Politics of the European Union

The politics of the European Union are different from other organisations and states due to the unique nature
of the European Union (EU). The EU is similar to a confederation, where many policy areas are federalized
into common institutions capable of making law; however the EU does not, unlike most states, control foreign
policy, defence policy or the majority of direct taxation policies (the EU does limit the level of variation
allowed for VAT). These areas are primarily under the control of the EU's member states although a certain
amount of structured co-operation and coordination takes place in these areas. For the EU to take substantial
actions in these areas, all Member States must give their consent. EU laws that override national laws are more
numerous than in historical confederations; however the EU is legally restricted from making law outside its
remit or where it is no more appropriate to do so at a national or local level (subsidiarity) when acting outside
its exclusive competencies. The principle of subsidiarity does not apply to areas of exclusive competence.

The common institutions mix the intergovernmental and supranational (similar to federal) aspects of the EU.
The EU treaties declare the EU to be based on representative democracy, and direct elections take place to the
European Parliament. The Parliament, together with the Council, form the legislative arm of the EU. The
Council is composed of national governments, thus representing the intergovernmental nature of the EU. Laws
are proposed by the European Commission which is appointed by and accountable to the Parliament and
Council although it has very few executive powers.

Although direct elections take place every five years, there are no cohesive political parties in the national
sense. Instead, there are alliances of ideologically associated parties who sit and vote together in Parliament.
The two largest parties are the European People's Party (centre-right) and the Party of European Socialists
(centre-left) with the former forming the largest group in Parliament since 1999. As well as there being left and
right dividing lines in European politics, there are also divides between those for and against European
integration (Pro-Europeanism and Euroscepticism) which shapes the continually changing nature of the EU
which adopts successive reforming treaties. The latter is stronger in northern Europe, especially the United
Kingdom, and some member states are less integrated than others (Opt-outs).

Contents
Legal basis
Competencies
Law
Types of legislation
Mechanics of legislation
Member states
Institutions
Parliament
European Council
Council of the European Union
Commission
Elections
Political parties
Foreign affairs
Issues
See also
References
External links

Legal basis
Legitimation of the European Union rests
Article 10
on the Treaty System. The move toward
unification first arose in the Kellogg-Briand 1. The functioning of the Union shall be founded on
Pact (https://history.state.gov/milestones/19 representative democracy.
21-1936/kellogg) in 1928, which gained 2. Citizens are directly represented at Union level in
adherent countries during negotiations and the European Parliament. Member States are
took on a theme of integration for the represented in the European Council by their
achievement of peace between the Great Heads of State or Government and in the Council
[1]
Powers. After World War Two, Europe by their governments, themselves democratically
sought to end conflict permanently between accountable either to their national Parliaments, or
France and Germany. In the spirit of the to their citizens.
Marshall Plan, those two nations signed the 3. Every citizen shall have the right to participate in
Treaty of Paris in 1951, establishing the the democratic life of the Union. Decisions shall
European Coal and Steel Community. be taken as openly and as closely as possible to
Since then, the Treaty of Paris, which the citizen.
focused on price setting and competition for 4. Political parties at European level contribute to
purposes of a common market, has been forming European political awareness and to
superseded. The legal basis for the expressing the will of citizens of the Union.
European Community now rests on two
treaties: The Treaty for the European Union - Article 10 of the Treaty on European Union
(http://europa.eu/eu-law/decision-making/tr
eaties/pdf/treaty_on_european_union/treaty
_on_european_union_en.pdf) of 1958; and The Treaty of Maastricht (https://web.archive.org/web/201505010
82724/http://www.eurotreaties.com/maastrichtec.pdf) of 1992. The various additions and modifications of
treaties has led to a patchwork of policy and planning, which contributes to the unwieldiness of the EU. The
pastiche of treaties, and not a single actualising charter of government, form the constitutional basis of the
European Union. This ambiguity is a primary cause of "democratic deficit."

The EU itself is a legal personality and a set of governing institutions empowered by the treaties. However
sovereignty is not invested in those institutions, it is pooled with ultimate sovereignty resting with the national
governments. Yet in those areas where the EU has been granted competencies, it does have the power to pass
binding and direct laws upon its members.

Competencies

The competencies of the European Union stem from the original Coal and Steel Community, which had as its
goal an integrated market. The original competencies were regulatory in nature, restricted to matters of
maintaining a healthy business environment. Rulings were confined to laws covering trade, currency, and
competition. Increases in the number of EU competencies result from a process known as functional spillover.
Functional spillover resulted in, first, the integration of banking and insurance industries to manage finance and
investment. The size of the bureaucracies increased, requiring modifications to the treaty system as the scope
of competencies integrated more and more functions. While member states hold their sovereignty inviolate,
they remain within a system to which they have delegated the tasks of managing the marketplace. These tasks
have expanded to include the competencies of free movement of persons, employment, transportation, and
environmental regulation.

