Fase 9. Uso de zahorra, relleno y colocar las cuadernas

The Council consists of representatives of the Member States, one from each Member State, who must be ‘at ministerial level, authorised to commit the government of that Member State’

- Some commentators suggest that there is a tension between the demands of a minister’s role as a national politician and his or her obligations as a member of Council under the Treaties: this misunderstands the role of the Council as an institution designed to feed national positions into the decision-making process Council meetings are arranged by subject matter into different Council ‘formations’.

These include the

a. General Affairs Council

i. (Deals with matters that affect more than one EU policy and prepares agenda for the European Council);

b. Foreign Affairs Council (normally attended by foreign ministers;

c. Economics and Finance Council (deals with the budget, Economic and Monetary Union, and financial markets);

d. Justice and Home Affairs;

e. other sectoral formations (Transport, Telecommunications and Energy; Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs; Agriculture and Fisheries; Competitiveness; Environment)

- The Foreign Affairs Council is chaired by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs; other Council formations are chaired by a ‘team’ presidency system

- the Council exercises a critical role in the decision-making process:

a. It votes on virtually all Commission legislative initiatives before they become law;

b. May initiate the legislative process through Article 241 TFEU;

c. Can delegate power to the Commission;

d. Plays a major role in relation to the EU’s budget;

e. Concludes agreements on behalf of the EU with third states or international organizations;

f. Is the main decision-making and implementing body in the Common Foreign and Security Policy Decisions are taken by simple majority, unanimity or – in most cases – qualified majority voting (QMV);

- QMV system is based on population size and the number of Member States voting

Much of the Council’s day-to-day work is carried out by the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) (Article 240(1) TFEU) responsible for preparing the work of the Council;

- COREPER is assisted by around 150 working groups and the General Secretariat

Article 16

1. The Council shall, jointly with the European Parliament, exercise legislative and budgetary functions. It shall carry out policy-making and coordinating functions as laid down in the Treaties.

The Council shall consist of a representative of each Member State at ministerial level, who may commit the government of the Member State in question and cast its vote.

3. The Council shall act by a qualified majority except where the Treaties provide otherwise. [...]

6. The Council shall meet in different configurations, the list of which shall be adopted in accordance with Article 236 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

The General Affairs Council shall ensure consistency in the work of the different Council

configurations. It shall prepare and ensure the follow-up to meetings of the European Council, in liaison with the President of the European Council and the Commission.

The Foreign Affairs Council shall elaborate the Union’s external action on the basis of strategic guidelines laid down by the European Council and ensure that the Union’s action is consistent.

7. A Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Governments of the Member States shall be responsible for preparing the work of the Council.

8. The Council shall meet in public when it deliberates and votes on a draft legislative act. To this end, each Council meeting shall be divided into two parts, dealing respectively with deliberations

on Union legislative acts and non-legislative activities.

9. The Presidency of Council configurations, other than that of Foreign Affairs, shall be held by Member State representatives in the Council on the basis of equal rotation, in accordance with the conditions established in accordance with Article 236 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

Questions

Why do international organizations have organs? What kind of functions do they carry out?

What are the institutions of the EU? What does the term ‘institutional balance’ refer to? What role has the ECJ played in maintain the balance between the institutions of the EU?

What is the role of the European Council? In what sense does it act as the supreme political authority within the EU?

What is the role of the Council? Why do different Council formations exist? What are the advantages and disadvantages of qualified majority voting?

Basic Reading

Craig and de Búrca, EU Law (5th edn, 2011), Ch 2 (‘The Institutions’).

Recommended Reading

Pech, ‘The Institutional Development of the EU post-Lisbon: A case of plus ça change...?’, in Ashiagbor, Countouris and Lianos (eds) The European Union after the Treaty of Lisbon (2012) 7.

Christiansen, ‘The European Union after the Lisbon Treaty: An Elusive “Institutional Balance”?’, in Biondi, Eeckhout, and Ripley (eds) EU Law after Lisbon (2012) 228.

Jacque, ‘The Principle of Institutional Balance’ (2004) 41 Common Market Law Review 383.

