CIPP/E - European Union Institutions - Chapter 2 Already Passed

CIPP/E - European Union Institutions - Chapter 2 Already Passed What year was the Treaty of Lisbon? 2007 What EU Institutions did the Treaty of Lisbon structure? The European Parliament The European Council The Council of the European Union The European Commission The Court of Justice of the European Union The European Central Bank and The Court of Auditors What effect did the Treaty of Lisbon have on the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the European Union? The Treaty of Lisbon promoted the CFREU to a legally binding instrument with the same legal status as existing treaties How does the Lisbon Treaty define the European Parliament? The European Parliament shall, jointly with the Council, exercise legislative and budgetary functions. It shall exercise functions of political control and consultation as laid down in the Treaties. It shall elect the President of the Commission. Does the Parliament have absolute control of the legislative process? No, the Parliament cannot propose new legislation of its own accord, but it may take the initiative and call on the the European Commission to submit a legislative proposal to the Council of European Union. What are the three procedures that apply to the legislative process? The Ordinary procedure The Consultation procedure The Consent procedure What is the Ordinary procedure? The Ordinary procedure means that BOTH the Parliament and the Council MUST assent to the legislation. The Legislation cannot be adopted if it is opposed by the either institution. What is the Consultation procedure? The Council MUST consult the Parliament; however the Council is not bound by the Parliament's opinion, as under this procedure the Council alone has legislative power. What is the Consent procedure? For particularly important decisions, the Parliament's consent is required. What is the maximum number of Members of European Parliament (MEPs) allowed per member state? 96 What is the maximum number of MEPs allowed in the European Parliament? 751 including the President When are the elections for MEPs? Every five (5) years Who can be an MEP? Any adult EU citizen How is the Parliament's work divided? It is divided into two (2) stages: (1) Preparation for Plenary Session (2) Plenary Session What does the Preparation for the Plenary Session involve? The preparation for the Plenary Session is carried out by MEPs in various committees that specialize in particular areas of EU activity. Where the Commission has proposed a 'legislative text', an MEP will be appointed rapporteur, with the responsibility of preparing a report on the proposed text. The report is then debated and amended within the committee before being scrutinized by the political groups and submitted to Parliament in the plenary session. What happens in the Plenary Session? In the plenary session, political groups may propose any amendments before voting on the proposed legislation and the report prepared by the relevant committee. When the text has been revised and adopted in plenary, the Parliament adopts its position. What did the Treaty of Lisbon do to the default voting procedure requirement of Parliament? It changed the voting procedure from an absolute majority to a simple majority. How does the Lisbon Treaty define the European Council? The European Council shall provide the Union with the necessary impetus for its development and shall define the general political directions and priorities thereof. It shall not legislative functions When did the European Council become a formal body? 1992 by the Treaty of Maastricht. What is the composition of the European Council? The European Council comprises the heads of each of the 28 member states and the President of the Commission. How often does the European Council meet? The Council meets four (4) times per year. How long is the Presidential Term of the European Council? The President's term is two and a half years, renewable once. How does the Lisbon Treaty define the Council of the European Union? The Council shall, jointly with the European Parliament, exercise legislation and budgetary functions. It shall carry out policy-making and coordinating functions as laid down in the Treaties. The Council of the European Union is comprised of? One Minister from each of the 28 member states What is the Council of the European Union's role The Council is the main decision-making body of the EU, having a central role in both political and legislative decisions. How many configurations (based on agenda) are there for the Council? There are 10 different Council configurations: General Affairs Foreign Affairs Economic and Financial Affairs Justice and Home Affairs Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Competitiveness Transport Telecommunications and Energy Agriculture and Fisheries Environment Education, Youth, Culture and Sport What is the Council responsible for regarding International Agreements? The Council is responsible for concluding international agreements that have been negotiated by the Commission. Does the Council have the power to amend proposals? Yes the Council has the power to amend the proposal before it is adopted. Who presides over the Council? The Council is presided over by a President. The presidency is held by the member states on the basis of equal rotation. How are treaties decided? The treaties set the number of votes each member state can cast. The treaties also define cases in which a simple majority, qualified majority or unanimity are required. What does a majority require? A qualified majority requires that 65 percent of the EU's population is represented. However for proposals from the Commission or the High Representative of Foreign Affairs and Security Policy require fewer member state support than other proposals (16 vs 21 out of 28) When was the single European Commission created? 1965 by the Merger Treaty What did the 1965 Merger Treaty do? The Merger Treaty combined the executive bodies of the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community into one body called the European Commission or 'Commission'. Does "the executive body of the EU" completely describe the Commission? No, Article 9D of the EU Treaty lists the the following functions of the Commission: 1) shall promote the general interest of the Union and take appropriate initiatives to that end 2) shall ensure the application of the Treaties and of measures adopted by the institutions pursuant to them 3) shall oversee the application if Union law under the control of the CJEU 4) shall execute the budget and maintain programmes 5) shall exercise coordinating, executive and management functions, as laid down in the Treaties 6) shall ensure the Union's external representation, with the exception of common foreign and security policy, and other cases provided for in the Treaties 7) shall initiate the Union's annual and multinational programming with a view to achieving inter-institutional agreements. What vitally important responsibility for the Commission have? The Commission has the power to initiate legislation. This is vitally important as 'Union legislative acts may only be adopted on the basis of a Commission proposal' apart from a few circumstances where the Parliament and Council can propose legislation together. What grants the Commission the power to take legal and administrative action, including the power to impose a fine against a member state that fails to comply with the law? Articles 226 and 228 