Essay On The European Union

The structure and formation of the EU executive has proved to be a major debate over the years. The major question which continues to arise is: Should the EU have a dual executive where policy making is divided amongst the Commission and the Council? Or should the EU have a single institution where either the Commission or the Council has a more dominant and superior leadership role? Simon Hix defines this dual executive model as ‘a separation of powers’ (Hix and Hoyland 2011). In order to understand whether this separation is good or bad we must outline the power each institution has and inevitably their role in the formation of policy-making in the European Executive. Over the course of this essay I shall discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a dual executive model on an EU level.

The council of ministers- This is the European Union’s main decision making body, it is composed of ministers from the National governments of each of the member states, and meets in Brussels or Luxembourg to agree legislation and policy.

There is no single body that can be described as the Union’s legislature. Both the Council and the Parliament play significant roles in the process. The European Parliament is frequently accused of democratic deficit. In particular, there are two separate issues to consider: one relates to its composition and another is connected to the engagement of citizens in Parliament. First of all, the European Parliament initially consisted of delegates designated by the Parliaments of Member States, but since 1979, it has been directly elected by the people according to the national electoral system of each Member State. Undoubtedly, that reform helped to overcome the democratic deficit to some extent. Nevertheless, the European Parliament is often criticized of failing to generate much commitment and

As regards to international treaties, it has the main role to decide on whether to give the Commission a mandate to negotiate, the content decision to mandate, overseeing the negotiations in a special committee, and then decide on the content to sign and conclude the agreement. However, it cannot be forgotten that the EP’s power to consent on most treaties and the Commission’s power of negotiation. The Council also has power to stop such treaties and to define the EU’s position instead of implementing them. It is clear that the Council represents the interests of the governments of the Member State on resolving issues of conflict and it plays an important role in the development of

The European Parliament consisting out of 785 members represents the people of the EU and is directly elected every 5 years, it is with the Council which is acting as the representative of the Governments of EU members the main Law-making institution (Adams, 2010). It passes jointly with the Council new EU Law, this process is called ordinary legislative procedure. Other tasks of the Parliament is scrutinising other EU institutions like the Commission to ensure their democratic operating. Further Tasks include the annual budgeting of the EU carried out by a committee which also works in collaboration with Council (Europa.eu, 2014).

Although the European Council is formed of heads of state which are elected it also contains unelected foreign ministers and commissioners (Heywood 2001), as the councils purpose is discussion of overall strategy for the EU it is essential the council act as ‘responsible and responsive politicians’ (Hogwood, 1997). This role is based on the presumption that heads of state of EU member states have a shared agenda and act on what the constitution describes as ‘cooperation and consensus’ (euabc, 2004). As the ‘decision-making’ (Heywood 2001) branch of the EU The Council of Ministers are responsible for initiating the process of turning the guidance of the EC into specific proposed policies and laws,

Because of the uncertainty created by the “Brexit” referendum, which, in the Parliament’s view, could potentially be harmful to the EU’s interests, the Parliament urged the British Prime Minister to issue a formal notification to the Council of the EU in order to initiate withdrawal negotiations. The Parliament added that if the UK wanted to negotiate a different type of relationship with the EU, the discussions must take place after the withdrawal agreement is signed. In an effort to avoid disruption of the everyday operations of the EU, the Parliament urged the Council to cancel the scheduled UK presidency, which was to begin in the second half of 2017. On June 29, the 27 heads of state and governments that compose the European Council, except for the UK representative and the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, held an informal meeting in Brussels to discuss the political consequences of the UK referendum. They issued a joint statement expressing their deep regret over the results of the referendum, but added that they respect the will of the majority of the British people. They also emphasized that “until the UK leaves the EU, EU law continues to apply to and within the UK, both when it comes to rights and

The Council of the European Union (EU) and the European council are both institutions of the EU. They have varying roles that are sometimes shared to fulfil duties within the EU that crucial to its functioning properly. The European Council defines the direction and the priorities of the EU, it is formed from heads of state and/or the government of a member state combined with its President and the President of the Commission. The Council of the EU represents the member states’ governments and it is also where the national ministers of each EU country meet up to adopt laws and coordinate policies. To explain properly, it must be clear of the main features that exist in the roles that these two institutions provide, these are supranational and intergovernmental features. The two Councils are supranational, this means they are legal systems that sit above (supra) national level, and therefore is of higher status the law made at national level. They are also intergovernmental meaning their roles are related or conducted between two or more governments , in this case the governments of the member states.

