A SHORT GUIDE TO HOW

THE EUROPEAN UNION WORKS

Why The European Union Was Founded

How The European Union Has Evolved
The Growing Membership Of The EU
The Institutions Of The EU
The European Council
The European Commission
The European Parliament
The European Court
How Legislation Is Enacted
British Membership Of The EU

WHY THE EUROPEAN UNION WAS FOUNDED

What is now called the European Union was created in the aftermath of the Second
World War at the initiative of France with the support of five other European states,
mostly notably West Germany (as it then was). It was an economic initiative with an
explicit political objective.
The intention was that, by combining coal and steel resources and later by combining
atomic energy resources and developing a common market for goods and services, this
would make war between the member states effectively impossible. It should be
remembered that the principal drivers of the concept France and Germany - had gone
to war against each other three times in less than a century: the Franco-Prussian War of
1870-1871, the First World War of 1914-1918, and the Second World War of 1939-1945.
In subsequent years, another nine states signed up to this proposition by becoming
members.
Once the Cold War effectively ended with the revolutions in Central and Eastern Europe
in 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the new political imperative
became the integration of the former Communist states to embed democratic
institutions and free markets. Since 2004, 13 more countries have joined and 11 of
them were formerly Communist.
So what started as a form of economic union has always had fundamentally political
objectives. Now that the European Union has 28 Member States, there are inevitably
different approaches and different aspirations from different nations.
Essentially there are two cleavages: first, between those who simply seek economic cooperation (notably the UK) rather than full-scale economic integration (such as those
countries which have joined the Eurozone) and second, those countries that believe that
economic integration does not require political integration (such as Greece) and those
that believe that economic integration cannot work in the end without political
integration (such as Germany).
HOW THE EUROPEAN UNION HAS EVOLVED
What is now called the European Union has evolved over more than six decades,
through a variety of institutional forms, which can be summarised as follows:

European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) This was created in 1952 by
the Treaty of Paris of 1951 with six founding member states.
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The European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) - This was created in

1958 by the Euratom Treaty of 1957 with the same six founding member states.
European Economic Community (EEC) - The EEC often called the Common
Market was created in 1958 by the Treaty of Rome of 1957 with the same six
founding member states.
The European Communities (EC) This was created in 1967 by the Merger
Treaty as a result of the adoption of the same set of governing institutions for the
European Coal and Steel Community, the European Atomic Energy Community,
and the European Economic Community.
The European Union (EU) This was created in 1993 by the Treaty of
Maastricht of 1992 and was a renaming and strengthening of the European
Communities.

Link: the history of the European Union click here

THE GROWING MEMBERSHIP OF THE EU
What is now called the European Union has grown in stages, from an original six
members to the current 28 members, as follows:

1951: Founding members: Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg,

and the Netherlands
Joined on 1 January 1973: Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom
Joined on 1 January 1981: Greece
Joined on 1 January 1986: Portugal, Spain
Joined on 1 January 1995: Austria, Finland, Sweden
Joined on 1 May 2004: Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,
Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia
Joined on 1 January 2007: Bulgaria, Romania
Joined on 1 July 2013: Croatia