Dann, ‘The Political Institutions’, in von Bogdandy and Bast (eds) Principles of European Constitutional Law (2nd, 2010) 237.

Further Reading

Craig, ‘Institutions, Power and Institutional Balance’ in Craig and de Búrca (eds), The Evolution of EU Law (2nd edn, 2011) 42.

Devuyst, ‘The European Union’s Institutional Balance after the Treaty of Lisbon: “Community Method” and

“Democratic Deficit” Reassessed’ (2008) 39 Georgetown Journal of International Law 247.

Craig, The Lisbon Treaty: Law, Politics and Treaty Reform (2010) Ch 3 (‘Executive Power, Contestation, and Resolution’).

Dashwood and Johnston, ‘The Institutions of the Enlarged EU under the Regime of the Consitutionsl Treaty’

(2004) 41 Common Market Law Review 1481.

Peterson and Shackleton (eds), The Institutions of the European Union (3rd edn, 2012).

The Institutions of the EU II

Topic and purpose of this lecture The purpose of this lecture is to continue our study of the institutions of the European Union, focusing on the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Court of Justice

(1) The European Commission

The term ‘Commission’ is used in two ways:

- To describe the members of the ‘College of Commissioners’;

- But more widely to refer to the bureaucratic apparatus of the Commission

Membership:

Initially consisted of one member for small Member States and two members for larger Member States. Expansion of the EU and subsequent growth in the size of the Commission rendered decision-making and finding enough meaningful portfolios more difficult.

A Protocol adopted at Nice fixed the maximum number of Commissioners at 27, but this principle was overturned by the Council (based on Article 17(5) TEU) and currently each Member State has one Commissioner (currently 28)

Appointing Members

The procedure for appointing members of the Commission is laid down in Article 17(7) TEU; President of the Commission is elected by the European Parliament on a proposal of the European Council; the President-elect and the Council, by common accord, adopt a list of the appointees to the Commission

The President-elect, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the other members of the Commission are subject as a body to a vote of consent by the European Parliament; all are finally appointed by the European Council

- Commissioners must act in an independent capacity and not seek or accept instructions from third parties, nonetheless, the Commission as a whole must cooperate with the Member States

- Members of the Commission cannot be dismissed individually by other institutions, but may be compelled by the Court of Justice to retire on grounds of serious misconduct or resign if requested by the President of the Commission; the whole Commission must resign if a vote of no confidence is passed by the European Parliament (Jacques Santer Commission in 1999)

- Commission works under the political guidance of its President who:

o Decides matters concerning the internal organisation of the Commission;

o Divides the tasks of the Commission among its members;

o Appoints Vice-Presidents (except for the High Representative) o Can force a particular Commissioner to resign

The Commission is organized into Directorates General employing about 25,000 civil servants in total;

- Directorates General are headed by a Director General and are subdivided into Directorates. Various specialized services (eg Legal Service) support its work

- The Commission is collegiate body, meaning that decisions are subject to collective deliberation and that members bear collective responsibility at the political level

Case C-191/95, Commission v. Germany [1998] ECR I-5449

39. According to settled case-law, the principle of collegiality is based on the equal participation of the Commissioners in the adoption of decisions, from which it follows in particular that decisions should be the subject of collective deliberation and that all the members of the college of Commissioners should bear collective responsibility at political level for all decisions adopted [...]

40. The Court has also held that compliance with that principle is of concern to individuals affected by the legal consequences of a Commission decision [...]

41. Nevertheless, the formal requirements for effective compliance with the principle of

collegiality vary according to the nature and legal effects of the acts adopted by that institution.

42. Thus the Court has held that, with regard to decisions adopted for the purpose of ensuring observance of the competition rules, in which the Commission finds that there has been an infringement of those rules, issues directions to undertakings and imposes pecuniary penalties upon them, that the undertakings or associations of undertakings addressed by such decisions must be assured that the operative part and the statement of reasons were actually adopted by the college of Commissioners [...]

43. In this case the detailed procedure governing the collective deliberation by the college of Commissioners concerning the issue of the reasoned opinion and the bringing of an action for failure to fulfil obligations must therefore be determined in the light of the legal effects of those decisions with regard to the State concerned.

