A guide to EU

The European Coal and Steel Community was formed by the Treaty of Paris in 1952, emerging from the economic ruins of Europe after the Second World War. The Treaty of Rome then established the European Community (EC) in 1958, built on the belief that there should never be a major war in Europe again. The overriding aims of this new community were to promote economic progress and co-operation in Europe and to guarantee a peaceful continent for years to come.

The United Kingdom joined the Community in 1973 under the premiership of Edward Heath. A referendum, the first of its kind in the UK, was held in 1975, and confirmed the UK’s membership by a significant majority.

Community policy now covers a large number of areas. It covers market regulation, social policy, the environment, regional policy and many other areas. Since 1992 the EC has been known as the European Union (EU) and, through its Common Foreign and Security Policy, it has now started to move into defence, a controversial area as the furore over the proposed Rapid Reaction Force shows.

The institutions of the European Union

The Council of Ministers

Also known as the Council of the European Union, the Council of Ministers consists of ministers from each of the fifteen member states. The ministers sitting in the Council change according to the subject being discussed, varying from the Culture Council to the powerful General Affairs Council, the combination of foreign affairs ministers, which is considered to be the pinnacle of the Council.

When voting on legislative proposals, the Council uses one of two systems - unanimity (all states need to vote in favour) or Qualified Majority Voting (QMV). Under the present system of QMV, a proposal needs to attain 62 out of 87 votes to be passed. The number of votes allocated to each member state is as follows:

Each member state holds the Presidency for six months, handing over to the next state at the end of this period. Links to the past and present Presidencies can be found at http://ue.eu.int/en/presid.htm.

The European Commission

The European Commission comprises two major elements:
the College of Commissioners, where the 20 commissioners sit in a cabinet formation and a bureaucracy of directorates-general which drafts legislation and undertakes other administrative and regulatory functions. The large member states appoint two commissioners and the small appoint one. After enlargement it is proposed that all member states will appoint one commissioner each. Commissioners are not appointed to represent their country, but to act for the greater European good during their term of office.

The Commission is also “the guardian of the treaties”, keeping track of member states’ record on implementation of EC legislation

The European Parliament

The European Parliament is the elected arm of the European Union. It has a number of powers which have been gradually increased in successive treaties. The EP’s legislative role is now substantial, and it has joint powers with the Council in a number of areas. It can also censure the Commission, must approve the Commission President, and in extreme circumstances, can force the resignation of the whole College of Commissioners.

There are 626 members of the European Parliament (MEPs), divided between member states in rough proportion to population. Elections are held to the Parliament every five years (the last elections were in June 1999).

The European Council

The European Council (not to be confused with the Council of Ministers) is the treaty-making arena of the EU, where the "big" institution-changing decisions are made. Its members are the President of the Commission and the heads of state and foreign secretaries, and it is chaired by the President of the EU. The European Council usually meets twice a year to mark the end of a country's Presidency.

The European Court of Justice

The ECJ applies European legislation and enforces it, prosecuting member states if necessary. There are fifteen judges in the Court, one from each member state, and nine advocates-general. The Court has three main powers: it can hear actions brought against member states, whether it be by citizens, governments or the Commission; it can review EU legislation, and it can give preliminary rulings on references made by national courts.

European Court of Auditors

The Court of Auditors examines the accounts of all revenue and expenditure of the Community, and feeds these into the other institutions accordingly.

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