So the current 28 Member States of the European Union in alphabetical order in English
are as follows: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
This means that the total population of the EU is just over 500 million (compared to the
USA of 320 million) and the nominal gross domestic product totals $16.5 trillion
(compared to the USA of $17.4 trillion).
The following five countries are classed as candidates for future membership: Albania,
Montenegro, Serbia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Turkey.
The following two countries are classed as potential candidates for future membership:
Bosnia & Herzegovina and Kosovo.
Note : The eurozone is a monetary sub-set of the European Union members. It
comprises those Member States which have given up their national currency and
adopted the EU currency called the Euro. The eurozone consists of 19 members: Austria,
Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain.
Other EU states (except for Denmark and the United Kingdom) are obliged to join once
they meet the criteria to do so.
THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE EU
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The European Union is not a state. But the easiest way to understand how its various
institutions interact with one another is to use the analogy of a nation state, accepting
that this is only a guide.
So the European Council is in a sense the government or the executive of the EU the
body with ultimately the greatest power. However, unlike most nation states, its
members are not draw from, or made members of, the legislature. Also, unlike in nation
states, the Council does not propose legislation but has a joint role (with the Parliament)
in approving legislation.
The European Commission can be thought of as the civil service of the EU. However,
unlike civil servants in most national states, it plays a very active role in advocating and
promoting policy and it initiates all legislation.
The European Parliament is the legislature of the EU. However, it does not have the
authority or the power of a legislature in a democratic nation state. Instead it shares the
legislative role of the EU with the Council.
The European Court is in effect the judiciary of the EU. It rules on the exercise of
powers by the other institutions in accordance with the various treaties which have been
approved by the Member States.
To understand more fully the powers and responsibilities of the various EU institutions,
we need to look at each in turn and in more detail.
THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL
The European Council is the institution of the European Union that comprises the heads
of state or government of the Member States, along with the Council's own President
and the President of the Commission. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign
Affairs and Security Policy also takes part in its meetings. The European Council was
established as an informal summit in 1975 and then formalised as an institution in 2009
upon the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon.
Although the European Council has few formal powers specified in the treaties, for all
practical purposes it is the supreme political authority of the European Union because of
its political membership. It is the political powerhouse of the EU and defines its policy
agenda.
Formal powers include the following:
It appoints its own President
It appoints the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security
Policy
It appoints the President of the European Central Bank
It proposes, to the European Parliament, a candidate for President of the European
Commission
The current President of the European Council is Donald Tusk of Poland and the current
High Representative for Foreign Affairs is Federica Mogherini of Italy.
The Council usually meets in the country which is chairing the institution at that time
and the chairing role changes every six months in accordance with a pre-determined
schedule. The future schedule is as follows:
2015 - Latvia and then Luxembourg
2016 - Netherlands and then Slovakia
2017 - Malta and then the United Kingdom
2018 - Estonia and then Bulgaria
2019 - Austria and then Romania
2020 - Finland (first six months)
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Most meetings of this kind do not involve the head of state of each member country but
the national minister responsible for the subject under discussion. For these kind of
meetings, the term the Council of the EU is used. The Council of the EU is a single legal
entity, but it meets in 10 different 'configurations', depending on the subject being
discussed. There is no hierarchy among the Council configurations, although the General
Affairs Council has a special coordination role and is responsible for institutional,
administrative and horizontal matters. The Foreign Affairs Council also has a special
remit.
As with the European Council, the Council of the EU is chaired by the Member State
holding the presidency of the Council with the exception of the Foreign Affairs
configuration which is chaired by the High Representative for Foreign Affairs.
The European Council and the Council of the EU have similar names and share the same
buildings and staff - the General Secretariat of the Council (GSC) but they have
different roles and different membership.
Link: the European Council click here
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
The European Commission (EC) is the executive body of the European Union. Its main
responsibilities are as follows:

It
It
It
It
It

proposes legislation to the Parliament and the Council

manages and implements EU policies and the budget
upholds the EU treaties and laws (jointly with the Court of Justice)
manages the day-to-day business of the EU
represents the EU around the world