48. It follows from all the foregoing considerations that both the Commission's decision to issue a reasoned opinion and its decision to bring an action for a declaration of failure to fulfil

obligations must be the subject of collective deliberation by the college of Commissioners. The information on which those decisions are based must therefore be available to the members of the college. It is not, however, necessary for the college itself formally to decide on the wording of the acts which give effect to those decisions and put them in final form.

The role of the Commission is defined in Article 17 TEU:

- It has three main functions:

a. As guardian of the Treaty, it enjoys broad ranging supervisory and enforcement powers b. It acts as the initiator of legislative measures in most fields of the EU’s activities

c. It functions as the strongest executive arm of the EU, taking the lead in the implementation of EU policies

Article 17 TEU

1. The Commission shall promote the general interest of the Union and take appropriate

initiatives to that end. It shall ensure the application of the Treaties, and of measures adopted by the institutions pursuant to them. It shall oversee the application of Union law under the control of the Court of Justice of the European Union. It shall execute the budget and manage

programmes. It shall exercise coordinating, executive and management functions, as laid down in the Treaties. With the exception of the common foreign and security policy, and other cases provided for in the Treaties, it shall ensure the Union's external representation. It shall initiate the Union's annual and multiannual programming with a view to achieving interinstitutional agreements.

2. Union legislative acts may only be adopted on the basis of a Commission proposal, except where the Treaties provide otherwise. Other acts shall be adopted on the basis of a Commission proposal where the Treaties so provide.

3. The Commission's term of office shall be five years. The members of the Commission shall be chosen on the ground of their general competence and European commitment from persons whose independence is beyond doubt. In carrying out its responsibilities, the Commission shall be completely independent. Without prejudice to Article 18(2), the members of the Commission shall neither seek nor take instructions from any Government or other institution, body, office or entity. They shall refrain from any action incompatible with their duties or the performance of their tasks. [...]

6. The President of the Commission shall:

(a) lay down guidelines within which the Commission is to work;

(b) decide on the internal organisation of the Commission, ensuring that it acts consistently, efficiently and as a collegiate body;

(c) appoint Vice-Presidents, other than the High Representative of the Union for Foreign

Affairs and Security Policy, from among the members of the Commission.

A member of the Commission shall resign if the President so requests. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy shall resign, in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 18(1), if the President so requests. [...]

(2) The European Parliament

Originally, the European Parliament was known as the Assembly of the European Communities and was composed of members of the national parliaments of the Member States

Its role has changed dramatically with the introduction of direct elections in 1979 and the enlargement of its legislative powers through successive treaty revisions. Although the fact that members of the European

Parliament are elected directly creates a link between the national electorates and the Parliament, the latter can only be understood as a pan-European political body in a limited sense:

- Its political constituencies are still organised on a national basis;

- Elections generally suffer from a low voter turnout;

- It may be questioned whether there is a European political public or ‘demos’

The maximum number of MEPs is 750, meaning that the representation of the Member States will shrink

proportional with future enlargements of the Union; however, each Member State is allowed a minimum number of 6 MEPs and a maximum number of 96; although Member States are allocated MEPs based on the size of their respective populations, this system is not accurate and has been subject to constant criticism (eg Germany and some smaller Member States are underrepresented, while Luxembourg is overrepresented)

- MEPs sit in multinational groups based on political affiliation and not in national groups; there are 11 broad, multinational political groupings, the largest being the Socialist group

- The European Parliament is in session throughout the entire year, with meetings taking place in Strasbourg, Brussels and Luxembourg

- Its main officers are the President (acts as chair, exercises administrative and disciplinary functions, represents the institution), 14 vice-Presidents (support the President’s work) and 6 Questors (responsible for administrative and financial matters)

- It may establish permanent, temporary, specialised, general and joint committees to support its work;

committees may examine particular topics in detail, prepare opinions at the request of the Council and prepare resolutions concerning new initiatives of the Parliament; they play a key role in streamlining its work

