1. Organization of the EU AP COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT

2. The Institutional Triangle  The Institutional Triangle revolves around the European Commission, the Council of Ministers, and the European Parliament  These were the institutions that initially created all policy for the European Union  As issues became more entangled the EU moved towards a government built on intergovernmental “pillars”  The pillars revolve around intergovernmental cooperation with the European Council  This is known as the community method

3. The European Commission  The Rome treaties gave the European Commission three major rights or privileges:  It alone can propose Community legislation in the form of regulations, directives, and recommendations  laws are binding for all members in the same terms. Laws that have been passed must be transposed into the language of national legal codes.  It supervises the implementation of Community policy to ensure that member states carry it out  It is the guardian of EU treaties, makes sure that EU law is observed and, if need be, bringing members states and private bodies before the ECJ to force compliance

4. The European Commission  The Commission can only initiate proposals where the EU treaties explicitly allow  With this concept, we see that the Commission functions similarly to a federal government  The Commission administers EU competition policies, policing state subsidies to industry, and manages monopoly market powers and mergers. It also administers the Common Agricultural Policy  The Commission proposes rules for and administers the European single market and helps plans the growth of poorer countries  The European single market is the title of the EU’s barrier-free economic space

5. The European Commission  Commissioners are appointed for five year terms by member state governments  Each country has a representative (27 in all)  There is a president who is nominated by the European Council and confirmed by the Parliament  There are several vice presidents who help oversee the actions of the Commission  The Commission’s most important job is to design policy proposals and get them passed by the Council of minsters and the European Parliament  It most cases it pushes the ideas of others and rarely works from scratch

6. The Council of Ministers  The Council of Ministers consists of foreign ministers, finance ministers, the president of France, and all the prime ministers of the member countries  The ministers meet regularly (generally based upon their type of job) and the heads of state meet every six months as the European Council  The president of the Council now has a 2.5 year term in office, and is renewable once  The Commission may initiate legislation, but it’s proposals don’t become law until the have been passed by the Council  Each country has a specific number of votes awarded based upon their population

7. European Parliament  The European Parliament holds plenary sessions in Strasbourg France and meets in groups and committees in Brussels  Their staff offices are in Luxembourg

8. European Parliament  The European Parliament is directly elected and the number of seats are allocated based upon the population of each state.  Elections to the EP are generally second-order events that do not hold the same significance as state level elections  The Parliament elects its president and executive bureau for two-and-one half year terms  The presidency usually alternates between socialist and Christian Democrat  The president presides over parliamentary sessions, participates in periodic inter-institutional discussions with its Commission and Council counterparts, and addresses member state leaders at European Council summits.

9. European court of justice  The ECJ has the power of judicial review  The ECJ has the power to interpret European law and it also has the power to limit national sovereignty  The ECJ is more powerful than most national judicial systems in the EU’s member states  The ECJ has 27 judges, one from each member state  Cases are decided by a simple majority