xx. The Institutions of the Union: Council, Commission and Parliament
by Fernard Clement,
EU Representative Office, Jerusalem

The EU is unique among other international organisations by virtue of its institutional structure. The Union is more than an intergovernmental organisation, having its own legal status and powers. EU member states, in accepting the Treaties of Rome and Maastricht have agreed to relinquish a measure of sovereignty to the supranational institutions of the Union. However, the Union is not a true federation in which national governments are subordinate.

The main institutions of the Union, charged with implementing the Treaties of Paris (which established the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952), Rome and Maastricht, are the European Commission, the Council and the Parliament. In addition, there are the Court of Justice and Court of Auditors. The three communities (ECSC, European Economic Community and Euratom) initially had separate councils and commissions, but the institutions were merged in 1967. The enlargement and development of the Union has affected the composition of the Union institutions but not their basic structure. The Single European Act of 1985 and the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 changed the Union's institutional balance, mainly in favour of Parliament and the Court of Auditors.

1. The Commission

The Commission has the broadest range of tasks of the Union institutions, serving as the guardian of the Treaties, the executive arm of the EU, initiator of policy and representative of EU interests to the Council. The Commission also represents the EU in international fora and negotiations. It consists of 20 members, appointed by 'common accord' of the member states for a term of five years. France, Germany Italy, Spain and the UK each appoint two commissioners, the remaining members one. Although nominated by their governments, commissioners must act in the interests of the EU, and do not receive instructions from their national governments. The Commission's administrative staff is based mainly in Brussels, consisting of approximately 17 000 members, organised into 23 Directorates General. Around 15% of the staff is involved in translation and interpretation work.

Functions of the Commission

1. As guardian of the Union Treaties, the Commission sees that they are correctly applied, and has the power to investigate alleged breaches of the Treaty and impose fines on individuals and companies where necessary. The Commission can also bringing member states before the Court of Justice in cases of breaches of the Treaties. The creation of the single market greatly increased the work of the Commission in this area, as harmonisation of regulations had to be enforced.

2. Right of proposal of policies to the Council for the development of EU policy in the spheres of agriculture, industry, the internal market, the environment, social and regional problems, EMU etc.

3. The Commission acts as executive, implementing policies on the basis of Council decisions or Treaty provisions. The Single European Act conferred greater powers to the Commission in implementing Council decisions, so that the conferring of executive powers on the Commission is now the rule.

4. The Commission also has the function of managing the budget and Community Funds, such as the European Social Fund, the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Development Fund

5. The Commission initiates Union policy and represents the interests of the EU vis-a-vis the member states. European Laws, binding on all member states are formulated by the Commission, examples being the body of laws on agriculture promulgated during the 1960s. The Commission virtually has a monopoly on the drafting of legislation and a duty to ensure that it is objective and in the interests of the Union as a whole.

2. The Council of the European Union

The Council is the main decision making body of the Union, made up of 15 ministers, one from each member state. Ministers attend relevant sessions of the Council, such as foreign affairs, agriculture, employment, etc. The Council is assisted by the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coperep), a committee of civil servants from the relevant member state ministries, and a General Secretariat.

The Council is in effect the Union's legislature, enacting Union legislation in the form of regulations, directives and decisions, and is responsible for coordinating member states' economic policies. Since the Maastricht Treaty and the Single European Act, however, some of these functions are shared with the European Parliament. The Council and Parliament also have dual control over approval of the Union budget, which is prepared by the Commission.

Council decisions on fundamental matters, such as the enlargement of the Union, or amendments to the Union Treaties, must be taken unanimously. Most decisions, however, are taken by qualified majority, requiring 62 votes out of a total of 87. Votes are weighted according to the size of the member states:

France, Germany, Italy, the UK (each) 10 votes (each)
Spain 8 votes
Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal 5 votes (each)
Austria and Sweden 4 votes (each)
Denmark, Finland, Ireland 3 votes (each)
Luxembourg 2 votes
Total 87 votes

Majority voting makes it possible for a coalition to outvote large member states who would be otherwise impervious to political pressure, thus enhancing the equality of member states within the Union structure. The importance of the majority rule, however, has been historically reduced by the Luxembourg compromise of 1966, by which each member could declare an issue to be one of vital importance, to be settled unanimously, and thereby effectively acquire a veto. The Single European Act of 1987 did much to resolve this problem, by widening the areas to be settled by qualified majority voting.