In the course of fifty years, the European Union has expanded from six countries united under economic treaties to a large collective of twenty-five sovereign nations. Maintaining the union within such a large group has grown more difficult as numerous treaties have been drafted to control the governance of the European Union. To reduce the number of treaties in the union, the convention decided to draft a Constitution, which now moves through the process of ratification in each of the sovereign nations. The Constitution works to set up a basis for the expansion of the Union and the requirements that need to be met when a country seeks entry into the Union. But with the greater controls the EU seeks to place on the

There are two bodies responsible for the legislative tasks in the EU. First one is The Council of the European Union (officially the Council and commonly referred to as the Council of Ministers) is the principal decision-making institution of the European Union. The Council is composed of twenty-seven national ministers. The primary purpose of the Council is to act as one of the two chambers of the EU 's legislative branch. The Council is the main law-making body of the EU (on the initiative of the Commission and in co-decision with the European Parliament). The Council is based in Brussels, but meets at fixed intervals in Luxembourg. Second body responsible for legislative task is European Parliament. The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union. Its essential function is to express the will of the Union’s citizen in the Community decision-making process hand-in-hand with the Council, representing the interests of the Member States. Together with the Council of the European Union, it forms the bicameral

The European Union was created in 1958 providing interregional trade barriers, a common external tariff against other countries, a Common Agricultural Policy and guarantees of free movement of labor and capital. The EU is formerly called the European Community, and became known as the EU in January of 1994. The EU currently consist of 15 countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, UK) that all have adopted the same currency known as the Euro. The near future of the EU shows expansion by adding countries from Southern and Eastern European Countries.

With tensions rising within the borders of Europe after an influx of refugees from war-torn Syria, Greece being allowed to borrow more money from the EU and referendums making their way to European governments, this question may pop up in people 's heads: Do we have enough influence on the decisions the European Union makes?

     The external policy of the EU is generally considered to consist largely of trade negotiations on various bilateral and multilateral stages. There is much debate over the effectiveness of policy with respect to the developing world; in the context of this discussion I have used the term 'developing world' in its widest sense, although I will most commonly focus on the Mediterranean counties, ACP, and Latin America. It should also be made clear that for these purposes I will not be drawing too much on historical background, rather examining the issue over the last fifteen to twenty years, and how the changes in political climate within Europe may be affecting the developing world in the future.

The European Union is the unifying power of 28 member states, and consists of many branches of government that fall under intergovernmentalist or supranationalist functions. One branch that seems to go below the radar is the European Court of Justice, which in reality, has greatly affected the development of European Community law, and contributed greatly to European integration. As we have seen throughout history, the member states have been ebbing back and forth between integration and sovereignty, and the states hardly want to give up their national rights, but the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has proven to be vital to the process European integration. Different sets of case laws set up the precedents of direct effect, supremacy, and

All throughout history, it can be noted that women have been at a sever disadvantage when compared to their male counterparts. From simple tasks as who is considered the head of the household to even more challenging tasks like ensuring women are equally represented in government, women have always had to work harder to ensure they are being treated as equal. The same can be seen anywhere in the world, especially in Europe. While the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union states in Article 20, 21 and 23 that every person is equal and cannot be discriminated against, it would be extremely interesting to research how members of the European Union have taken into account said articles and used it in order to ensure that their legislation and way of government provides the ultimate gender equality within their boarders. I plan on examining how different members differ in their levels of equality for men and women and how their legislation is set up in order to make that happen. How has the European Union taken measures in ensuring women’s rights across the board for members of the Union and how effective has their legislature been in ensuring this equality?