Competences of the European Union in relation to those of its member states[2]

Exclusive Shared competence Supporting
competence competence

The Union has exclusive Member States cannot Union exercise of The Union can carry out
competence to make exercise competence in competence shall not actions to support,
directives and conclude areas where the Union result in Member States coordinate or
international agreements has done so, that is … being prevented from supplement Member
when provided for in a exercising theirs in … States' actions in …
Union legislative act as the internal market
to … research, the protection and
social policy, for the
aspects defined in this technological improvement of
the customs union Treaty development human health
the establishing of the and (outer) space industry
economic, social and
competition rules territorial cohesion development culture
necessary for the cooperation,
agriculture and tourism
functioning of the humanitarian aid
fisheries, excluding education, youth,
internal market
the conservation of sport and vocational
monetary policy for The Union coordinates
marine biological training
the Member States Member States policies
resources
whose currency is the or implements civil protection
environment supplemental to their (disaster prevention)
euro
consumer protection common policies not administrative
the conservation of
transport covered elsewhere in … cooperation
marine biological
resources under the trans-European
common fisheries networks the coordination of
policy economic,
energy
employment and
Common Commercial the area of freedom, social policies
Policy security and justice
common foreign,
conclusion of certain common safety security and defence
international concerns in public policies
agreements health matters, for the
aspects defined in this
Treaty

Law

Types of legislation

The Ordinary Legislative Procedure (OLP) (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/aboutparliament/en/20150201PVL

00004/Legislative-powers) is the formal, main legislative procedure. In OLP, the European Parliament (EP)
and the Council act in much the same way as a bicameral congress, such as the British Upper and Lower
Houses or the American Congress. The co-decision rule in Maastricht, and the subsequent Lisbon Treaty (htt
p://www.ecln.net/documents/lisbon/lisbon_-_constitution_side_by_side_open_europe.pdf), is ultimately gave
the EP and the Council equal weight and formalised OLP as the main legislative procedure. It also gives the
EP veto power. The two legislative powers of the OLP are directives and regulations. A directive requires the
member states to pass the new law individually, a process called "transposition." The difference in the timing
of completing transposition is the "democratic deficit." A regulation acts on all the member states at once and
is effective immediately.

The other legislation option is the Special Legislative Procedure (SLP). The SLP consists of the passing of
laws proposed by member states, the Central Bank or Investment Bank, or the Court of Justice. Judicial
activism—the interpretation of the spirit of law rather than the letter of law—is handled by the SLP. The
procedure is discussed either in the EP with consultation with the Council, or in the Council with participation
of the EP. In other words, the consultative role stops short of the equal weight given to both the EP and the
Council. While provided for in the treaties, the SLP is not as formal as the OLP, relying less on the hierarchical
structure. This lends more credence to Kleine's argument of the contrariness of the EU's agenda-setting
procedure.[3]

Mechanics of legislation

In the OLP, there are four types of rulings: Regulations, Directives, Decisions, and Recommendations.
Decision-making is shared by the European Parliament and the Council, which are equally weighted.
Regulations are binding on all member states effective immediately. Directives are binding on all member
states, but the implementation is left up to the national courts in a process called transposition. However, since
member states set their own timelines for transposition, there is a democratic deficit between states. Decisions
are binding on non-state litigants to whom they are addressed.[4] Recommendations are intended to guide legal
judgments and are non-binding, similar to opinions.

In the SLP, the Council is the sole ruling body. The European Parliament is involved strictly in a consultative
role and can be ignored.

Member states
There are twenty-seven member states who have conferred powers upon the EU institutions (other countries
are tied to the EU in other ways). In exchange for conferring competencies, EU states are assigned votes in the
Council, seats in Parliament and a European Commissioner among other things. The internal government of
member states vary between presidential systems, monarchies, federations and microstates however all
members must respect the Copenhagen criteria of being democratic, respecting human rights and having a free
market economy. Members joined over time, starting with the original six in 1958 and more members joining
in the near future.

Some member states are outside certain areas of the EU, for example the eurozone is composed of only 19 of
the 27 members and the Schengen Agreement currently includes only 22 of the EU members. However the
majority of these are in the process of joining these blocs. A number of countries outside the EU are involved
in certain EU activities such as the euro, Schengen, single market or defence.[5][6][7]

Institutions
The primary institutions of the European Union are the European Commission, the European Council, the
Council of the European Union (Council) and the European Parliament.

