5.

1 The Institutions of the European Union

Exercise 1: EU Institutions

The European Union has seven official institutions. They are listed in the table below. Fill in
the table with the Hungarian names of the institutions given below the table.

English term Hungarian term

the European Parliament
the European Council
the Council of the European Union
the European Commission
the Court of Justice of the European Union
the European Court of Auditors
the European Central Bank

Az Európai Unió Bírósága

Az Európai Unió Tanácsa
Európai Bizottság
Európai Központi Bank
Európai Parlament
Európai Számvevőszék
Európai Tanács

5.2 The role of the Institutions

The Member States of the EU work together in order to create a Europe that is competitive
and is able to meet the challenges of the 21st century, a Europe that guarantees stability and
prosperity to its citizens. In order to achieve these goals, first, the most important steps or
priorities have to be determined. Then, detailed policies have to be worked out. When
working on European policies, several, often conflicting interests have to be taken into
consideration:
 the interests of the citizens of Europe, in other words you and I
 the interests of the Member States, because some policies might be advantageous for
one Member State and disadvantageous for another one
 the interests of the EU as a whole, in other words, what would be the measures Europe
would benefit the most from.
In order to cater for all of these interests, the EU has developed a unique institutional
structure, where each Institution has its well-defined role. The European Council discusses
and decides upon the key priorities for the EU. The European Parliament represents the
interests of the European citizens. The national interests of the Member States are represented
in the Council of the EU. The European Commission safeguards the interests of the EU as
a whole. The Court of Justice interprets EU law and the Court of Auditors audits EU
finances.
5.3 The European Council

Sections 5.3 and 5.4 are adapted from www.europa.eu

The European Council discusses and decides upon the key priorities for the EU. The
European Council is a summit meeting that is held at least four times every year (twice every
six months).
Who takes part in the European Council summits?
- the heads of state or government of the EU Member States depending on their
constitutional structure (for example in the case of Hungary the head of government,
i.e. our Prime Minister, but in the case of France the head of state, i.e. the President
participates at the meetings),
- the President of the European Commission, and
- the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
The summit meetings are chaired by the President of the European Council, Herman van
Rompuy (1 June 2012-30 November 2014).
The European Council also deals with complex or sensitive issues, usually receiving huge
media coverage.

5.4 The Council of the EU (the Council of Ministers or the Council)

The national interests of the Member States are represented in the Council of the EU.
The Council is also referred to as the Council of Ministers (or simply the Council) as it
brings together ministers from each Member State. The Council has no fixed members since
Member State ministers responsible for the area under discussion participate in the Council
meetings. The Council has a so called rotating presidency system, which means that each
Member State holds the Council presidency for 6 months (i.e. presides over the meetings of
the Council).
The most important tasks of the Council are the following:
 passing EU laws together with the European Parliament
 coordinating the economic policies of the Member States
 approving the budget of the EU (together with the European Parliament)
 forming the EU’s foreign and defense policies
 coordinating cooperation between courts and police forces of Member States.
The Council brings together the representatives of the 27 Member States, each fighting for
the interests of their respective Member State. This means that there are several interests
pitted against one another. In order to guarantee fairness, Council decisions are taken by
qualified majority voting. Qualified majority is reached when the majority of the 27 EU
Member States votes in favour of a proposal or if at least 255 of the 345 votes are in favour of
the proposal.
This system is to guarantee that the interests of the Member States are fairly represented. To
get an even fairer system, from 2014, the so called double majority voting will be used in the
Council. This means the following: A proposal can only pass in the Council if it has two
majorities:
  a majority of Member States (min. 15)
 a majority of the total EU population (at least 65% of the EU population)

5.4.1 Revision
The European Council and the Council of the EU.
Exercise 3
The two Councils may easily be confused. To avoid this to happen, fill in the table based on
the information you read about the European Council and the Council of the European Union.

The European Council The Council of the EU

Who participate in the work
of this institution?
What do they do?
How are decisions made?

By consensus
By qualified majority voting
The President of the European Commission
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
The President of the European Council
The heads of state or government of the Member States
The national ministers from Member States
They discuss key priorities for the EU
They pass EU laws jointly with the EP

EU terms
head of state or government állam- és kormányfő
High Representative for Foreign Affairs and külügyi és biztonságpolitikai főképviselő
Security Policy
qualified majority voting minősített többségi szavazás
rotating presidency system soros elnökség
summit meeting csúcstalálkozó
5.5 The European Parliament
Sections 5.5 and 5.6 are adapted from www.europa.eu

