переказ 03.04

The decision-making triangle. The secondary legislation /ˌledʒ.ɪˈsleɪ.
ʃən/ consists
mainly of regulations, directives and recommendations adopted by the EU institutions.
These laws, along with EU policies in general, are taken by the institutional triangle
made up of the Council (representing national governments), the European Parliament
(representing the people) and the European Commission (a body independent of EU
governments that upholds the collective European interest).
The Council of the European Union and the European Council
The Council of the European Union (also known as the Council of Ministers) is the EU’s
main decision-making body. The EU member states take it in turns to hold the Council
Presidency for a six-month period. Every Council meeting is attended by one minister
from each EU country. Which ministers attend a meeting depends on which topic is on
the agenda: foreign affairs, agriculture, industry, transport, the environment, etc.In
addition to this, the Council and the Parliament share equal responsibility for adopting
the EU budget. The Council also concludes international agreements that have been
negotiated by the Commission.According to the Treaties, the Council has to take its
decisions either by a simple majority vote, a ‘qualified majority’ vote or unanimously,
depending on the subject to be decided.
The Council has to agree unanimously on important questions such as amending the
Treaties, launching a new common policy or allowing a new country to join the Union.
The European Council meets, in principle, four times a year. It is chaired by the
president or prime minister of the country holding the presidency of the Council of the
European Union at the time.
Under the Treaty of Maastricht, the European Council officially became an initiator of
the Union’s major policies and was empowered to settle difficult issues on which
ministers meeting in the Council of the European Union fail to agree.The European
Council also deals with pressing international issues through the common foreign and
security policy (CFSP), which is intended to allow the EU to speak with one voice on
diplomatic questions.The European Parliament exercises political supervision over the
EU’s activitiesThe European Parliament is the elected body that represents the EU’s
citizens. It exercises political supervision over the EU’s activities and takes part in the
legislative process. Since 1979, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have
been directly elected, by universal suffrage, every five years.
The European Parliament normally holds its plenary sessions in Strasbourg and any
additional sessions in Brussels
The Parliament takes part in the legislative work of the EU at three levels:
Under the ‘cooperation’ procedure, introduced by the Single European Act in 1987, the
European Parliament can give its opinion on draft directives and regulations proposed
by the European Commission, which is asked to amend its proposals to take account of
Parliament’s position.Since 1987, there has also been the ‘assent’ procedure, under
which the European Parliament must give its assent to international agreements
negotiated by the Commission and to any proposed enlargement of the European
Union.
The 1992 Treaty of Maastricht introduced the ‘co-decision’ procedure , which puts the
Parliament on an equal footing with the Council when legislating on a whole series of
important issues including the free movement of workers, the internal market,
education, research, the environment, trans-European networks, health, culture,
consumer protection, etc. The European Parliament also shares, with the Council,
equal responsibility for adopting the EU budget. The Parliament can reject the
proposed budget, and it has already done so on several occasions. When this happens,
the entire budget procedure has to be re-started.Last but not least, the European
Parliament exercises democratic supervision over the Union. It has the power to
dismiss the Commission by adopting a motion of censure. This requires a two-thirds
majority. It also supervises the day-to-day management of EU policies by putting oral
and written questions to the Commission and the Council.
The European Commission
The Commission is the third part of the institutional triangle that manages and runs
the European Union. Its members are appointed for a five-year term by agreement
between the member states, subject to approval by the European Parliament. The
Commission is answerable to the Parliament, and the entire Commission has to resign
if the Parliament passes a motion of censure against it.
Since 2004, the Commission has been made up of one Commissioner from each
member state.
The Commission enjoys a substantial degree of independence in exercising its powers.
Its job is to uphold the common interest, which means that it must not take
instructions from any national EU government. As ‘Guardian of the Treaties’, it has to
ensure that the regulations and directives adopted by the Council and Parliament are
being implemented in the member states. If they are not, the Commission can take
the offending party to the Court of Justice to oblige it to comply with EU law.
As the EU’s executive arm, the Commission implements the decisions taken by the
Council in areas such as the common agricultural policy. It has wide powers to manage
the EU’s common policies, such as research and technology, overseas aid, regional
development, etc. It also manages the budget for these policies.The Commission is
assisted by a civil service made up of 36 directorates-general (DGs) and services,
which are mainly based in Brussels and Luxembourg.

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The decision-making triangle. The secondary legislation /ˌledʒ.ɪˈsleɪ.

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