Currently the Commission has 28 members - one member for each Member State,
though members are bound to represent the interests of the EU as a whole rather than
their home state.
One of the 28 is the Commission President, proposed by the European Council and
elected by the European Parliament. The Council then appoints the other 27 members of
the Commission in agreement with the nominated President and the 28 members as a
single body are then subject to a vote of approval by the European Parliament.
Currently the President of the European Commission is Jean-Claude Juncker of
Luxembourg. There is a First Vice-President and another six Vice-Presidents.
In the same way that the work of national governments is organised into ministries or
departments, so the work of the European Commission is organised into what are called
Directorate-Generals (DGs). Currently there are 33 DGs. Directorate-Generals used to
have names and (roman) numbers, but now they have names and (kind of) acronyms
such as Communications Networks, Content and Technology (CNECT) and Financial
Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (FISMA).
The Commission is headquartered in Brussels (Belgium). It meets weekly (usually on a
Wednesday).
Link: the European Commission click here
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
Originally this institution was called the European Assembly and its members were
appointed by the Governments of the Member States from the membership of the
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various national legislatures. Today the institution is called the European Parliament and,
since 1979, all its members are directly elected by voters in the various Member States.
Over the years, the European Assembly, and then the European Parliament, has
acquired greater and greater budgetary and legislative powers, but it still does not have
the equivalent role of a national legislature, sharing its power with the Council, and,
unlike most national legislatures, not having the power to initiate legislation.
The main powers of the European Parliament are as follows:
It elects the President of the Commission.
It approves (or rejects) the appointment of the Commission as a whole.
It can subsequently force the Commission as a body to resign by adopting a
motion of censure.
Currently there are total of 751 seats in the European Parliament. Seats are allocated to
Member States roughly on the basis of population but using a principle called
'degressive proportionality' which means that countries with smaller populations have
more seats than strict proportionality would imply. The four largest memberships are for
Germany (96), France (74), the United Kingdom (73) and Italy (73). The four smallest
memberships are for Cyprus, Estonia, Luxembourg and Malta (each six seats).
Elections to the European Parliament are held every five years under a version of
proportional representation chosen by the Member State. The last election was in May
2014 and therefore the next elections will be in May 2019. Turnout at elections has
fallen consecutively at each election and has been under 50% since 1999. Turnout in
2014 was 42.54% .
There are significant advantages such as funding, speaking rights, committee
membership and chairs to MEPs organising themselves into political groups. For a
political group to be recognized for the appropriate benefits, it must have at least 25
members and at least one-quarter of the Member States (that is, at lest seven) must be
represented within the group. Members may not belong to more than one political
group.
So the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) sit in political groups and no
national groups. There are currently seven political groups in the European Parliament.
Two of them are much larger than the others a Christian Democrat group and a Social
Democrat group. Some Members do not belong to any political group and are known as
Non-attached Members.
The political groups in the current Parliament in order of size are:
Group of the European Peoples Party (EPP)
Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the EP (S&D)
European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR)
Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)
Confederal Group of the European United LeftNordic Green Left (GUE/NGL)
Group of the GreensEuropean Free Alliance (Greens/EFA)
Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD)
Like national legislatures, most of the work of the European Parliament is done in
committees which focus on particular areas of policy. There are 20 such committees and
membership reflects the strength of the various political groups in the Parliament as a
whole.
MEPs have the right to speak, listen read and write in any of the EU's 24 official
languages. Statistically these languages can be combined in 552 ways (24 x 23). Around
one-quarter of the Parliament's expenditure is spent on this multilingualism.
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The European Parliament has three places of work: Brussels (Belgium), the city of
Luxembourg (Luxembourg) and Strasbourg (France). Luxembourg is home to the
administrative offices (the 'General Secretariat'). Meetings of the whole Parliament
('plenary sessions') take place in Brussels and Strasbourg. All Committee meetings are
held in Brussels.
The choice of Strasbourg is historic. The town has alternated between France, then
Germany (after the Franco-Prussian War), and back to France (after the First World
War). Many MEPs feel that transporting members and materials between Brussels and
Strasbourg is costly and inefficient but France has resisted all attempts to locate the
Parliament permanently in Brussels. Since the current arrangements are incorporated
into the EU Treaty, a change would require a new treaty which would have to be agreed
by all 28 Member States and ratified by each of their national parliaments.
Links:
the European Parliament click here
BBC broadcasting of the proceedings of the Parliament click here
THE EUROPEAN COURT
The European Court of Justice is the highest court in the European Union in matters of
European Union law.
Its roles are:
to interpret EU law
to ensure equal application of EU law across all EU Member States.
The Court is composed of one judge per Member State currently 28 although it
normally hears cases in panels of 15, five or three judges.
The Court sits as a full court in the particular cases prescribed by the Statute of the
Court (including proceedings to dismiss the European Ombudsman or a Member of the
European Commission who has failed to fulfil his or her obligations) and where the Court
considers that a case is of exceptional importance.
It sits in a Grand Chamber of 15 judges when a Member State or an institution which is
a party to the proceedings so requests, and in particularly complex or important cases.
Other cases are heard by Chambers of five or three Judges. The Presidents of the
Chambers of five Judges are elected for three years, and those of the Chambers of three
Judges for one year.
The court has been led by president Vassilios Skouris of Greece since 2003.
The court is located in Luxembourg.
Note: the European Court of Justice (ECJ) is not to be confused with the European Court
of Human Rights (ECHR). The ECJ is an institution of the European Union, it interprets
EU law, and it sits in Luxembourg. The ECHR is an institution of the Council of Europe, it
interprets the European Convention on Human Rights, and it sits in Strasbourg.
Link: the European Court click here
HOW LEGISLATION IS ENACTED
There are two main types of EU legislation:
Directives which must be incorporated into the law of the Member States each
Directive includes a date by which this implementation must have been completed.
Regulations which are legally binding in all Member States from the date(s)
stated within them.
Most EU legislation is passed through the co-decision process, in which the Commission
drafts a proposal, then both Parliament and Council discuss, amend and vote on the
proposal through two readings. At the end of the processes, both Council and
Parliament must reach an agreement on the final proposal which then enters into law on
publication in the EUs Official Journal.
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The first reading has two key elements:

The European Parliament debates the proposal in its relevant committee, amendments
are tabled and voted on in committee, then the report passes to the whole Parliament,
which votes on it (and further amendments) in plenary.
Then the Council examines the legislation in detail; most of this discussion happens in a
working group of civil servants. Many decisions are made at this technical level, or the
levels just above it (e.g. COREPER made up of Ambassadors), though some may
remain to be finalised at the meetings of the relevant ministers. The Council will make a
political agreement on the legislation this may happen before or after the Parliament
votes. Once the Parliament has voted, the political agreement will be converted into a
formal Common Position.
If the Council's Common Position is different from the Parliaments vote, then the
legislation passes into second reading in order to resolve the differences. If there is no
difference which is rare and only usually happens in very uncontroversial situations
then the legislation will become law. This is called a First Reading agreement.
Second reading will then begin, following a similar pattern to first reading, but this
time with the Parliament examining, and voting on, the changes proposed by Council,
and then the Council considering what the Parliament proposes. Second reading is a
faster process than first reading, as only differences between Parliament and Council
positions can be discussed, and various elements are time-limited.
It is possible that Parliament and Council will agree at this stage (a second reading
agreement); if they do not, then the conciliation process will be used to bring about a
compromise. Once a final text is agreed, and all translations have been done, the
legislation will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). The
legislation will specify when it must be implemented in the Member States, or when it
comes into force in the case of a regulation.
How is EU legislation implemented and enforced?
The Commission can take Member States to court and fine them if EU legislation is not
implemented. In the most extreme cases, Member States can be subject to a daily fine
this happened to Greece when it was fined for poor waste management on Crete.
Almost all enforcement of EU legislation occurs within the Member States. This leads to
complaints about uneven implementation of regulations in different countries, but at the
moment there is no sign that Member States wish to give more power to the
Commission in this area. A small number of regulations are enforced at EU level, notably
competition law, such as antitrust cases.
Note: A key principle of the EU is called subsidiarity. This means that the Union only
acts where action will be more efective at EU level than at national level. In some cases,
the treaties have given exclusive powers to the EU; in other cases, a judgement has to
be made for each new law.
BRITISH MEMBERSHIP OF THE EU
The United Kingdom came late to what is now called the European Union, not being one
of the six founding Member States. Indeed General de Gaulle of France vetoed two
approaches from the UK to join the organisation (1963 and 1967), before the
Conservative Government of Edward Heath finally took Britain into the EU on 1 January
1973.
Membership of the EU has always been a more controversial matter in the UK than in
most other Member States. Initially it was the Labour Party that was most divided over
the issue of continued membership. Following a renegotiation process by the Labour
Government of Harold Wilson, a referendum was held on 6 June 1975 in which a
majority (67%) of those voting supported membership.
Even since the days of Margaret Thatcher as British Prime Minister when she famously
renegotiated the EU budget contribution of the UK, it has been the Conservative Party
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that has been most divided over the issue and, during John Majors tenure as PM, the
subject occasioned much bitterness. The Conservative Party remains conflicted on the
issue of EU membership and the current Conservative Government is committed to a
renegotiation process followed by an in/out referendum by the end of 2017.
What changes are being sought by the British Prime Minister David Cameron? The
reforms break down into four core areas:
banning EU migrants from claiming in-work benefits for four years
creating safeguards for non-eurozone members to ensure they cannot be outvoted
in the single market by eurozone members
giving national parliaments the right to join together to block EU legislation
granting a British opt-out from the EUs historic commitment, dating back to the
founding treaty of Rome in 1957, to create an ever closer union of the peoples of
Europe
Like all Member States, the UK has a member of the European Commission. This is
currently Jonathan Hill (formally Lord Hill of Oareford) who has responsibility for
financial stability, financial services and the Capital Markets Union.
There are 73 UK Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and they are elected on a
regional list system. For this purpose, the UK is divided into 12 electoral regions made
up of the nations and regions of the UK. Each region has between three and ten MEPs
and each MEP in a region represents each person living there: Eastern - 7, East Midlands
- 5, London - 8, North East - 3, North West - 8, South East - 10, South West - 6, West
Midlands - 7, Yorkshire and Humber - 6, Scotland - 6, Wales - 4, Northern Ireland - 3.
The three major winners of UK seats in the European Parliament in May 2014 were
respectively: the UK Independence Party with 24 seats (27.5% of the vote), the Labour
Party with 20 seats (25.4%) and the Conservative Party with 19 seats (23.9%).
The UK will assume the rotating Presidency of the European Council from 1 July 31
December 2017.