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EU Institutions European Commission Three key players The European Parliament - voice of the people Martin Schulz, President of of the European Parliament The European Council and the Council - voice of the Member States Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council The European Commission - promoting the common interest José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission The EU institutions European Council (summit) European Parliament Court of Justice Court of Auditors European Investment Bank Council of Ministers (The Council) European Commission Economic and Social Committee Committee of the Regions Agencies European Central Bank How EU laws are made Citizens, interest groups, experts: discuss, consult Commission: makes formal proposal Parliament and Council of Ministers: decide jointly National or local authorities: implement Commission and Court of Justice: monitor implementation 131 230 Romania 34 30 20 9 Netherlands Belgium Slovenia Cyprus 0.3 43 Denmark Malta 43 Estonia 3 49 Slovakia Luxemburg 62 56 Latvia 63 Lithuania Croatia 68 83 Austria Ireland 92 Portugal 77 93 Hungary Czech Republic 111 Bulgaria Greece 244 United Kingdom Italy Finland Poland Germany Sweden Spain France 295 305 313 357 410 506 544 How big are the EU countries? Surface area in 1 000 km² The European Commission – promoting the common interest 28 independent members, one from each EU country 4Proposes new legislation 4Executive organ 4Guardian of the treaties 4Represents the EU on the international stage The European Commission Promoting the Common Interests Role: Executive arm of the EU that proposes laws, polices agreements and promotes the Union Members: : 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 DirectorGeneral 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 of office 1958-67 1967-70 1970-72 1972-73 1973-77 1977-81 1981-85 1985-95 1995- March 1999 March 1999 September 1999 September 1999 -18 November 2004 Walter Hallstein Jean Rey Franco Maria Malfatti Sicco Mansholt François-Xavier Ortoli Roy Jenkins Gaston Thorn Jacques Delors Country of origin West Germany Belgium Italy Netherlands France United Kingdom Luxembourg France Christian Democrat Liberal Christian Democrat Socialist UDR (Gaullist) Labour Liberal Socialist Jacques Santer Luxembourg Christian Democrat Manuel Marín (Interim) Spain Socialist (PSOE) Romano Prodi Italy Olive Tree coalition (center-left alliance) Portugal Social Democrat (PSD) President José Manuel Durão November 2004 Barroso - present Party Civil servants working for the EU Commission employs about 23 000 permanent civil servants and 11 000 temporary or contract workers Other EU institutions: about 10 000 employed 4 Permanent civil servant s 4 Select ed by open compet it ions 4 Come f rom all EU count ries 4 Salaries decided by law 4 EU administ rat ion cost s €15 per EU cit izen per year How does the EU spend its money? 2013 EU budget: €150.9 billion = 1.13% of gross national income Citizens, freedom, security and justice 1% The EU as a global player: including development aid 6% Natural resources: agriculture, environment 40% Other, administration 6% Sustainable growth: jobs, competitiveness, regional development 47% 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 growt h Better education, more research, greater use of communication technologies 4 Sust ainable growt h A resource - efficient, greener and more competitive economy 4 Inclusive growt h More 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 governance Better coordination of economic policy The five targets for the EU in 2020 A greed in the Europe 2020 strategy: 4 Employment 75% of 20-64 year-olds to be employed 4 Research and innovation 3% of the EU's GDP to be invested in research 4 Climate change/energy Greenhouse gas emissions 20% lower than 1990 20% of energy from renewables 20% increase in energy efficiency 4 Education School 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: reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020 (30% if other developed 4 countries do likewise) 4 improve energy efficiency by 20% by 2020 raise the share of renewable energy to 20% by 2020 (wind, solar, hydro power, biomass) 4 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 Commit ment t o t he euro and t o f inancial st abilit y 4 New crisis management t ools and ref orms of rules: European Stability Mechanism: fund to help extraordinary economic difficulties EU-wide financial supervisory authorities, new laws for stability of banks 4 Bet t er economic governance: European Semester: annual procedure to coordinate public budgets Euro+ pact, "Fiscal compact treaty” : mutual commitments to sound public finances