The European Parliament (EP) represents the interests of European citizens. Just like other
national parliaments, the Members of the European Parliament, called MEPs, are elected
directly by European citizens. EP elections are held every 5 years.
There are 736 MEPs from the 27 Member States. The number of MEPs a country can have is
between 6 and 96, in proportion to the country’s population.
The MEPs are not grouped according to nationality, but according to political affiliation. In
2012 there are seven political groups in the EP. The MEPs work in committees where they
discuss policies and proposals tabled by the European Commisson.
The EP’s plenary sessions are held in Strasbourg. The committees meet in Brussels, and
plenary sessions are also held in Brussels. The EP’s General Secretariat is located in
Luxembourg.
In the history of the EU the Parliament gained more and more powers. As a result, the EP has
several roles to fulfill. Together with the Council of the EU, the EP discusses and passes
European laws. The EP has to vote on other important questions, for example on the
enlargement of the EU. The EP, together with the Council of the EU, also votes on the EU’s
budget. The EP represents European citizens, who can turn to the EP’s Petitions Committee
directly.
The EP supervises other European institutions as well. The EP has to approve the new
Commission before the Commission can enter into office. While the Commission is in office,
the EP can start a motion of censure which results in the resignation of the Commission. The
EP monitors the work of the Commission: it examines Commission reports and questions
Commissioners.

5.6 The European Commission

The European Commission safeguards the interests of the EU as a whole. It proposes new
laws, in other words, the Commission has the ‘right of initiative’. Therefore, it is often
referred to as ‘the government of the EU’, although it is not. The Commission’s proposals are
discussed and adopted by the EP and the Council. The Commission determines the so called
multiannual financial framework, which includes long-term (multi-annual) spending
priorities. Within the financial framework, the Commission also prepares an annual budget,
which has to be approved by the EP and the Council. The Commission also makes sure that
Member States apply EU laws in a way they were intended to be interpreted. (Therefore, the
Commission is also called ‘the guardian of the Treaties’).
The European Commission is made up of 27 commissioners, who are designated by each EU
Member State (resulting in 1 commissioner / Member Sate). Before entering office, the
Commission has to be approved by the EP. Commissioners remain in office for five years.
The European Council nominates the President of the Commission. The President of the
Commission assigns a policy field for each Commissioner. Even if a commissioner is
designated by his/her Member State, he or she may not accept any instruction from ‘home’
since they represent EU interests and not that of the Member States.
The work of the Commission and the Commissioners is assisted by the Directorates-General
(similarly to national governments that are assisted by ministries).

Exercise 4: The European Parliament and the European Commission

Decide whether the following statements refer to the EP (EP) or the Commission (CM).

1. Its members are directly elected by European citizens.

2. Its members are appointed by the European Council.
3. Its work is carried out in committees and political groups.
4. Its work is assisted by the Directorates-General.
5. Its work is assisted by the General Secretariat.
6. It has the right of initiative
7. It is called the Guardian of the Treaties.
8. It passes European laws.
9. It approves the new Commission.
10. It votes on the EU’s budget along with the Council.

EU terms
Commissioner biztos
committee (parlamenti) szakbizottság
Directorate General (DG) főigazgatóság
guardian of the treaties a Szerződések őre
Member of the European Parliament európai parlamenti képviselő
motion of censure bizalmatlansági indítvány
plenary session plenáris ülés
political group frakció
right of initiative a kezdeményezés joga
5.7 The Court of Justice of the European Union
Sections 5.7 and 5.8 are adapted from www.europa.eu

The Court of Justice of the EU is located in Luxembourg and has 27 judges (1 judge /
Member State) and 8 Advocates-General. The judges and the Advocates- General are in office
for six years and are appointed by the governments of the Member States.
The Court of Justice has three main tasks. First, the Court of Justice interprets EU law, so that
it is applied in the same way in every Member State. Second, it settles legal disputes between
EU governments and EU institutions. Third, it deals with cases individuals, companies, or
institutions file against EU institutions.

5.8 The European Court of Auditors

The European Court of Auditors, located in Luxembourg, audits the use of EU funds. The
Court of Auditors prepares reports to the Commission and national governments on the
findings of the audits. It has no legal powers on its own. If the Court of Auditors discovers
misuse of EU funds, it informs OLAF, the European Anti-Fraud Office. In addition to audits,
the Court of Auditors prepares an annual report on the previous financial year to the EP and
the Council. This report is called the annual discharge. The Court of Auditors is also invited
to give its opinion on EU financial legislation.
The Court of Auditors has 27 members (1 auditor/Member State). The auditors are appointed
by the Council of the EU for six years.

Exercise 5: The Court of Justice and the Court of Auditors

Decide whether the following statements are true for the Court of Justice (CJ), the Court of
Auditors (CA) or both (BO).
1. Its members are appointed for six years.
2. It settles legal disputes between EU governments and EU institutions.
3. It prepares the annual discharge.
4. If it discovers irregularities, it cannot act on its own.
5. It supervises the implementation of EU laws.
6. It is located in Luxembourg.
7. It gives its opinion on future EU legislation.

Language Corner 4.
Plurals
Note how to form the plural of some of the compound nouns used in EU English.
For example:
head of state or government heads of state or government
Directorate-GeneralDirectorates-General
Advocate-GeneralAdvocates-General