The European Commission is the EU’s “government” - it’s executive arm that enforces EU law, implements EU policies and budget and proposes new legislation. The Commission is organised in departments, known as “Directorates-General” (DG) and “services”. Each DG is responsible for a particular policy area (e.g. DG Competition, DG Trade, DG Enterprise and Industry).
The Council shares with Parliament the responsibility for passing laws (mainly Directives) and taking policy decisions. It consists of ministers from the national governments of all the EU countries. Each country has a number of votes in the Council broadly reflecting the size of their population, but weighted in favour of smaller countries. Most decisions are taken by majority vote, although sensitive issues in areas like taxation, asylum and immigration, or foreign and security policy, require unanimity.
The European Parliament is elected every five years by the people of Europe to represent their interests. The main job of Parliament is to pass European laws. It shares this responsibility with the Council of the European Union, and the proposals for new laws come from the European Commission. Parliament and Council also share joint responsibility for approving the EU’s €100 billion annual budget. Parliament has the power to dismiss the European Commission. The main meetings of the Parliament are held in Strassburg, others in Brussels.
European Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance
The job of the Court of Justice is to make sure that EU law is interpreted and applied in the same way in all EU countries, thereby ensuring that the law is equal for everyone. It ensures, for example, that national courts do not give different rulings on the same issue. The Court also makes sure that EU member states and institutions do what the law requires them to do.
The Court of First Instance is an independent Court attached to the European Court of Justice. Appeals are sent to the European Court of Justice. The Court of First Instance has jurisdiction to hear and determine at first instance all direct actions brought by individuals and the Member States, with the exception of those to be assigned to a ‘judicial panel’ and those reserved for the Court of Justice.
The Court of Auditors controls the legal, economical and purposeful spending of EU funds. The Court is based in Luxembourg and has the right to audit any organisation, body or company which handles EU funds.
(Source: European Union)
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