The ordinary legislative procedure, applies to nearly all EU policy areas. Under the procedure, the
Commission presents a proposal to Parliament and the Council. They then send amendments to the Council
which can either adopt the text with those amendments or send back a "common position". That proposal may
either be approved or further amendments may be tabled by the Parliament. If the Council does not approve
those, then a "Conciliation Committee" is
formed. The Committee is composed of
the Council members plus an equal
number of MEPs who seek to agree a
common position. Once a position is
agreed, it has to be approved by
Parliament again by an absolute
majority.[8][9] There are other special
procedures used in sensitive areas which
reduce the power of Parliament.

Parliament

The European Parliament shares the

legislative and budgetary authority of the
Union with the Council. Its 766 members Organigram of the political system. The seven organs of the Union
are elected every five years by universal are in blue, national / intergovernmental elements in orange.
suffrage and sit according to political
allegiance. It represents all European
Citizens in the EU's legislative process, in contrast to the Council, which represents the Member States.
Despite forming one of the two legislative chambers of the Union, it has weaker powers than the Council in
some limited areas, and does not have legislative initiative. It does, however, have powers over the
Commission which the Council does not.[10] The powers of the Parliament have increased substantially over
the years, and in nearly all areas it now has equal power to the Council.

European Council

The European Council is the group of heads of state or government of the EU

member states. It meets four times a year to define the Union's policy agenda
and give impetus to integration. The President of the European Council is the
person responsible for chairing and driving forward the work of the
institution, which has been described as the highest political body of the
European Union.[11]

Council of the European Union The ordinary legislative

procedure of the European
The Council of the European Union (informally known as the Council of Union
Ministers or just the Council) is a body holding legislative and some limited
executive powers and is thus the main decision making body of the Union. Its
Presidency rotates between the states every six months. The Council is composed of twenty-eight national
ministers (one per state). However the Council meets in various forms depending upon the topic. For example,
if agriculture is being discussed, the Council will be composed of each national minister for agriculture. They
represent their governments and are accountable to their national political systems. Votes are taken either by
majority or unanimity with votes allocated according to population.[12]

Commission
The European Commission is composed of one appointee from each state, currently twenty-seven, but is
designed to be independent of national interests. The body is responsible for drafting all law of the European
Union and has a monopoly over legislative initiative. It also deals with the day-to-day running of the Union
and has a duty to uphold the law and treaties (in this role it is known as the "Guardian of the Treaties").[13]

The Commission is led by a President who is nominated by the Council (in practice the European Council)
and approved by Parliament. The remaining twenty-seven Commissioners are nominated by member-states, in
consultation with the President, and has their portfolios assigned by the President. The Council then adopts this
list of nominee-Commissioners. The Council's adoption of the Commission is not an area which requires the
decision to be unanimous, their acceptance is arrived at according to the rules for qualified majority voting.
The European Parliament then interviews and casts its vote upon the Commissioners. The interviews of
individual nominees are conducted separately, in contrast to Parliament's vote of approval which must be cast
on the Commission as a whole without the ability to accept or reject individual Commissioners. Once approval
has been obtained from the Parliament the Commissioners can take office.[14] The current president is Ursula
von der Leyen (EPP); she was elected in 2019.[13]

Elections
Direct elections take place to the European Parliament every five
years. The Council and European Council is composed of nationally
elected or appointed officials and thus are accountable according to
national procedures. The Commission also isn't direct elected
although future appointments of the President must take into account
of results of Parliament's elections.

Parliament's elections are held by universal suffrage of EU citizens

according to national restrictions (such as age and criminal Political groups of the European
convictions). Proportional representation is used in all parliamentary Parliament in the Louise Weiss
constituencies.[15] Members of the European Parliament cannot also building after the election 2014:
be elected nationally and are elected in national or sub-national Group of the European People's
constituencies. The first such election was of the in 1979. The latest Party (EPP)
elections were in 2014 The turnout has fallen in every EU election Progressive Alliance of
since 1979. In 2014, the overall turnout was 42.6%, down from Socialists and Democrats (S&D)
43.0% in 2009. In Britain the turnout was 35.6% up from 34.7% in Group of the Alliance of Liberals
2009, in France and Germany turnout also increased, whereas in Italy and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)
and Poland turnout decreased. European Greens–European Free
Alliance (Greens/EFA)
European United Left–Nordic
Political parties
Green Left (GUE/NGL)
European Conservatives and
Political parties in the member states organise themselves with like-
Reformists (ECR)
minded parties in other states into political parties at European level or
Europe of Freedom and
Europarties. Most national parties are a member of one of these
Democracy (EFD)
Europarties and there are currently 11 that are recognised and receive
Non-Inscrits (NI)
EU funding. Europarties behave and operate to a certain extent like
national parties but only the larger ones (EPP, PES, ELDR) put
forward comprehensive manifestos during the campaigns for the
European elections.

