Darbas:

that the EP is directly elected by the citizens helps guarantee the democratic legitimacy1 of European law.
2. Parliament exercises democratic supervision2 over the other EU institutions, and in particular the Commission. It has the power to approve or reject the nomination of commissioners, and it has the right to censure the Commission as a whole.
3. The power of the purse. Parliament shares with the Council authority over the EU budget and can therefore influence EU spending. At the end of the procedure, it adopts or rejects the budget in its entirety.
These three roles are described in greater detail below.

1. Passing European laws
The most common procedure for adopting (i.e. passing) EU legislation is ‘codecision’. This procedure places the European Parliament and the Council on an equal footing and it applies to legislation in a wide range of fields.
In some fields (for example agriculture, economic policy, visas and immigration), the Council alone legislates, but it has to consult Parliament. In addition, Parliament’s assent is required for certain important decisions, such as allowing new countries to join the EU.
Parliament also provides impetus3 for new legislation by examining the Commission’s annual work programme, considering what new laws would be appropriate and asking the Commission to put forward proposals.
2. Democratic supervision
Parliament exercises democratic supervision over the other European institutions. It does so in several ways.
When a new Commission takes office, its members are nominated by the EU member state governments but they cannot be appointed without Parliament’s approval. Parliament interviews each of them individually, including the prospective Commission President, and then votes on whether to approve the Commission as a whole.
Throughout its term of office, the Commission remains politically accountable4 to Parliament, which can pass a ‘motion of censure’ calling for the Commission’s mass resignation.
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Legitimacy1 – teisėtumas, pagrįstumas;
Supervision2 - priežiūra, prižiūrėjimas, stebėjimas; vadovavimas;
Impetus3 - smarkumas, (judėjimo) jėga;
Accountable4 - atsakingas
More generally, Parliament exercises control by regularly examining reports sent to it by the Commission (the annual general report, reports on the implementation1 of the budget, etc.). Moreover, MEPs regularly ask the Commission questions which the commissioners are legally required to answer.
Parliament also monitors the work of the Council: MEPs regularly ask the Council questions, and the President of the Council attends the EP’s plenary sessions and takes part in important debates.
Parliament can exercise further democratic control by examining petitions from citizens and setting up committees of inquiry2.
Finally, Parliament provides input to every EU summit3 (the European Council meetings). At the opening of each summit, the President of Parliament is invited to express Parliament's views and concerns about topical issues and the items on the European Council's agenda.
3. The power of the purse
The EU’s annual budget is decided jointly by Parliament and the Council. Parliament debates it in two successive4 readings, and the budget does not come into force until it has been signed by the President of Parliament.
Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control (COCOBU) monitors how the budget is spent, and each year Parliament decides whether to approve the Commission’s handling of the budget for the previous financial year. This approval process is technically known as ‘granting a discharge5’.

How is the Parliament's work organised?
Parliament's work is divided into two main stages:
• Preparing for the plenary session. This is done by the MEPs in the various parliamentary committees that specialise in particular areas of EU activity. The issues for debate are also discussed by the political groups.
• The plenary session itself. Plenary sessions are normally held in Strasbourg (one week per month) and sometimes in Brussels (two days only). At these sessions, Parliament examines proposed legislation and votes on amendments before coming to a decision on the text as a whole.
Other items on the agenda may include Council or Commission ‘communications’ or questions about what is going on in the European Union or the wider world.
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Implementation1 - įgyvendinimas
Inquiry2 - teiravimasis, pasiteiravimas, (pa)klausimas; apklausa, apklausinėjimas
Summit3 – viršūnė, aukščiausias taškas
Successive4 - einantis vienas po kito, sekantis vienas paskui kitą (iš eilės); nuoseklus
Discharge5 – paleidimas, atleidimas, ėjimas, vykdymas
The Council is the EU's main decision-making body. Like the European Parliament, the Council was set up by the founding treaties in the 1950s. It represents the member states, and its meetings are attended by one minister from each of the EU’s national governments.
Which ministers attend which meeting depends on what subjects are on the agenda. If, for example, the Council is to discuss environmental1 issues, the meeting will be attended by the Environment Minister from each EU country and it will be known as the ‘Environment Council’.
The EU’s relations with the rest of the world are dealt with by the ‘General Affairs and External Relations Council’. But this Council configuration also has wider responsibility for general policy issues, so its meetings are attended by whichever Minister or State Secretary each government chooses.
Altogether there are nine different Council configurations:
• General Affairs and External Relations
• Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN)
• Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)
• Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs
• Competitiveness2
• Transport, Telecommunications and Energy
• Agriculture and Fisheries
• Environment
• Education, Youth and Culture
Each minister in the Council is empowered3 to commit his or her government. In other words, the minister’s signature is the signature of the whole government. Moreover, each minister in the Council is answerable to his or her national parliament and to the citizens that parliament represents. This ensures the democratic legitimacy4 of the Council’s decisions.
Up to four times a year the presidents and/or prime ministers of the member states, together with the President of the European Commission, meet as the “European Council”. These ‘summit’ meetings set overall EU policy and resolve issues that could not be settled at a lower level (i.e. by the ministers at normal Council meetings). Given the importance of European Council discussions, they often continue late into the night and attract5 a lot of media attention.

