Aprašymas:

Darbas:

CONTENT

1. What is the Europien Union ? 2
2. How the EU takes decisions ? 3
3. Consultation 3
4.Assent 4
5. Codecision 4
6. Modenysing the system 4
7. What does the Parliament do ? 6
8. How it the Parliament‘s work organized ? 7
9. How is the Council‘s work organized ? 11
10. What is the commission ? 13
11. Where is the commission based ? 14
12. What does the commision do? 14
13. How is the commission‘s work organized ? 16
14. Limiting the size of commission ? 16
15. What does the court do ? 18
16. How is the courts work organized ? 19
17. What does the court do ? 19
18. What does the EESC do ? 21
19. What does the committee do ? 22
20. How is the committee‘s work organized ? 23
21. How is the Bank‘s work organized ? 25
22. Literature 29

What is the Europien Union ?
The European Union (EU) is not a federation like the United States. Nor is it simply an organisation for co-operation between governments, like the United Nations. It is, in fact, unique. The countries that make up the EU (its ‘member states’) remain independent sovereign nations but they pool their sovereignty in order to gain a strength and world influence none of them could have on their own.
Pooling sovereignty means, in practice, that the member states delegate some of their decision-making powers to shared institutions they have created, so that decisions on specific matters of joint interest can be made democratically at European level.
The EU's decision-making process in general and the co-decision procedure in particular involve three main institutions:
• the European Parliament (EP), which represents the EU’s citizens and is directly elected by them;
• the Council of the European Union, which represents the individual member states;
• the European Commission, which seeks1 to uphold the interests of the Union as a whole.
This ‘institutional triangle’ produces the policies and laws that apply throughout the EU. In principle, it is the Commission that proposes2 new laws, but it is the Parliament and Council that adopt them.
Two other institutions have a vital part to play: the Court of Justice upholds the rule of European law, and the Court of Auditors checks the financing of the Union’s activities.
The powers and responsibilities of these institutions are laid down in the Treaties, which are the foundation3 of everything the EU does. They also lay down the rules and procedures that the EU institutions must follow. The Treaties are agreed by the presidents and/or prime ministers of all the EU countries, and ratified by their parliaments.
In addition to its institutions, the EU has a number of other bodies that play specialised roles:
• the European Economic and Social Committee represents civil society, employers and employees;
• the Committee of the Regions represents regional and local authorities;
• the European Investment Bank finances EU investment projects, and helps small businesses via the European Investment Fund;
• the European Ombudsman investigates complaints about maladministration by EU institutions and bodies;
• the European Data Protection Supervisor safeguards the privacy of people’s personal data;
• the European Central Bank is responsible for European monetary4 policy;

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Seek1 - ieškoti
Propose2 - pasiūlyti, pateikti
Foundation3 – pamatas, pagrindas
Monetary4 – piniginis, monetarinis

• the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities publishes information about the EU;
• the European Communities Personnel Selection Office recruits1 staff for the EU institutions and other bodies.
In addition, specialised agencies have been set up to handle certain technical, scientific or management tasks.
How the EU takes decisions ?
Decision-making at European Union level involves various European institutions, in particular2
• the European Commission,
• the European Parliament (EP),
• the Council of the European Union.
In general it is the European Commission that proposes new legislation3, but it is the Council and Parliament that pass the laws. Other institutions and bodies also have roles to play.
The rules and procedures for EU decision-making are laid down in the treaties4. Every proposal for a new European law is based on a specific treaty article, referred to as the ‘legal basis’ of the proposal. This determines5 which legislative procedure must be followed. The three main procedures are ‘consultation’, ‘assent’ and ‘co-decision’.
Consultation
Under the consultation procedure, the Council consults Parliament as well as the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the Committee of the Regions (CoR).
Parliament can:
• approve the Commission proposal,
• reject it,
• or ask for amendments6.
If Parliament asks for amendments, the Commission will consider all the changes Parliament suggests. If it accepts any of these suggestions it will send the Council an amended proposal.
The Council examines the amended proposal and either adopts it or amends it further. In this procedure, as in all others, if the Council amends a Commission proposal it must do so unanimously7.
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Recruit1 – naujokas, naujas narys
Particular2 – tam tikras, būtent tas, konkretus
Legislation3 – įstatymų leidimas, įstatymai
Treaty4 – sutartis susitarimas
Determine5 - (nu)lemti, sąlygoti, lemti; determinuoti
Amendment6 - (pa)taisymas; gerinimas
Unanimously7- vieningai, vienbalsiškai
Assent1
The assent procedure means that the Council has to obtain the European Parliament's assent before certain very important decisions are taken.

