HOW DOES THE EU WORK?

QUIZ- https://www.europa.eu/learning-corner/quiz/how

Who decides what in the EU?

The European institutions are simply places werepoliticians from all EU countries can meet in order to work and advance together towards concrete results.

This are the institutions were most of the decisions are made:

→ European Parliament

→ European Council

→ Council of the European Union

→ European Commission

→ Court of Justice of European Union

European Parliament

The European Parliament is made up of 751 directly-elected MEPs from all the Member States who help create policy and make decisions in co-operation with the Council of the EU. Ireland is represented by 11 MEPs from 4 constituencies whose five-year term runs until 2019.

The main meetings of the Parliament also known as “plenary sessions” take place in Strasbourg, France, 12 times a year, and in Brussels, Belgium, five times a year.

With this link you can see which parties from your countries were successful at the last European elections and which groups they belong to: https://www.europa.eu/!Qv36gj

Take a closer look here: https://www.europa.eu/!yG46KN . Do you recognize some of the members from your own country?

European Council

The European Council is made up of the heads of Member State governments, who meet to guide the work of the EU.

The Council usually meets between four and six times a year and you can see its conclusions online.

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/

Council of the European Union

The Council of the European Union is made up of Ministers from the Member States who come together to make decisions on legislation and policy.

There are 10 different Council formations for different policy areas.

Examples:

→ General Affairs Council

→ Transport

→ Telecommunications and Energy Council

→ Foreign Affairs Council

Which ministers meet depends on the topic under discussion. For example, if the meeting is about air pollution, then environment ministers will meet.

You can watch the Council in action in all EU languages here : https://www.video.consilium.europa.eu/webcats

Consilium link: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/council-eu

In Council meetings, about 80% of the law proposals are decided by majority vote. Try out the voting calculator on the Council’s website to see how the system works: https://www.europa.eu/!rM38Ru

European Commission

The European Commission is made up of 28 members – one president and 27 commissioners (including the vice-presidents). The president is nominated by the European Council and is formally elected for 5 years by the European Parliament.

There is one commissioner from each EU country. They are also appointed for 5 years having been proposed by their government and approved by the European Parliament. Commissioners do not represent the views of their country of origin but rather the common interest of the EU. Each for a specific area, such as energy, economy or trade.

The European Commission proposes new laws and programmes in the general interest of the EU. Before making a proposal, the Commission seeks the opinions of national parliaments, governments, interest groups and experts, as well as the general public, who are invited to make their comments online.

Did you know you can visit The European Institutions!

You can visit the EU institutions, including the European Parliament, the Council, the European Council and the European Commission:

European Parliament: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/visiting/en

European Council: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/contact/visits

European Commission: https://www.europa.eu/!bG46MYY

Court of Justice of Justice of the European Union

In the last 60 years, EU countries have drawn up many EU laws together. Understandably, there can be some dispute over the interpretation of these laws when it comes to putting them into practice in each EU country.

If a national court is in doubt about the interpretation of an EU law, it can ask the Court of Justice for clarification. Likewise, individual EU countries do not always apply EU laws correctly. In this case, the Commission or another EU country can bring the matter before the Court.

The Court is based in Luxembourg and consists of one judge per EU country. It ensures that EU legislation is interpreted and applied in the same way in each EU country.

The Court of Justice of the EU makes sure that EU legislation is correctly applied and respected by member states. It has one judge from each member state. It is assisted by the General Court as the number of cases can prove too large for the Court of Justice alone.

For more information, see: https://www.curia.europa.eu

Apart from the institutions discussed before, you may have heard of the following other EU institutions and bodies.

⦁​European Central Bank: https://www.ecb.europa.eu

⦁​European Court of Auditors: https://www.eca.europa.eu

⦁​European External Action Service: https://www.eeas.europa.eu

⦁​European Economic and Social Committee: https://www.eesc.europa.eu

⦁​European Committee of the Regions: https://www.cor.europa.eu

⦁​European Investment Bank: https://www.eib.europa.eu

⦁​European Ombudsman: https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu

⦁​European Data Protection Supervisor: https://www.edps.europa.eu

For more information, see: https://www.europa.eu/!NX37Dd

Your influence as a European citizen

As a European citizen, you can influence EU policies in several ways.

Firstly, by voting in your country's general election: as a rule, the winning party the forms your government. Ministers from this government represent your country in the Council of the European Union, which plays an important role in EU lawmaking.

Secondly, by voting in the European Parliament elections: the European Parliament plays an equally important role in the EU lawmaking and your vote will help determine the European Parliament's position on proposed laws. The largest political group in the European Parliament will normally decide who the President of the European Commission is, so your vote will help determine that as well.

Thirdly, as a European citizen, you can make your own voice heard by taking part in online public consultations. Before making proposals for new EU laws and throughout the whole decision-making process, the European Commission seeks the opinions of citizens and stakeholders.

You can read more about how you can influence EU policies at: https://www.europa.eu/!pP63DG

Fourthly, you can have your say about what is happening in the European Union during the many citizen's dialogues that take place across the EU.

These give you the chance to discuss European issues with commissioners taken place in your area or whether there is one coming up soon: https://www.europa.eu/!CM89Vn

Finally, EU citizens can launch or support a European citizen's initiative https://www.europa.eu/!JC69Xw . In practice this means that members of the public may invite the European Commission to propose legislation on a specific issue for which the EU is responsible, such as the environment, agriculture or transport.

Done by: Ana Miranda (Portugal)

Daniela Machado (Portugal)

Francesca Passiatore (Italy)

Francesca Berlino (Italy)

Andreina Coviello (Italy)

Giulia Colangelo (Italy)