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Environmental1 – aplinkos
Competitive2 - konkuruojantis, rungtyniaujantis; konkurencinis
Empower3 – įgalioti, suteikti teisę
Legitimacy4 – teisėtumas, pagrįstumas
Attract5 – patraukti, pritraukti

The Council has six key responsibilities:
1. To pass European laws – jointly with the European Parliament in many policy areas.
2. To co-ordinate the broad economic policies of the member states.
3. To conclude1 international agreements between the EU and other countries or international organisations.
4. To approve the EU’s budget, jointly with the European Parliament.
5. To develop the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), based on guidelines set by the European Council.
6. To co-ordinate co-operation between the national courts and police forces in criminal matters (see the Freedom, security and justice section).
Most of these responsibilities relate to the ‘Community’ domain3 – i.e. areas of action where the member states have decided to pool their sovereignty and delegate decision-making powers to the EU institutions. This domain is the ‘first pillar’ of the European Union. However, the last two responsibilities relate largely to areas in which the member states have not delegated their powers but are simply working together. This is called ‘intergovernmental co-operation’ and it covers the second and third ‘pillars’ of the European Union.
1. Legislation
Much EU legislation is adopted jointly by the Council and Parliament
As a rule, the Council only acts on a proposal from the Commission, and the Commission normally has responsibility for ensuring that EU legislation, once adopted, is correctly applied.
2. Co-ordinating the policies of member states
The EU countries have decided that they want an overall economic policy based on close co-ordination between their national economic policies. This co-ordination is carried out by the economics and finance ministers, who collectively form the Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN) Council.
They also want to create more jobs and to improve4 their education, health and social protection systems. Although each EU country is responsible for its own policy in these areas, they can agree on common goals5 and learn from each other’s experience of what works best. This process is called the ‘open method of coordination’, and it takes place within the Council.
3. Concluding international agreements
Each year the Council ‘concludes’ (i.e. officially signs) a number of agreements between the European Union and non-EU countries, as well as with international organisations. These agreements may cover broad areas such as trade, co-operation and development or they may deal with specific subjects such as textiles, fisheries, science and technology, transport etc.

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Conclude1 – padaryti išvadą, nuspręsti
Prelate2 - prelatas
Domain3 – valda, teritorija
Improve4 – pagerinti, patobulinti
Goal5 – tikslas, uždavinys, vartai
In addition, the Council may conclude1 conventions between the EU member states in fields such as taxation2, company law or consular3 protection. Conventions can also deal with co-operation on issues of freedom, security and justice.
4. Approving the EU budget
The EU’s annual budget is decided jointly by the Council and the European Parliament.
5. Common Foreign and Security Policy
The member states of the EU are working to develop a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). But foreign policy, security and defence are matters over which the individual national governments retain independent control. They have not pooled their national sovereignty in these areas, so Parliament and the European Commission play only a limited role here. However, the EU countries have much to gain4 by working together on these issues, and