1. HOW THE EU WORKS

2. A community of law The Treaties  … establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), 1951 in Paris; into force 23 July 1952 and expired 23 July 2002.  … establishing the European Economic Community (EEC), 1957 in Rome; into force 1 January 1958. + The Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), which was signed in Rome along with the EEC Treaty.  …. on European Union (TEU), Maastricht, 1992; into force 1 November 1993. and  Single European Act (SEA), 1986; into force on 1 July 1987.  Treaty of Amsterdam, 1997; into force 1 May 1999.  Treaty of Nice, 2001, into force 1 February 2003.  Constitution, Rome, 2005…., signed but not ratified

3. The pillars of the EU’s house 2 nd pillar = Inter Gov 1 st pillar = EC3rd pillar – Inter Gov Customs Union CAP Structural policy Trade policy (Education & Culture) Consumer protection Public health Environment Research Social policy Asylum policy Immigration policy EMU etc. The European Union Cooperation between judicial authorities Police cooperation Fight v. drugs Arms trade Xenophobia Terrorism Human trafficking Foreign policy Peacekeeping Human rights Disarmament Financial aspects of defence Long-term security

4. Institutions European Investment Bank European Parliament Court of Auditors European Court of Justice European Commission Council of Ministers Economic and Social Committee Committee of the Regions European Central Bank (ECB) Directive Regulation

5. European Commission 1.propose legislation to Parliament and Council; 2.manage & implement EU policies and the budget; 3.enforce European law (jointly with the Court of Justice); 4.represent the European Union on the international stage, for example by negotiating agreements between the EU and other countries.

6. European Commission Cabinets Directorates General and Services 27 Members of the College

7. European Commission General Directorates and Services General Services : European Anti-Fraud Office Eurostat Press and Communication Publications Office Secretariat General Internal Services: Budget Financial Control Group of Policy Advisors Internal Audit Service Joint Interpreting and Conference Service Legal Service Personnel and Administration Translation Service Policies: Agriculture Competition Economic and Financial Affairs Education and Culture Employment and Social Affairs Energy and Transport Enterprise Environment Fisheries Health and Consumer Protection Information Society Internal Market Joint Research Centre Justice and Home Affairs Regional Policy Taxation and Customs Union External relations: Development Enlargement EuropeAid External relations ECHO Trade

8. The Council European Council Heads of State and Government Council of Ministers Representatives from Member State Governments. Council General secretary also High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy “Coreper” Representatives from Member States permanent EU representations Presidency of the Council rotates amongst Member States every 6 months

9. Votes in the Council of Ministers 29 - Germany, France, Italy, UK 27 - Spain, Poland 14 - Romania 13 - Netherlands 12 - Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Portugal 10 - Sweden, Austria, Bulgaria 7 - Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, Slovakia 4 – Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia Luxembourg 3 - Malta Total = 345

10. European Parliament 1.Passing European laws — jointly with the Council in many policy areas. The fact that the EP is directly elected by the citizens helps guarantee the democratic legitimacy of European law. 2.Parliament exercises democratic supervision over the other EU institutions, and in particular the Commission. It has the power to approve or reject the nomination of commissioners, and it has the right to censure the Commission as a whole. 3.The power of the purse. Parliament shares with the Council authority over the EU budget and can therefore influence EU spending. At the end of the procedure, it adopts or rejects the budget in its entirety.

11. European Parliament – 785 seats D99 UK, I, F78 each ES, PL54 each RO35 NL, BE, CZ, EL, HU, PT24 each SE19 AT, BG18 each DK, SK, FI14 IE, LT13 LV9 SL7 EE, CY, LU6 MT5 Political Groups Conservatives 277 Socialists 217 Liberals 106 Europe of Nations 44 Greens 42 United left39 Independence & Democracy23 Identity, Others34

12. Decision-making Commission proposes, parliament & Council pass laws. 3 ways, depending on the legal basis for the decision: 1. Co-decision : introduced by Maastricht Treaty. requires 2 readings by Parliament & Council, and conciliation if necessary. 2. Assent : introduced by the Single European Act. Council must obtain the parliament's assent before certain important decisions are taken. Parliament can accept or reject a proposal, but can not amend. 3. Consultation: opinion of the Parliament is sought and integrated in Commission's proposal. If the Council decides to reject the proposal it can then only be done by unanimity.

13. EU Agencies Cedefop: European Centre for Development of Vocational Training (Thessalonica) Eurofond: European Foundation for Improvements of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin) EEA: European Environmental Agency (Copenhagen) EFT: European Training Foundation (Turin) EMCDDA: European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (Lisbon) EMEA: European Agency for the Evaluation of Medical Products (London) OHIM: Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Alicante) EU-OSHA: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (Bilbao) CPVO: Community Plant Variety Office (Angers) CdT: Translation Centre (Luxembourg) EUMC: European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (Vienna) EAR: European Agency for Reconstruction (Thessalonica) EFSA: European Food Safety Authority (Brussels – temporarily) Cedefop Eurofound EEA ETF EMEA OHIM EU-OSHA CdT CPVO EUMC EAR EFSA

14. EU Budget Expenditures Total budget: €99 billion = 1,1% of GDP

15. Staff in European Institutions European Commission Council of Ministers European Parliament Court of Justice Court of Auditors Total 20 765 2 590 28 169 457 814 3 543

16. EU on the web http://europa.eu