The Council has the function of reconciling the interests of the member states with those of the Union as a whole. Member states' interests are given priority in the council, but members must also take into account the objectives and interests of the Union. The Council is a Union institution, not an intergovernmental conference.

The European Council is the twice-yearly meeting of the Heads of Government of the member states of the Union, including the President of the Commission. Such summit meetings have been held since 1974 and were regularised by the Single European Act, providing a forum for leaders to discuss the issues facing the Union, launch policy initiatives and settle disputes unresolved at ministerial level. The European Council is also responsible for the EU's international policy through the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).

3. The European Parliament

The Treaty of Rome established a European Assembly to act as the Community's watchdog, with limited legislative functions. From the earliest days, however, the body took the name of European Parliament, being made up initially of appointees from national parliaments. The first direct elections for the European Parliament were held in June 1979. The Parliament currently has 626 members:

Country ------- Seats
Germany 99
France, Italy, UK (each) 87
Spain 64
the Netherlands 31
Belgium, Greece, Portugal (each) 25
Sweden 22
Austria 21
Denmark, Finland (each) 16
Ireland 15
Luxembourg 6

Members of the European Parliament take their seats as members of pan-Union political groupings, not as delegations from members states. There are ten such groups in the Parliament, the largest being the Socialists. Parliament is presided over by a President, assisted by 12 Vice-Presidents. Plenary sessions of Parliament in meet in Strasbourg for one week every month. Committees are held in Brussels and the Secretariat is in Luxembourg.

Initially envisaged as a consultative role in the Treaty of Rome, Parliament now shares legislative responsibilities with the Council, with a (junior) role in the drafting of directives and regulations, and the right to propose amendments and give opinions on Commission proposals. The Single European Act increased the Parliament's legislative responsibility, expanding the number of policy areas in which Parliament has a say, and establishing the 'cooperation procedure', by which proposals receive two readings each in the Parliaments and the Council of Ministers, with Parliament having the right to propose amendments to the common position of the Council with regard to a Commission proposal. The Council may ignore these proposals only with a unanimous decision.

The Maastricht Treaty continued this process with the extension of a co-decision role with the Council extended to specific areas regarding the single market. Parliament may now vote to reject Council positions, with an absolute majority of MEPs. The Parliament has responsibility for non-compulsory expenditure. Since the Single European Act, Parliament has a right of veto over enlargement of the Union and Treaties of association. For most matters, however, real decision making power rests with the Council.

The Parliament has the final say in approving the EU budget, and can reject it. This has occurred twice, in which case the whole budgetary procedure has to begin again. The Parliament also has a watchdog function, monitoring implementation of common policies, day to day administration of these policies, and questioning the Commission, Council and Foreign Minister. The Commission is responsible only to the Parliament, which can dismiss the former with a vote of censure supported by two-third majority.

4. The Relationship between the Council, Commission and Parliament

The Commission, with its right to initiate policy and place it before the Council for approval, therefore has the decisive role in Union policy making. Only in rare cases can the Council proceed without a proposal from the Commission. Without the Commission submitting proposals, the Council, and the Union, would be paralysed.

While the Single European Act and the Maastricht Treaty gave enhanced legislative powers to Parliament, the latter's involvement in legislation still comes at the end of the process. The key stage in the legislative process is the drawing up of a common position between the Commission and the Council to present to Parliament.

A legislative proposal is placed before the Council, whose ministers put their national positions, while the Commission seeks to uphold the interests of the Union as a whole. The Commission's position is strengthened in the dialogue by the fact that Council deliberations are based on a proposal drawn up by the Commission itself. Under the Maastricht Treaty, the Council can only amend a Commission proposal by unanimous decision. In contrast, an in toto acceptance of the proposal can be made by majority vote. The Commission is centrally placed in the process, and can act as a mediator in the Council to reconcile government positions.

The Commission also has a central role in the finances of the Union, drawing up the budget, which they is jointly assessed by the Parliament and the Council. In the sphere of compulsory expenditure, mostly agricultural, the Council has the final say. In non-compulsory matters, Parliament has the right to modify expenditure proposals.

Conclusion

The three major institutions of the EU cannot therefore be seen as the direct equivalents of the those existing at national level. There is considerable blurring of the distinction between the various powers, with, for example, the Commission exercising legislative, executive and some judicial powers. The Parliament, the only institution directly chosen by the citizenry of Europe, is very much the junior partner in the relationship, with the right to initiate policy and EU legislation remaining with the Council and Commission. Despite advances following the Single European Act and the Maastricht Treaty, this 'democratic deficit' is a major issue facing the Union.