The following institutions play the most prominent role in the creation of legal obligations within the European Union. This, however, is not an exhaustive list. The European Economic and Social Committee (ESC), located in Brussels, and the Committee of the Regions (COR) are also consulted depending on the legislative issue.
(27 Commissioners; appointed by member states to five-year terms; nominees approved by the European Parliament; Commissioners operate independently of national governments.)
1) Activities: Draft legislation and propose policies; responsible for EU administration; sees that provisions of Treaties and decisions of institutions are properly implemented; has rule-making authority; operates Directorates-General (which now number approximately 30); conducts studies of proposed legislation and policies; and, conducts antitrust and antidumping investigations; negotiates international agreements and represents the EU internationally.
2) Products: Press releases, communications, reports, draft legislation.
3) Publications and Access: Legislation begins with a proposal from the Commission. Most of the drafting is done by the departments of the Commission which are organized into the Directorates General. Some of these studies are available through the Directorates. An open comment system does not exist for the EU administrative process although written comments are solicited and given strong consideration. On occasion, the Commission will solicit public comment on a legislative proposal via a "green paper". This publication provides an outline of the topic and possible courses of action. After a legislative proposal is translated into the 23 official languages, it is issued as a COM document. These include the draft text and explanatory material. In paper these are published in the OJ (Official Journal) CE series. Other documents from the Commission are IP (information for the press and P (information memo) documents.
The Council of the European Union consists of 27 Ministers representing the national governments of the member states. Different ministers attend meetings depending on subject matter. Qualified majority voting predominates except for CFSP, tax, asylum and immigration issues. The Presidency rotates every six months. The European Council (or Heads of State) meets four times a year.
1) Activities: In concert with the European Parliament (by virtue of the Co-Decision Procedure), enacts legislation (submitted by the Commission) which is binding throughout the EU; coordinates economic policies under EU competence; conducts studies of legislative proposals; and, directs intergovernmental cooperation. Note that the working committees, which study proposed legislation, are composed of Council staff (EU civil servants) as well as staff members of the Permanent Representatives (ambassadors from member states and their national staffs).
2) Products: Press releases, agreements with states outside the EU, Common Positions, CFSP and ESDP materials, and final legislative acts which can take the form of regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations or opinions. These acts are delimited as either binding or non-binding.
3) Publications and Access: Most of the legislative deliberations are considered confidential and, therefore, the EU does not make legislative materials to the same extent as one finds in the United States. Working drafts and studies are circulated to outside parties prior to enactment but many more documents can be found after the legislation has been finalized. Beginning in 1999, a Monthly Summary of Council Acts has been made available on the Council web site. Under the co-decision procedure, the Council issues a Common Position for the consideration of the European Parliament. Beginning in 1994 these can be found in the OJ C series. The final texts of legislative acts appear in the L (binding) and C (non-binding) series of the OJ. Full text of directives and regulations can be found using EUR-Lex (available through EUROPA, see below). Use the Council website for press releases which summarize ministerial level Council meetings.
European Parliament is composed of members directly elected by the people of the EU under a system of population-based proportional representation to five-year terms. Members of the European Parliament (MEP) are elected by political affiliation rather than national groups.
1) Activities: The European Parliament participates with the Council in the legislative process under the co-decision procedure and may propose amendments to legislation. This forum provides a public forum for debate; questions the Commission or Council; can amend or reject the EU budget; approves the nomination of Commissioners. Has the power to dismiss the Commission. Legislative proposals, resolutions, petitions introduced by MEPs go to one of seventeen standing committees for study, which results in hearings (not available) and written reports.
2) Products: debate transcripts, legislative tracking, studies and reports, roll-call votes, adopted texts, bulletins, rules of procedure.
3) Publications and Access: Although hearings are rarely published, committee reports are available. These reports generally consist of meeting minutes, an explanatory memorandum outlining the committee’s reasoning, and the text of a final opinion. These are available on the EUROPARL site beginning in 1996. The debates of Parliament are also available on this site. Downloadable indexes to the debates can also be found on EUROPARL. Use the Register of Documents to locate parliamentary materials. The minutes are here and available, as well, in the OJ C series. A legislative tracking site call OEIL can be found through EUROPARL.
The ECJ consists of 27 judges appointed by the member states for a renewable six-year term. One of the judges is elected to a three-year term as President. The European Court is assisted by eight advocates-general who present impartial opinions on cases before the court. The General Court also has 27 judges.
1) Activities: The Court hears cases involving the application and interpretation of Community Treaties. Member states and institutions may seek redress before the Court for violations of Community law. Any natural or legal person also has a right to appeal to the ECJ in issues involving Community matters. Most often, cases are filed by the European Commission against a state for failing to implement a directive. Cases in national courts between individuals or against the state may refer a matter of European law to the ECJ for a prejudicial decision. The General Court (established in 1988 as the Court of First Instance) primarily hears cases arising from decisions rendered by Community institutions and agencies as well as competition cases and disputes involving EU personnel. The General Court assumed its new name after the Treaty of Lisbon came into force. Opinions of these EU courts do not establish precedent. In keeping with general European state practice, prior decisions can have persuasive value.
2) Products: Decisions, case law digests, subject matterindexes, judgment annotations, pre-accession case law, and advocate-general opinions.
3) Publications and Access: The judgments of both courts appear in the Official Journal C series. They are also made available through the Eur-Lex system or through the Court’s own web service (use Publications and Access link above). The Court’s website ( called CURIA) includes not only the text of decisions but also rules of procedure, various case indexes, and judicial statistics. The Research and Documentation Department of the Court is its research establishment. They compile the Digest of Community Law, Alphabetical Index of Subject Matter, and the Annotations of the Judgments all of which are available on the Court’s site.