The procedure is the same as in the case of consultation, except that Parliament cannot amend a proposal: it must either accept or reject it. Acceptance (‘assent’) requires an absolute majority of the vote cast.

Codecision

This is the procedure now used for most EU law-making. In the codecision procedure, Parliament does not merely2 give its opinion: it shares legislative3 power equally with the Council. If Council and Parliament cannot agree on a piece of proposed legislation, it is put before a conciliation4 committee, composed of equal numbers of Council and Parliament representatives. Once this committee has reached an agreement, the text is sent once again to Parliament and the Council so that they can finally adopt it as law.

Modernising the system
The EU’s decision-making system has evolved5 over half a century. But it was originally designed for a community of just six nations. The EU now has 25 member states, and its membership will increase further in the years ahead. Its decision-making system therefore needs simplifying and streamlining6. To avoid paralysis, most decisions will have to be taken by ‘qualified majority voting’ rather than requiring every single country to agree.
The proposed Constitution agreed by the European Council in 2004 tackles7 these questions head on. It spells out much more clearly than in previous treaties what the European Union is and where it is going. It also lays down the new rules for more streamlined decision-making. It is due to come into force in 2006, but first it has to be approved by all 25 member countries – in some cases by referendum.
The Constitution is designed to make the EU more open and democratic. For example, it obliges8 EU ministers to hold their law-making discussions in public, and it gives citizens the right to draw up a petition asking the European Commission to propose new laws. Moreover, it gives national parliaments a greater role in monitoring Commission proposals.

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Assent1 - pritarimas, sutarimas, sutikimas
Merely2 - paprasčiausiai, tiktai
Legislative3 - įstatymų leidžiamasis/leidimo; įstatyminis
Conciliation4 - su(si)taikymas, sutaikinimas
Evolve5 - plėtotis, vystytis, išsivystyti, evoliucionuoti
Streamline6 - kryptis; tėkmės kryptis; srovės linija
Tackle7 - reikmenys, rykai; įrengimai;
Oblige8 - įpareigoti; priversti
It also aims1 to make the European Union a more effective force on the world stage by creating the post of EU Foreign Affairs Minister and putting that person in charge of all aspects of the Union’s external relations.
The new Constitution maintains the existing balance between national interests and the general European interest, and between the interests of small and big countries.
The European Parliament (EP) is elected by the citizens of the European Union to represent their interests. Its origins go back to the 1950s and the founding treaties, and since 1979 its members have been directly elected by the people they represent.
Elections are held every five years, and every EU citizen who is registered as a voter is entitled to vote. Parliament thus expresses the democratic will of the Union's citizens (more than 455 million people), and it represents their interests in discussions with the other EU institutions. The present parliament, elected in June 2004, has 732 members from all 25 EU countries. Nearly one third of them (222) are women.
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) do not sit in national blocks, but in seven Europe-wide political groups. Between them, they represent all views on European integration, from the strongly pro-federalist to the openly Eurosceptic.
In 2004, Josep Borrell Fontelles was elected President of the European Parliament.
TABLE: Number of seats per political group, as at 2 June 2005
Political group Abbreviation2 No. of seats
European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats EPP-ED 268
Socialist Group PES 201
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe ALDE 88
Greens/European Free Alliance Greens/EFA 42
European United Left - Nordic Green Left GUE/NGL 41
Independence/Democracy IND/DEM 36
Union for Europe of the Nations UEN 27
Non-attached NI 29
TOTAL 732
United Kingdom 78
TOTAL 732
The European Parliament has three places of work: Brussels (Belgium), Luxembourg and Strasbourg (France).
Luxembourg is home to the administrative offices (the ‘General Secretariat’). Meetings of the whole Parliament, known as ‘plenary sessions’, take place in Strasbourg and sometimes in Brussels. Committee meetings are also held in Brussels.
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Aim1 – tikslas, taikinys
Abbreviation2 – sutrumpinimas, santrumpa


What does Parliament do?
Parliament has three main roles:
1. Passing European laws – jointly with the Council in many policy areas. The fact