EU InstitutionsEuropean Commission

Three key players

The European Parliament- voice of the peopleMartin Schulz, President of of the European Parliament

The European Council and the Council- voice of the Member StatesHerman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council

The European Commission- promoting the common interestJosé Manuel Barroso, Presidentof the European Commission

European Parliament

The EU institutions

Court of Justice

Court of Auditors

Economic and Social Committee Committee of the Regions

Council of Ministers(The Council) European Commission

European Investment Bank European Central BankAgencies

European Council (summit)

How EU laws are made

Citizens, interest groups, experts: discuss, consult

Commission: makes formal proposal

Parliament and Council of Ministers: decide jointly

Commission and Court of Justice: monitor implementation

National or local authorities: implement

How big are the EU countries?

Surface area in 1 000 km²

Fran

ce

Spai

n

Swed

en

Ger

man

y

Pola

nd

Finl

and

Italy

Uni

ted

King

dom

Rom

ania

Gre

ece

Bulg

aria

Hung

ary

Port

ugal

Aust

ria

Czec

h R

epub

lic

Irela

nd

Lith

uani

a

Latv

ia

Slov

akia

Esto

nia

Den

mar

k

Neth

erla

nds

Belg

ium

Slov

enia

Cyp

rus

Luxe

mbu

rg

Mal

ta

544

506

410

357

313

305

295

244

230

131

111

93 92 83 77 68 63 62 49

43

43 34 30

20 9 3 0.3

Cro

atia

56

The European Commission – promoting the common interest

28 independent members, one from each EU country

4 Proposes new legislation4 Executive organ 4 Guardian of the treaties4 Represents the EU on the international stage

The European CommissionPromoting the Common

InterestsRole: Executive arm of the EU that proposes laws, polices agreements

and promotes the UnionMembers: : A college of Commissioners, one from each Member State

Location: Brussels, Belgium

Role•The Commission is the politically independent institution that represents and upholds the interests of the EU as a whole.

•In many areas is the driving force and the sole authority that proposes legislation, implements programs of action (policies) and carries forward decisions of the European Parliament and Council

•It represents the Union to the outside world, sans CFSP

What is the Commission?• Government of sorts of the EU: 28 commissioners• It has one President• Several Vice-Presidents• The High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy• Staff

Appointing the Commission• A new Commission is appointed every five years, within six months of

the elections to the European Parliament. The procedure is as follows:• The Member State governments propose a new Commission President,

who must be elected by the European Parliament.• The proposed Commission President, in discussion with the Member

State governments, chooses the other members of the Commission.• The new Parliament then interviews all proposed members and gives

its opinion on the entire ‘College’. If approved, the new Commission can officially start work the following January.

What the Commission Does• Proposing New Legislation

• Under the EU Treaty, the Commission has the ‘right of initiative’. In other words, the Commission alone is responsible for drawing up proposals for new European legislation, which it presents to Parliament and the Council. These proposals must aim to defend the interests of the Union and its citizens, not those of specific countries or industries

• Implementing EU Policies and the Budget• As the European Union’s executive body, the Commission is responsible

for managing and implementing the EU budget and the policies and programmes adopted by Parliament and the Council. Most of the actual work and spending is done by national and local authorities but the Commission is responsible for supervising it.

• The Commission handles the budget under the watchful eye of the Court of Auditors. Both institutions aim to ensure good financial management. Only if it is satisfied with the Court of Auditors’ annual report does the European Parliament grant the Commission discharge for implementing the budget

• Enforcing European Law• The Commission acts as ‘guardian of the treaties’. This means that,

together with the Court of Justice, it is responsible for making sure EU law is properly applied in all the Member States. If it finds that any EU country is not applying a Union law, and therefore not meeting its legal obligations, the Commission takes steps to put the situation right

• Enforcement Procedure• First, it launches a legal process called the ‘infringement procedure’.

This involves sending the government an official letter explaining why the Commission considers this country is infringing EU law, and setting it a deadline for sending the Commission a detailed reply. If this procedure fails to correct matters, the

• Commission then refers the issue to the Court of • Justice, which has the power to impose penalties. The Court’s

judgments are binding on the Member States and the EU institutions.

• Representing the Union on the International Stage• The High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy is a Vice-

President of the Commission and has responsibility for external affairs. In matters concerning foreign affairs and security, the High Representative works with the Council. However, in other areas of external action the Commission plays the leading role — in particular in the areas of trade policy and humanitarian aid. In these areas, the European Commission acts as an important spokesperson for the European Union on the international stage. It enables the 27 Member States to speak with one voice in international forums such as the World Trade Organisation.

• Staff• The Commission’s staff is organised into departments, known as

directorates-general (DGs) and services (such as the Legal Service). Each DG is responsible for a particular policy area — for example, the Trade DG and the Competition DG — and is headed by a Director-General who is answerable to one of the Commissioners.