The Europarties are horizontally present in all the main institutions – Council, Commission, Parliament – but
are most active through their political groups in Parliament. At the beginning of every parliamentary term, most
organise themselves with other parties, non-attached national parties or independents to form a political group.
No party has ever held a majority in the Parliament, this does not have a great effect as it does not form a
government but there is usual a coalition between the two major parties to elect the President of the European
Parliament.[16][17][18]

Foreign affairs
The EU's chief diplomat, sometimes dubbed its foreign minister, is the
High Representative, Josep Borrell. The foreign policy of the
European Union is characterised as being:[19]

Multi-facet as it is carried out through different venues

namely the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP),
the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP)(Title V,
TEU), the external dimension of internal policies and the
External Action of the EU (Part Three with Titles I, III, V,
VIII, XIX, XX, XXI and Part Five with Titles II, III, IV and V of
the TFEU).[19]
Multi-method as it is materialised through different
venues, in practice this means that it happens in two
different legal settings, the first two policy field (CFSP and
CSDP) are regulated through the TEU and the second
group (external dimension and external action) are
addressed by the TFEU. Since the TEU represents the Hearing of Josep Borrell, High
"intergovernmental" character of the EU and the TFEU Representative Vice President
represents the "communitary method" (supranational), in
the second we see the presence of actors such as the
Commission and the European Parliament playing a rather important role whereas in the
intergovernmental method, the decision lies in the hands of the Council under unanimity.[19]
Multi-level because it is embedded in the international level with different international
organisations (UNO, IMF, NATO and WTO). Member States are also members of these
organisations adding new actors into the game. The EU itself is a member of some of these
and in practice this mean that Member States have other options to "pick from".[19]

Issues
The Financial Perspective for 2007–2013 was defined in 2005 when EU members agreed to fix the common
budget to 1.045% of the European GDP.[20] UK Prime Minister Tony Blair agreed to review the British
rebate, negotiated by Margaret Thatcher in 1984. Former French president Jacques Chirac declared this
increase in the budget will permit Europe to "finance common policies" such as the Common Agricultural
Policy or the Research and Technological Development Policy. France's demand to lower the VAT in catering
was refused.[21] Controversial issues during budget debates include the British rebate, France's benefits from
the Common Agricultural Policy, Germany and the Netherlands' large contributions to the EU budget, reform
of the European Regional Development Funds, and the question of whether the European Parliament should
continue to meet both in Brussels and Strasbourg.

The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE), commonly referred to as the European Constitution,
is an international treaty intended to create a constitution for the European Union. The constitution was
rejected by France and the Netherlands, where referendums were held[22] causing other countries to postpone
or halt their ratification procedures. Late in 2009, a new Reform Treaty was ratified by all member states of the
European Union, and took effect on 1 December 2009.
Enlargement of the Union's membership is a major political issue, with division over how far the bloc should
expand. While some see it as a major policy instrument aiding the Union's development, some fear over-stretch
and dilution of the Union.[23][24]

"Counter-nationalistic shearing stress" is the term coined by one commentator for the theoretical tendency of
certain regions of larger countries of the EU to wish to become fully independent members within the wider
context of the European Union's "bigger umbrella". If the Union is to become "ever closer", it follows that
regions with their own distinctive histories and identities within the existing member nations may see little
reason to have a layer of "insulation" between themselves and the EU. The surprisingly close vote on Scottish
Independence in September 2014 may be seen in this context. Others have suggested that regions of Germany
could be candidates for "Euro-Balkanisation", particularly given Germany's commitment to the EU project and
to a more nuanced, mature view of the notion of national allegiance.

