Samenvatting Foundations of the European Union UHasselt

Samenvatting Foundations of the European Union
HC1 Overview of EU development and Institutional Framework
!! GROOTSTE DEEL STAAT LETTERLIJK IN CODEX !!
Interest of the citizens is not always the same as the interest of the member states
 Makes the EU special (because of « its citizens »)
 Organisation sui generis because it tries to connect with the citizens

EU institutions: Art. 13 TEU
Other EU bodies
 Advisory bodies (Art. 300-307 TFEU)
 Economic and Social Committee
 Committee of the Regions
 Executive Agencies (Commission’s long arm): commission can’t do it by themselves =>
executive agencies help run the EU (eg with research and such)
 Decentralised Agencies eg. Eurojust, Europol, ESA
 European Investment Bank
 …

European Commission (art. 17 TEU)
Brussels
 1 Commissioner per MS (=member state)
 Mandate 5 yrs
 President (Ursula von der leyen) decides: what are legislative priorities

Appointment of the commission
 Member state decides who they propose for the Commission
 Usually representative in accordance to the political affiliation in the national parliament

 Parliament have 1 right to vote the Commission as a body (all the commissioners together)
 No veto per member, only as a body (commission itself decides who has what portfolio)
But in practice Parliament won’t vote for the whole college if they don’t agree with a certain
member getting a certain portfolio

 Important: EP (European Parliament gets directly elected)

 Spitzenkandidaten: eg with Ursula von der Leyen => don’t need to campaign to be eligible for
election for president of commission

End of mandate of Commissioner
 Voluntary resignation/death: Art. 246 TFEU
 Commission President:
orequests resignation: Art. 17(6) TEU
oreshuffling of portfolios: Art. 248 TFEU
 Compulsory retirement: Art. 245/247 TFEU: Council or Commission: application to CJEU
 Deprivation of right to pension or other benefits: Art. 245 TFEU (C-432/04, Commission v.
Cresson)




Powers of the Commission

,  principal powers (Art. 17 TEU) :
omonopoly legislative initiative
oensuring the application of EU law => taking countries who don't listen to CJEU
oexecuting the EU budget
oexternal representation (exception: common foreign and security policy (CFSP) => both
get a chair)
ocoordinating, executive and management functions

Commission: Monopoly legislative initiative
 Some qualifications to monopoly:
oNon-legislative acts: Commisson proposes if expressly provided for in the Treaties
oEP and Council can request Commission to make a proposal (Art. 225 and 241 TFEU)
oCitizens’ initiative: 1 million citizens can invite the Commission to propose

Commission: guardian of the Treaties
 watchdog of observance of EU law
 Can institute legal procedures:
oagainst companies (administrative procedure – competition law)
oagainst Member States before the CJEU (action for failure to fulfil obligations)
 Commission also intervenes in preliminary references procedure
 If political: e.g. war, relations with non-member states => not for the commission (too
political) => is for EP

Key principles:
1. Independence
 Commissioners have to be independent of MS from which they come
 Independence has to be „beyond doubt“
 No instructions allowed from any Government or other institution, body, office or entity
 Shall refrain from any action incompatible with their duties
Member states watch over eachother (can go to court against eachother

2. ?

EXTRA:
1 person can have different mandates in the Commission

European Parliament (art. 14 TEU)
Strasbourg
President: Roberta Metsola
In general:
• only directly elected EU institution
• composition: shall not exceed 751 representatives of Union’s citizens (min 6, max 96 per MS)
• definition of representation:
– before: “representatives of peoples of MS”
– Now: “representatives of Union’s citizens”
• degressively proportional representation:
oProportionate: Bigger MS’s more MP’s: eg. germany more MP’s than Malta
oDegressively: From bigger MP’s represent a bigger pool of people: eg. 1 MP from Malta
represents less people than 1 MP from Germany

