they deal with were introduced. Now, the diagrams below will bring you a little closer to the relationship between the various bodies and governing. Click on the magnifying glass to see it clearer.
Diagram no.1
Diagram no.2
Diagram no.3
How it even works?
You still can't figure it out? How does it even connect? Now, a quick explanation on how the EU functions...
Institutions in Europe
Click
and see
Institutions and institutional bodies of European Union are located all over the continent. Click on the chosen point to see, which headquarter is located there and how the building looks like.
Bibliography
https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/institutions-bodies_en
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/section/187/european-union-institutions-and-bodies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutions_of_the_European_Union
How it works?- short video
Relations explained
Basics
Institutions and bodies info
Diagrams of relations
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/how-does-european-union-work
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYQUlMkz3zc
Thank you for your attention!