The European Parliament currently has four main functions:

a. It exercises democratic supervision, in particular over the Commission by electing its President and approving the Commission as a body; by discussing the Commission's annual work programme; by exercising the right to pass a motion of censure against the Commission; by reviewing the Council’s work at the start of each Council Presidency; by stating its positions to the European Council; by reviewing the annual report of the European Central Bank

b. Under the ‘ordinary legislative procedure’ (Article 289 TFEU), the European Parliament is an equal partner to the Council in the legislative process; the European Parliament is now also entitled to initiate a revision of the Treaties by submitting a proposal to the European Council

c. The European Parliament now has an equal right to the Council to adopt the entire annual budget of the EU pursuant to Article 310 TFEU (co-decision)

d. The European Parliament plays an important role as a defender and protector of human rights within the EU (Article 7 TEU) as well as outside the EU

Article 14

1. The European Parliament shall, jointly with the Council, exercise legislative and budgetary

functions. It shall exercise functions of political control and consultation as laid down in the Treaties. It shall elect the President of the Commission.

2. The European Parliament shall be composed of representatives of the Union's citizens. They shall not exceed seven hundred and fifty in number, plus the President. Representation of citizens shall be degressively proportional, with a minimum threshold of six members per Member State. No Member State shall be allocated more than ninety-six seats.

The European Council shall adopt by unanimity, on the initiative of the European Parliament and with its consent, a decision establishing the composition of the European Parliament, respecting the principles referred to in the first subparagraph.

3. The members of the European Parliament shall be elected for a term of five years by direct universal suffrage in a free and secret ballot.

4. The European Parliament shall elect its President and its officers from among its members.

(3) The Court of Justice of the European Union

The Court of Justice of the European Union is the judicial institution of the EU and the EAEC. It consists of : - The Court of Justice (previously known as the European Court of Justice),

- The General Court (previously known as the Court of First Instance) and;

- Specialized courts (currently the European Union Civil Service Tribunal)

The Court consists of one judge from each Member State, which means that all legal traditions of the Member States are represented. Judges are appointed by the Member States by common accord on the recommendations of a panel (Article 255 TFEU); judges must be chosen from persons ‘whose independence is beyond doubt and who possess the qualifications required for appointment to the highest judicial offices in their respective countries or who are jurisconsults of recognised competence’ (Article 253 TFEU). Decisions of the Court are collegiate with no dissenting or separate opinions

The Court is assisted by 8 Advocates General who assist the judges in their judicial task by providing opinions to the Court on cases pending before it. Their function is particularly important given that there are no appeals to the Court’s judgment; Advocates General have the same status as Judges; they are required to be neutral as between the applicant and the defendant; their opinions often provide a fuller and sometimes more illuminating legal analysis than the judgments rendered by the Court; this is partly because Advocates General are not restricted to the arguments advanced by the parties and because their opinion is the work of a single individual rather than a collegiate body

The Court is served by a President and a Registrar:

- each judge and Advocate General is assisted by legal secretaries The Court may sit in three configurations:

- Grand Chamber (quorum of nine) - Full Court (quorum of 15 judges) and as - Chambers of three or five judges

Ratione materiae; the jurisdiction of the Court extends to all matters of EU law, except where it is specifically excluded (Article 24(1) TEU) and the review of the Treaties themselves

T–584/93, Roujansky v. Council [1994] ECR II-585

11 The Court notes at the outset that this action for annulment is directed against ... the Treaty on European Union itself.

15 As regards ... the claim for a finding that the Treaty on European Union is void, it should be observed that that Treaty is not an act of a Community institution within the meaning of Articles 4 and 173 of the Treaty and, consequently, this Court has no jurisdiction to examine the legality of its provisions (see the judgment of the Court of Justice in Joined Cases 31 and 35/86

LAISA v Council [1988] ECR 2285, paragraph 18).

- Ratione personae, the jurisdiction of the Court covers the institutions, Member States and private persons and entities.

- Three categories of proceedings can be brought before it:

- Three categories of proceedings can be brought before it:

In document TECNOLOGÍA Y USO DE LA CANOA (página 115-120)