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Samenvatting Introduction to International and EU law nabespreking probleem 2
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Introduction to International and EU law nabespreking probleem 2
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International and European Union Law reportingproblem 2
Learning objectives:
- How is the European Parliament composed and
how are its members elected?
- How is the council of the EU composed?
- How is the European Commission composed and
how are its members selected?
- What are the main functions and powers of those
three EU institutions?
Literature:
- R. Schutze, An introduction to European Union Law, Third Edition, Oxford
University Press 2020, pp. 9-36
Most important articles for this problem
Treaty on European Union (TEU) Treaty on the Functioning of the
– Title III European Union (TFEU)
– Part VI – Title I – Chapter I
Article 13: Institutional framework Section 1: European Parliament
(art. 223 – 234)
Article 14 European Parliament Section 2: European Council
(art. 235 – 236)
Article 15: European Council Section 3: Council of the EU
(art. 237 – 243)
Article 16: Council of the EU/ the Council Section 4: European Commission
(art. 244 – 250)
Article 17: European Commission Section 5: Court of Justice
(art. 251 – 281)
Article 18: High Representative for Foreign Section 6: European Central Bank
Affairs (art. 282 – 284)
Article 19: Court of Justice Section 7: Court of Auditors
(art. 285 - 287
How is the European Parliament composed and how are
its members elected?
The Parliament constitutes, with the Council of the EU, a chamber of the Union legislature.
The Parliament is directly elected by the European citizens and is thus the most democratic
institution. The Parliament is also the most supranational institution of the European Union.
Composition of the European Parliament
The European Parliament has a maximum of 751 members, President included (art. 14(2)
TEU). The European Council decides on its actual size and composition. The distribution of
seats in the Parliament must be degressively proportional, with a minimum of 6 seats per
Member State and a maximum of 96 seats per Member State (art. 14(2) TEU). The national
, quotas for European parliamentary seats constitute a compromise between the democratic
principle and the federal principle. The democratic principle demands that each citizen in
the Union has equal voting power and the federal principle insists on the political existence
of State. The result of the compromise was the rejection of the purely proportional
distribution, in which some smaller Member States would have no seats at all. So, they
chose for the degressively proportional system. The problem with this system is that
Luxembourg citizen has ten times more voting power, than a French citizen for example.
Election of the European Parliament
The European Parliament is the ‘representative of all European citizens’ (art. 14(2) TEU).
Individual members of Parliament are directly elected by the European citizens (art. 10(2)
TEU). They are elected for a term of five years by direct universal suffrage in a free and
secret ballot (art. 14(3) TEU). More precise rules are set out in the 1976 Election Act. Article
1 of the Act commands that the elections must be conducted on the basis of proportional
representation (evenredige vertegenwoordiging). The specifics of the election procedure are
left to the Member States. European parliamentary elections do not follow a uniform electoral
procedure in all Member States, but are conducted in the principles common to the Member
States .
The Treaties do insist on one common rule: ‘every citizen of the Union residing in a Member
State of which he is not a national shall have the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in
elections to the European Parliament in the Member State in which he resides, under the
same conditions as nationals of that State’ (art. 22(2) TEU).
How is the Council of the EU composed?
The Council of the EU is best characterised as the federal Chamber within the Union
legislature. It is the organ in which national governments meet.
Composition of the Councill of the EU (art. 16 TEU)
Within the European Union, the Council is the institution of the Member States. The Council
consists of a representative of each Member State at ministerial level. Each national minister
represents the interests of his Member State (art. 16(2) TEU). Depending on the subject
matter at issue there are different Council configurations (opstellingen), for example
General Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Environment and Education (art. 16(6) TEU). And for each
configuration a different national minister will be representing his State.
Internal structure and organs
The Council has developed committees to assist and support them. This is the Committee of
Permanent Representative (Coreper). The Permanent Representative is the ambassador of
the Member State at the European Union. Coreper has two parts: Coreper II represents the
meetings of the ambassadors and Coreper I represents the meetings of their deputies.
Coreper II prepares the Council configuration with the more important political decisions,
such as Foreign Affairs, while Coreper I prepares the more technical remainder.
The function of Coreper is to prepare and examine a Council meeting. Coreper also tries to
reach agreement at its level, in this way they prepare formal decision making.
Decision making and voting of the Council of the EU
The Council meets in Brussel to decide. The meetings are divided into two parts: one dealing
with legislative activities, the other with non-legislative activities. When discussing legislation,
the Council must meet in public. The Commission will attend the Council meetings, but is not
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