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) Apart from the executive body with strong influence on the EU's legislative function what other functions are provided to the Commission by the Treaty of the Functioning of the EU(TFEU)? The TFEU (Articles 226, 228, 230 and 232) give the Commission power to act as guardian of the treaties, monitoring compliance of the other institutions , member states and natural and legal persons. How is the Commission composed? The Commission is comprised of 28 Commissioners, one from each state. How are Commissioners selected? Commissioners are selected 'on the grounds of their general competence and the European commitment of persons whose independence is beyond doubt'. Although each member state nominates its own commissioner, they are NOT appointed without Parliament's approval. Are Commissioners obligated to the member state that nominates them? No, Commissioners are supposed to be independent and owe no allegiance to the country that nominates them; conversely member states are expected to not influence the commissioner's decisions or duties. Why is Parliament's approval of Commissioners important? This approval allows Parliament to exercise oversight of the Commission and its activities, this power introduces an element of democratic accountability, albeit indirectly which is extremely important. How does the Commission ensure a high level of protection for the individual's rights of privacy and data protection? The Commission ensures this protection through its power to enforce compliance. What is the ability of the Commission to regard non-EU member states as providing an adequate level of data protection according to EU standards called? The power to adopt 'adequacy findings' What did the Treaty of Lisbon do to the Court of Justice of the European Communities (CJEC)? The Treaty of Lisbon renamed the CJEC to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and extended its jurisdiction. What is the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)? The CJEU is the judicial body of the EU that makes decisions on issues of EU law and enforces European decisions either in respect to the actions taken by the Commission against a member state or action taken by individuals to enforce their rights under EU law. Is the CJEU the same as the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)? No, while often confused the ECHR is NOT linked to the EU Institutions and oversees human rights across Europe, including in the many non-EU signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights. How is the CJEU divided? The CJEU is divided into two parts: 1) The Court of Justice (ECJ) 2) The General Court (renamed the Court of First Instance, or CFI) How is the ECJ composed? The ECJ is composed of 28 Judges, each appointed by common accord of the governments of the member states for a term of six years. Who leads the ECJ? The ECJ is led by a President, elected from their number, by the judges, for a three year term. How many advocates general does the ECJ have? The ECJ has eight (8) advocates general What is the role of the ECJ's advocates general/ The role of the ECJ's advocates general is to assist the ECJ by giving reasoned, nonbinding opinions as to how the ECJ should decide the case. What is the ECJ's jurisdiction? The ECJ has jurisdiction to hear: 1) Cases brought by the Commission or by a member state against a member state's failure to fulfill treaty obligations 2) Actions brought by member states, an EU institution or a natural or legal person to review the legality of acts by an EU institution 3) Actions by member states, EU institutions or a natural or legal person against an EU institution for failure to act 4) Actions begun in natural courts from which references are made for a preliminary ruling to the ECJ on issues of interpretation or validity of EU law 5) Opinions on the compatibility of EU international agreements with the treaties 6) Appeals on points of law from the CFI. What was the ECJ's decision in the Google Spain case on the right to be forgotten? In the Google Spain case, the ECJ held that, where individuals object and certain circumstances are met, search engines must remove the list of results displayed following a search made on a person's name, links to web pages published by third parties, and results that contain information relating to that person. This case also dealt with applicability of EU data protection law in respect of controllers that have an establishment in the EU. What did the ECJ determine in the Digital Rights Ireland Case? The ECJ determined that the Data Retention Directive was invalid in light of Articles 7, 8, and 11 of the Charter. This determination also laid out arguments that were relied upon to invalidate the Commission's decision regarding Safe Harbour when examining specific aspects of Data Retention. What as the case that ECJ ruled that personal data may not be transferred between public administrative bodies of a member state without the individuals being informed of the transfer? This ruling was determined in the ANAF case. What did the ECJ do in Weltimmo Case? In the Weltimmo case the ECJ intervened to clarify how data protection law applies in cross border situations within the EU, specifically that even minimal activities in a member state can trigger the application of that member state's data protection law. What was the ruling of the ECJ in the Schrems ruling of October 2015? In the Schrems Ruling the ECJ invalidated the Commisson's decision that Safe Harbour was adequate as a framework to legitimise international data transfers to the United States. How did the ECJ rule in the joined cases of Tele2 Sverige and Tom Watson of December 2016 In these cases the ECJ rules that the general and indiscriminate retention of data, even under national legislation for the purposes of fighting crime, was incompatible with he ePrivacy Directive 2002/58/EC when read in the light of the Charter, particularly Articles 7,8,11 and 52. Is the European Court of Human Rights an EU institution? No, the European Court of Human Rights is NOT an EU institution, but part of the Council of Europe apparatus, a broader church of 47 member states. The Council of Europe should not be confused with the European Council or the Council of the European Union. What is the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)? The ECHR is the international court founded in 1959 to oversee the European Convention of Human Rights ("The Convention"), which protects the fundamental rights of people living in contracting states. Does the ECHR have powers of enforcement? No, the ECHR has no power of enforcement, therefore has no powers to overrule national decisions or to annul national law, therefore the responsibility to supervise execution and ensure compensation is paid passes to the Council of Europe after the ECHR has given judgement. What is the ECHR's role? The role of the ECHR is to apply the European Convention of Human Rights ('The Convention') and to ensure that the rights and guarantees set out in the Convention and its protocols are respected. What rights does the European Convention on Human Rights ('The Convention') and its protocols protect? The Convention protects: 1) the right to life 2) the right to a fair hearing in civil and criminal matters 3) the right to respect for private and family life 4) freedom of expression 5) freedom of thought, conscience and religion 6) the right to effective remedy 7) the right to peaceful enjoyment of possessions 8) the right to vote and stand for elections