European Integration 101: Main Institutions of European Union

The European Union was established in order to bring the nations of Europe together for economical and political purposes. However, European Union is not a single body, it includes different institutions, political systems, and economies. In this article, we will explore these different institutions of the European Union. The Union is known to have seven institutions consisting of three main institutions which are The European Commission, The European Parliament and The Council of the European Union. In addition to these main institutions, The Court of Justice of the European Union also is considered as a highly significant institution. The powers and responsibilities of all of these institutions are stipulated in the treaties.

When it comes to the development of the European Union institutes, it has an undeniable relations with the integration process and the emergence of European Union. The ideas that moved the European integration process forward, had some effects on its institutions. These institutions are formed according to the ideas and the level of the integration throughout the history. Therefore, we also shall observe the development of European Union in this article and how these institutions’ effects, competency changed and evolved with this process.

 

 

After the World War II , the ideas of european integration emerged. Furthermore, these ideas created the ‘Council of Europe’ foundation in 1949 followed by the ‘European Coal and Steal Community’ in 1952 which was declared as the first step in the federation of Europe (The Schuman Declaration). In the following years, treaty of Rome was signed to create the ‘European Economic Community’ (EEC). European Union was officially established in November 1st 1993 with the founding treaty ‘Maastricht Treaty’ signed by the twelve member states which were Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom in Maastricht, Holland. In 2009, when treaty of Lisbon came into force, it altered and improved many features of the European Union.

One of the three main institutions of the EU is the European Comission. It is EU’s politically independent executive branch. The commission is the only EU body to regulate the laws to be acquired by the parliament and the council. The commission represents the EU in the international area and protects the interests of the union and its citizens. Together with the council and parliament, the EU determines its budget planning. It prepares annual budgets to be ratified by the parliament and the council. Moreover, it manages EU policies and allocates fund for the EU. In collaboration with the Court of Justice, it ensures proper implementations of EU laws in all member states. The EU speaks on behalf of all member countries, especially in the fields of trade policy and humanitarian aid, in international trade institutions. It negotiates international agreements for the EU.

The last main institution is the European Parliament. It is established as the common assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community, therefore, it is seen as an ineffective institution. After ten years, in 1962, it was declared as the European Parliament. The Lisbon Treaty strengthened the EP’s role by placing it on equal footing with the council of the European Union and extending the ordinary legislative procedure to 40 new fields including agriculture, energy security, immigration, justice and home affairs, health and structural funds. The European Council is also the only institution of EU which is directly elected. Its 705 members represent the EU’s 450 million citizens. It is elected by EU voters every 5 years. The parliament sets the EU budget together with the council and approves its long-term budget. Passing EU laws together with the council of the EU is based on European Commission proposals. To decide on international agreements, parliament’s work comprises two main stages. The first stage is committees and the second stage is plenary sessions.

Besides the main institutions mentioned above, the Court of Justice of the European Union is also an essential organ for the union. The most important role of the CJEU is to ensure EU law to be interpreted and applied the same in every EU country and settle legal disputes between national governments and the EU institutions. The CJEU is divided into two courts: the Court of Justice and General Court. The Court of Justice has one judge from each EU member country and 11 advocates in general. It deals with requests for preliminary rulings from national courts, certain actions for annulment and appeals. General Court, there is 56 judges, consists of two judges from each EU member country. It deals with rules on actions for annulment brought by individuals, companies and, in some cases, EU governments. The CJEU gives rulings on cases brought such as interpreting law, enforcing law, annulling EU legal acts, ensuring the EU actions and finally, sanctioning EU institutions. In the Court of Justice, each case is assigned to 1 judge and 1 advocate generally. Cases are processed in 2 stages: the first one is written stage and the second one is the oral stage. The oral stage takes place in the public eye.

In conclusion, The European Union has an institutional structure designed to promote and defend its values and interests, the interests of its citizens and those of its member countries. This structure also contributes to ensuring the coherence, effectiveness, and continuity of EU policies and actions. Similar to the organization of European Union, its institutions developed and evolved with it in time. The institiutions took their forms in accordance with the European Union through treaties. According to the treaty in European Union, the institutional framework comprises 7 institutions. In this essay, we examined the most important ones: the European Parliament, the European Council, the European Commission, and the Court of Justice of the European Union. Briefly, the European Union’s wide range of precedences are set by the European Council which reconciles national and EU-level leaders. Directly elected MEPs represent European citizens in the European Parliament. The interests of the European Union as a whole are supported by the European Commission whose members are appointed by national governments. They support and guard their own country’s national interests in the council of the European Union. Finally, the Court of Justice of the European Union maintains the rule of European law. Each institution acts within its limits, sets duties and responsibilities, they are granted in treaties in line with the procedures, conditions, and purposes.

 

 

 

 

Resources

• “Institutions of the EU: The European Commission”.  Europa, https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/institutions-bodies_en, Retrieved 18 June 2007.
• Essays, UK. (November 2018). The European Union: International Relations. Retrieved from https://www.ukessays.com/essays/international-relations/the-european-union.php?vref=1
• Nugent, N., The Government and Politics of the European Union, 7th edition, Palgrave Macmillan, London
• https://eur-lex.europa.eu/summary/glossary/european_parliament.html

Image Resources

1. The European Institutions. [Table]. University of Pittsburg Library. https://pitt.libguides.com/eu/institutions
2. Imago Images, & Scheiber, P. (2021, March 2). EU top court rules Polish judges can appeal nominations [Photograph]. Deutsche Welle. https://www.dw.com/en/eu-top-court-rules-polish-judges-can-appeal-nominations/a-56745997
3. AP Images. (n.d.). Treaty of Rome [Photograph]. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/European-Union/Creation-of-the-European-Economic-Community