See also
List of European Union directives
Policies of the European Union

References
1. Miller: 1928, The Paris Peace Pact (London, G.S. Putnam's Sons) pp. 26-29
2. As outlined in Title I of Part I of the consolidated Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union
3. Kleine 2009, Memo: Informal Norms in European Governance
(http://www.princeton.edu/europe/events_archive/repository/05-01-2009/Kleine.pdf) p.1
4. "Archived copy" (https://web.archive.org/web/20131212034345/http://europa.eu/eu-law/decisio
n-making/legal-acts/index_en.htm). Archived from the original (http://europa.eu/eu-law/decision
-making/legal-acts/index_en.htm) on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
5. ECB: Introduction: Euro area (http://www.ecb.int/bc/intro/html/index.en.html#map) Archived (htt
ps://web.archive.org/web/20081014231025/http://www.ecb.int/bc/intro/html/index.en.html) 14
October 2008 at the Wayback Machine ecb.int
6. Schengen acquis and its integration into the Union (http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l3302
0.htm) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20070527005434/http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/e
n/lvb/l33020.htm) 27 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine europa.eu
7. EU Battlegroups (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/dv/091006e
ubattlegroups_/091006eubattlegroups_en.pdf) europarl.europa.eu
8. "Parliament's powers and procedures" (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/public/staticD
isplay.do?language=EN&id=46). European Parliament. Retrieved 12 June 2007.
9. "Decision-making in the European Union" (https://web.archive.org/web/20071011040316/http://
europa.eu/institutions/decision-making/index_en.htm). Europa (web portal). Archived from the
original (http://www.europa.eu/institutions/decision-making/index_en.htm) on 11 October 2007.
Retrieved 18 September 2007.
10. "Parliament – an overview. Welcome" (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/public.do?lan
guage=en). European Parliament. Retrieved 12 June 2007.
11. van Grinsven, Peter (September 2003). "The European Council under Construction" (https://we
b.archive.org/web/20070928110519/http://www.nbiz.nl/publications/2003/20030900_cli_paper
_dip_issue88.pdf) (PDF). Netherlands Institution for international Relations. Archived from the
original (http://www.nbiz.nl/publications/2003/20030900_cli_paper_dip_issue88.pdf) (PDF) on
28 September 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
12. "Institutions: The Council of the European Union" (https://web.archive.org/web/2007070315582
2/http://europa.eu/institutions/inst/council/index_en.htm). Europa (web portal). Archived from
the original (http://europa.eu/institutions/inst/council/index_en.htm) on 3 July 2007. Retrieved
25 June 2007.
13. "Institutions: The European Commission" (https://web.archive.org/web/20070623104055/http://
europa.eu/institutions/inst/comm/index_en.htm). Europa (web portal). Archived from the original
(http://europa.eu/institutions/inst/comm/index_en.htm) on 23 June 2007. Retrieved 25 June
2007.
14. "Archived copy" (https://web.archive.org/web/20070623104055/http://europa.eu/institutions/ins
t/comm/index_en.htm). Archived from the original (http://europa.eu/institutions/inst/comm/index
_en.htm) on 23 June 2007. Retrieved 18 June 2007.
15. The European Parliament: electoral procedures (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/facts/1_3_4_e
n.htm) europarl.europa.eu
16. European Parliament (http://www.euractiv.com/en/Fixed/groups/EU-political-parties.htm)
euractiv.com
17. Party Politics in the EU (https://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/archive/20061220120000/htt
p://www.civitas.org.uk/eufacts/FSCIT/CIT3.htm) civitas.org.uk
18. European Parliament and Supranational party system (http://assets.cambridge.org/97805218/0
6251/sample/9780521806251ws.pdf) cambridge.org
19. Keukeleire, Stephan, 1962- (23 January 2014). The foreign policy of the European Union.
Delreux, Tom (2nd ed.). Houndsmill, Basingstoke, Hampshire. ISBN 978-1-137-02575-3.
OCLC 858311361 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/858311361).
20. "Financial Perspective 2007–2013" (http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/p
ressData/en/misc/87677.pdf) (PDF). (236 KiB), Council of the European Union, 17 December
2005. Accessed 25 January 2007.
21. "Poles block EU deal on lower VAT (http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/01/30/business/vat.php)",
Times Online, 31 January 2006. Accessed 24 January 2007.
22. "Varied reasons behind Dutch 'No' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4601731.stm)",
BBC News Online, 1 June 2005. Accessed 24 January 2007.
23. EP Draft report on division of powers (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/committees/afc
o/20020417/443686EN.pdf) europarl.europa.eu
24. Q&A: EU Enlargement (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2266385.stm) news.bbc.co.uk

External links
Official EU website: Europa (http://www.europa.eu/)
(in French) European Elections Online (http://www.europe-politique.eu/)
European NAvigator: The three pillars of the European Union (http://www.ena.lu?lang=2&doc=
20992)
European Institute for International Law and International Relations (https://web.archive.org/we
b/20140508145527/http://www.eiilir.eu/) (EIILIR)
Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) (http://ec.europa.eu/comm/external_relations/cfs
p/intro/index.htm)
PRADO – The Council of the European Union Public Register of Authentic Travel and ID
Documents Online (https://web.archive.org/web/20110719061623/http://prado.consilium.europ
a.eu/en/homeIndex.html)

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