Political Institutions Essay

The parliament which is officially known as the European Parliament is the only union’s body that directly elected. It is made up of 785 members who are elected for five year terms by universal suffrage and are determined by the political loyalty. By virtue of being the only elected body of the union, parliament reflects the more than 500 million citizen’s wishes, however, it has relatively weaker power as compared to the council in some areas such having the absolute legislative   powers. Its powers include co-owning the legislative and budgetary authority of the union with the council. Further, it has power over the commission which the council do not enjoy and hence earning it the praises that it is the most powerful and democratic legislature in the globe. [Parliament overview, 2007] Its current president who also doubles as its speaker is Hans-Gert Pottering elected in 2007. The council of the European Union which was also known as the Council of Ministers due to its composition, it is composed of national ministers, one per nation, who meets various capacities depending with the issue to be discussed e.g. if it is security matters being discussed then the respective ministers in charge of security matters in every nation attends the council. It co-holds both the legislative and budgetary powers with the parliament, and further it holds the executive powers, making it the main decision making organ of the EU. The power of the council is however, kept at bay through a rotating kind of its leadership, its presidency rotates between the member states every six months and therefore preventing any attempts to override the mandate of the council over the other unions institutions. Again, the decision making is subject to voting with majority or unanimity being set as the requirements, with the votes being allocated by the ratio of population. The council’s power also extends to the control of the other two pillars of the union namely; the common Foreign and Security Policy and the Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal matters. [The Council of the European Union, 2007] The commission of the European Communities forms the executive arm of the union; its composition includes one member each from the union’s states i.e. twenty seven. The members are elected on condition that they will not represent their respective national interests. The body’s main duty is to draft all the law of the union and has a monopoly of legislative inventiveness within the European Community pillar; however, the laws are subject to approval by both the parliament and the council. Again, its powers extend to overseeing the daily  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   activities of the union and also it has got a duty to up hold the law and treaties and hence playing the role of a â€Å"Guardian of the Treaties† that makeup the union. Its powers are put to check by the fact that the president who is the commissions head is nominated by the council and approved by the parliament. Other members of the commission who are known as the commissioners are proposed by member states in consultation with the commission’s president and again approved by the parliament. The commission’s current president is Jose Manuel Baroso who together with his commission was elected into office in 2004. [Institutions: Commission, 2007]   This is the supreme court of justice of the European Communities also known as the European Court of Justice; it acts on Union law matters. It is composed of twenty seven judges one apiece from the member states, the court president is chosen (elected) from among the 27, currently Vassilos Skouris is the occupier of the post. The courts major role is to make sure that the Union law is adhered to by all the member states, its supremacy is seen on the fact that the Union law overrides national laws of members nations. For instance in 2001 it ruled that a section of the national constitution of Germany was not in order with the Union law because it barred women from engaging in military roles. [20] The court of justice does not act all alone in matters concerning the Union law; it is assisted by two lesser courts known as the Court of First Instance of the European Communities (CFI) and Civil Service Tribunal. [Institutions: Court of Justice, 2007] The sensitivity of fraud cases and the fact that the Union’s Budget involved large amounts of money, an auditing body was necessary; the court of auditors is responsible for the monitoring of the expenditure of the union and preparing yearly audits on the Union’s budget. Its name does not necessarily imply any legal or judicial powers but it gives views on legislations that involve financial matters. It is composed of one member apiece from the union members and who are appointed by the council every six years, with the president being elected every three years from among them, currently Hubert Weber occupies the seat. [Institutions: Court of Auditors, 2007] With new laws and treaties being enacted chiefly to accommodate new members and new ideologies and partly to streamline the functioning of the Unions institutions, new institutions have been proposed to be created. Under Lisbon Treaty of Changes the following institutions are proposed; the European Council, which has been formerly acting as an informal body under the Council â€Å"of ministers†. Its inception will see it assuming the executive powers that were initially the preserve of the council of ministers and therefore becoming the highest political body of the Union. Other powers will include delineating the Union’s policy agenda and creating the momentum for integration, other features will be similar to that of the council of ministers. The other proposed institution is the European Central Bank, this bank is tipped to represent the interests of the euro-zone i.e. the fifteen states that have adopted the euro, and the main idea behind the formation of this body is to induce fiscal controls in order to sustain price stability. Its governance will include a board made national bank governors and a president appointed by the European Council; currently Jean-Claude Trichet is the president. [Draft Treaty modifying, 2007] The European Union system of government though unique can be likened to other models of governance, for instance, Germany’s federalism and the Swiss federal council where power is principally shared between the state and the federal government with the states having a principal say in the decision making process even at the federal level unlike in US where powers are clearly divided between the state and the federal government with the state having limited say over decision making process. The rotating presidency, the choice of lesser cities to host the headquarters of the Community Institutions, the spreading of executive powers between the institutions, are some of the   equal representation measures employed by the EU. [Borzel, Tanja A, 2002]    References:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   EU Law Blog, available at;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://eulaw.typad.com, accessed on November 26, 2008 Merging of the executives, available at;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.enalu?lang=2&doc=473, accessed on November 26, 2008 EUR-Lex: Treaties, available at;