• EUROSTAT• Eurostat is the Statistical Office of the European Union and part of the Commission. • Its task is to provide the EU with statistics at European level that enable

comparisons to be made between countries and regions. This is a key task. Democratic societies do not function properly without a solid basis of reliable and objective statistics.

• Eurostat statistics can answer many questions: is unemployment up or down? Are there more CO2 emissions compared to 10 years ago? How many women go to work? How is your country’s economy performing compared to that of other EU Member States?

• epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu

How the Commission Work• It is up to the Commission President to decide which Commissioner

will be responsible for which policy area, and to reshuffle these responsibilities (if necessary) during the Commission’s term of office.

• The President is also entitled to demand a Commissioner’s resignation. The team of 28 Commissioners (also known as ‘the College’) meets once a week, usually on Wednesdays in Brussels.

• Each item on the agenda is presented by the Commissioner responsible for that policy area, and the College takes a collective decision on it.

How the Commission Work• It is the DGs that actually devise and draft the Commission’s legislative

proposals, but these proposals only become official when ‘adopted’ by the College at its weekly meeting. The procedure is roughly as follows.

• The proposed legislation will then be discussed with all relevant Commission departments and amended if necessary. It will then be checked by the Legal Service

• Once the proposal is complete, the Secretary-General will put it on the agenda for a forthcoming Commission meeting.

PRESIDENTS OF THE COMMISSION

Period ofoffice President Country of

origin Party

1958-67 Walter Hallstein West Germany Christian Democrat1967-70 Jean Rey Belgium Liberal1970-72 Franco Maria Malfatti Italy Christian Democrat1972-73 Sicco Mansholt Netherlands Socialist1973-77 François-Xavier Ortoli France UDR (Gaullist)1977-81 Roy Jenkins United Kingdom Labour1981-85 Gaston Thorn Luxembourg Liberal1985-95 Jacques Delors France Socialist1995- March 1999 Jacques Santer Luxembourg Christian Democrat

March 1999 -September 1999 Manuel Marín (Interim) Spain Socialist (PSOE)

September 1999 -18 November 2004

Romano Prodi Italy Olive Tree coalition (center-left alliance)

November 2004 - present

José Manuel Durão Barroso

Portugal Social Democrat (PSD)

Civil servants working for the EU

4 Permanent civil servants

4 Selected by open competitions

4 Come from all EU countries

4 Salaries decided by law

4 EU administration costs €15 per EU citizen per year

Commission employs about 23 000 permanent civil servants and 11 000 temporary or contract workers

Other EU institutions: about 10 000 employed

2013 EU budget: €150.9 billion = 1.13% of gross national income

Citizens, freedom,security and justice

1%

Other, administration6%

Sustainable growth:jobs, competitiveness, regional development

47%

The EU as a global player:including development aid

6%

Natural resources:agriculture,

environment40%

How does the EU spend its money?

Europe 2020 – Europe's growth strategy

EU leaders agreed in 2010 the overall strategy to get out of the economic crisis by means of:

4 Smart growthBetter education, more research, greater use of communication technologies

4 Sustainable growthA resource - efficient, greener and more competitive economy

4 I nclusive growthMore and better jobs, investment in skills and training, modernisation of the labour market and welfare systems, spreading the benefits of growth to all parts of the EU

4 Good economic governanceBetter coordination of economic policy

The five targets for the EU in 2020

Agreed in the Europe 2020 strategy:

4 Employment 75% of 20-64 year-olds to be employed

4 Research and innovation3% of the EU's GDP to be invested in research

4 Climate change/ energyGreenhouse gas emissions 20% lower than 199020% of energy from renewables20% increase in energy efficiency

4 EducationSchool drop-out rates below 10% 40% of 30-34– year-olds completing third-level education

4 Poverty 20 million fewer people in, or at risk of, poverty and social exclusion

Climate change – a global challenge

To stop global warming, EU leaders decided in 2007 to:

4 reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020 (30% if other developed countries do likewise)

4 improve energy efficiency by 20% by 2020

4 raise the share of renewable energy to 20% by 2020 (wind, solar, hydro power, biomass)

Europe's response to the economic crisis

2008: Worldwide financial crisis starts in the United States

Coordinated response from the EU's national governments, the European Central Bank and the European Commission:

4 Commitment to the euro and to financial stability

4 New crisis management tools and reforms of rules:European Stability Mechanism: fund to help extraordinary economic difficultiesEU-wide financial supervisory authorities, new laws for stability of banks

4 Better economic governance:European Semester: annual procedure to coordinate public budgetsEuro+ pact, "Fiscal compact treaty” : mutual commitments to sound public finances