Institutions

European Parliament.

• It is composed of the members of the Parliament that have been elected in universal suffrage by the European citizens in the European elections held every five years. Now there are 754 MEPs.
• It exercises the legislative branch together with the Council of the European Union. It controls the work of the European Commission and approved the EU budget jointly with the Council. The Treaty of Lisbon has increased its powers  on laws, budget and passing of international agreements.

The Council

• Its main function is to guarantee the continuity of the Council’s work and takesdecisions about EU policy.
• The number of votes in the Council is based on the population of the country. that represent at least 65% of EU’s population.
• The European Council is located in Brussels (Belgium).
• Its presidency rotates among the member countries every six months.

European Commission..

• It is composed of a president (been elected by the EU governments basing on the results of the EU elections) and commissioners (one per state) who cover with some specific areas. This distribution will be until 2014, since then the number will be reduced to 2/3 of the member countries.
• It exercises the executive branch of power.
• Its main function is to present proposals for laws to the EU Parliament and Council. It also controls and implements common EU policies and manages the budget.
• It is located in Brussels.

 

Court of Justice of the European Union.

• It is composed of one judge from each EU state appointed every six years.
• Its main function is to make sure that EU laws are interpreted and applied in the same way across the EU. The Treaty of Lisbon enlarges its power to police and judicial matters.
• It is located in Luxembourg.