Essay about Which EU institution is the most powerful?

The European Union (EU) is a unique economic and political partnership between 28 different countries. It consists of about half a billion citizens, and its combined economy represents about 20 percent of the world’s total economy (Briney, 2015). Today The European Union works as a single market, with free movement of people, goods and services from one country to another. There is a standard system of laws to be followed, and since 1999 many countries share a single currency called the Euro (Europa.eu, 2015). This essay will explore the background history of the European Union and the benefits and drawbacks of the European Union.

Where does the power in the EU lie? Is it in the member States or the government? Or does the power lie in certain components of the EU such as, the Commission, the Council, the Parliament or the Court of Justice. There is no clear cut answer and the division of responses to this question from the class supports this.

The European Commission – The commission is the EU’s administrative and executive body, it is headed by a president and has a further 24 commissioners.

This essay will review the difference types of competences and examine the effectiveness of the European Court of Justice in ensuring that EU institutions do not exceed the bounds of their competence in adopting legislation.

EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital, enact legislation in justice and home affairs, and maintain common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries, and regional development (European Commission, 2015). Countries accede to the union by becoming party to the founding treaties, thereby subjecting themselves to the privileges and obligations of EU membership.

Everything we do or decide is influenced by politics. In the UK, there are many different levels of Government that have an impact on our lives. One of these levels is the European Union. The three main EU Institution are the European Commission, which promotes the common interest and the current president of the European Commission is Jose Manuel Barroso; the European Council and the Council, which is the voice of the Members States and the current president of the European Council is Herman Van Rompuy; the European Parliament that although is not part of the UK levels of government, it has a significant impact on European Union citizens. The European Parliament, together with the Council, debates and passes European laws and adopts the EU’s budget. The European Parliament has 736 members who represents all 27 members’ states of the EU. Its main role is to delegate legislation on issues such as transport, environment, equal opportunities and movement of workers and goods. In conclusion, the European Parliament is the voice of the people. The president of the European Parliament is Martin Schutz.

The European Court of Justice is the main governing body for the EU and enforcer of the laws over all of its member states. The functions of the European Court of Justice is to enforce Community law, to tackle disputes between member states and the European council and between the member states themselves, and also to protect the rights of all European individuals.

The European Union makes law for the countries; these laws come under various categories such as treaties; regulations; directives and decisions. Treaties (which are the only primary EU legislation) are binding agreements between the EU countries, setting objectives for EU, making guidelines for EU institutions, how decisions are made and finally deals with the relationship between EU and its member countries. Every action taken by the EU is founded on treaties. These are important because they help EU members become more efficient and prepare for new EU members and introduce new areas to cooperate. These are directly applicable meaning they automatically become laws for the EU member countries. An example of a treaty is the Treaty of Lisbon

Executive power in the EU is shared between the European Commission and the Council of EU. The Commission plays a major role in the EU’s policy-making process as EU laws are mainly enforced by Commission action. One of the distinct functions of the Commission is initiating proposals for legislation. The Commission is the main institution preparing proposals. However, concerning common foreign and security policy and co-operation on justice and home affairs, the Council is the promoter of initiatives and also the institution implementing the policies. But the Commission may submit a proposal. The Commission has also the budgetary initiative, drawing up the preliminary draft budget, which is put to the Council.

These states increased the Union’s population by 30 percent but only increased gross domestic product by four percent. The European Union has an unwieldly governing structure, the most important parts are the Commission and the European Council which make the rules and carry out executive functions. Two lesser but still important parts are the Parliament and the Court of Justice. The Commission has immense power with the domination of the Union budget and setting regulations for the member states. It is also the only permanent part of the executive

The European Union (EU) is an economic-political union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It operates through a hybrid system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making.

The European Union (EU) was created when the Maastricht Treaty, or now known as the Treaty on European Union, was signed in the early 1990’s. The document marked an essential milestone in the success and development of many European countries. It paved the way for many other future treaties and it also created the EMU or the European Monetary Union (“Europe Without Frontiers”). Though there were other economic European federations prior to the EU, the EU has by far been the more prosperous one. The EU was created to help unify Europe after WWII ended. With the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, a central banking system was created, which would eventually set up the creation of the Euro (the currency currently used in most of Europe). There are both ups and downs to the European Union as the world has seen with the latest news on Britain leaving the federation. With England out of the European Union, the world will suffer enormous global economic ramifications.

One of the main objectives of the European Union (EU) is the establishment of the internal market, which shall consist of “area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured. The internal market is based upon a customs union achieved through the abolition of the imposition of customs duties and charges having an equivalent effect and the prohibition of discriminatory taxes on intra-EU imports. The internal market is enhanced by the provisions on free movement of workers, freedom of establishment, free movement of services, and free movement of capital. Whereas Articles 28 to 30 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provide for the establishment of an EU common external tariff and the elimination of customs duties, Articles 34 and 35 of the TFEU (with exceptions under Article 36) go further, and prohibit quantitative restrictions and measures having equivalent effect. Taken together, Articles 28 to 32 and 34 to 36 serve to ensure the free movement of goods within the EU and to facilitate the operation of the internal market.

The European Commission is the Executive (governmental) body of the EU, initiating legislative proposals and also managing the EU’s budget (Europa, 2007). Each commission operates for a five-year period, with meetings taking place in Brussels every Wednesday. The Commission consists of a President of the Commission and twenty-eight commissioners (some vice presidents). Employees of the Commission are organised according to department (Directorates-General) and answer to a Commissioner. The Commission exists in order to represent the interests of the whole of the EU (thus arguably the whole of Europe), as opposed to individual Member States. The Commission represents the EU on a global basis and is the main participant in negotiations in areas such as trade. The appointment of Commissioners is the responsibility of the Parliament, with all having previously assumed senior positions in politics in their own country, usually within its national government. Proposals are drafted by the senior civil servant (Director-General. A proposal may be adopted if more than half of the Commissioners decide to adopt it. Once agreed, all Commissioners must give their unconditional support – similar to the collective responsibility held by the Scottish executives and the UK. The Commission works closely with both

The European Union is a political community constituted as an international organization whose aim is to promote integration and a common government of the European people and countries. According to the Article 3 of the European Union Treaty, Union’s aim is to promote peace, its values and the well-being of its peoples. It is based on the values of freedom, democracy, equality, law enforcement and respect for human rights and dignity.