Election

, • Direct elections since 1979
• Art. 223(1) TFEU: uniform procedure (but nuances) or common principles
– current: common principles subject to national provisions
– proportional representation
– incompatibility between national and European mandate
• Active (electing) and passive (getting elected) electoral right (Art. 20(2) (b) TFEU)
oEU citizens (Art. 20(1) TFEU)
oIn MS of residence
oOther eligibility conditions (ex. age): national law

Voting in EP
1. By default: Art. 231: majority of the votes cast (simple maj.)
2. Unless otherwise provided:
• majority of component Members (absolute maj.)
• quarter of component Members
• 2/3 majority of votes cast and majority of component members (double majority)

Functions of European Parliament (art. 14 (1) TEU)
• Legislative function:
– adoption of legislative acts (with Council)
– legislative initiative (EP requests Com. to propose)
• Budgetary function:
– adoption of annual budget (with Council) (Art. 314 TFEU)
– control of budget implementation/discharge (Art 319 TFEU)
• Function of political control:
– elects Com President, approves Com, motion of censure of Com (Art. 17 TEU),
questions to Com (Art. 230 TFEU)
– Committee of Inquiry (Art. 226 TFEU)
– elects European Ombudsman (Art. 228 (1) TFEU)
• Consultation/consent function:
– Special legislative procedures
– International agreements (Art. 218 TFEU)
– Treaty amendment (Art. 48 TFEU)
– Accession/Withdrawal (Art. 49-50 TFEU)

Role of national parliaments
• Art. 12 TEU
– are kept informed: draft legislative acts, accession applications etc. (Prot. 1)
– participate in inter-parliamentary cooperation (Prot. 1) : National parliaments can
signal they don’t agree with something the EP is trying to do
– are the guardians of subsidiarity (Prot. 2)
– participate in Treaty revisions

(EU) citizens (direct means)
• (General) Right to participate in the democratic life of the EU
– Open and transparent governance
– Access to documents
– Participation in public consultations
• Right to form a European citizens’ initiative (11(4) TEU)
• Right to address a petition to the EP (227 TFEU)
• Right to address a complaint to the European Ombudsman (228 TFEU)

, Council of the European Union (art. 16 TEU)
Brussels
=/European Council (heads of state or government) =/ Council of Europe (Raad v Europa)
• Composition:
– representatives of MS at ministerial level 16-6 TEU
– 27 members (27 Member States)
• Not necessarily federal minister
• Different Council configurations  no hierarchy among them
• “Council presidency”: rotation between MS (6 months)

Practical functioning: Comité des représentants permanents (COREPER)
• Functions:
– prepares the work of the Council
– takes procedural decisions
Principal functions
• legislative functions (16(1) TEU)
– main legislator (mostly decides by QMV: 16(3) TEU)
– can request Commision to undertake studies  proposals (241 TFEU)
– can delegate powers to Commisson (290 TFEU)
• budgetary functions (16(1) TEU)
• coordinating functions: eg. Inter-institutional agreements
• policy-making functions: in particular foreign policy

Voting system
• simple majority (15 MS in favour)  procedural issues
• qualified majority (16(4) TEU, 238 TFEU, Protocol (No 36) on transitional provisions):
– at least 55% of MS
– comprising at least 15 MS
– MS represent at least 65% of the population of the Union
 Blocking minority: at least 4 MS (otherwise QM deemed attained)
In other cases (no proposal from Commission or High Rep): at least 72% of MS representing
at least 65% of the population (Art.238(2) TFEU)
• unanimous vote (all MS in favour): sensitive issues e.g. EU membership

European Council (art. 15 TEU)
In general
• Composition
– heads of state or government of MS
– European Council President
– Commission President
• Meets in Brussels twice every 6 months (extraordinary meetings are possible)
• Principal functions:
– general political directions and priorities
– NO legislative function ( Council of the EU, who is main legislator)

Decision-making
• Consensus (15(4) TEU) unless otherwise prescribed:
– simple majority: adoption of rules of procedure (235(3) TFEU)
– qualified majority: election of President of European Council (15(5) TEU)
– unanimity: determination of existence of serious and persistent breach (7(2) TEU)
• If vote: President and Comm.President do not vote