EU Dictionary

The European Central Bank: The ECB is responsible for managing the Euro - the EU’s single currency, and for maintaining price stability for the more than two-thirds of the EU’s citizens who use the euro. The ECB is also charged with framing and implementing the EU’s economic and monetary policy. It is based in Frankfurt, Germany. Jean Claude Trichet is currently President of the ECB.

The European Council: This is the forum within which the Heads of State or Government of the EU meet, together with the President of the European Commission, to discuss overall EU policy. The European Council meets, in principle, four times a year at so called “summits.” Under the Lisbon Treaty, a new position of President of the European Council will be created.

The Council of the European Union: Formerly know as the Council of Ministers, this is the Union’s main decision making body. Its role is to legislate and carry out budgetary functions, together with the Parliament. It consists of a Ministerial-level representative of each Member State, who is able to commit the government in question and cast its vote. The Council meets in different configurations, reflecting the different policy areas.

The European Commission: This is the executive arm of the EU. It is politically independent and looks after the interests of the EU as a whole rather than those of national governments. The Commission comprises a national representative from each member state. The main duties of the Commission include overseeing the application of Union law, proposing legislation, representing the Union externally other than in the foreign policy area, executing the budget, initiating and managing programmes. The current president of the European Commission is José Manuel Durão Barroso, a former Prime Minister of Portugal. The ‘seat’ of the Commission is in Brussels (Belgium).

The Council of Europe: This is a Strasbourg based intergovernmental organisation which promotes human rights and European cultural diversity. It is not part of the European Union though the two organisations actively cooperate.

The Court of Justice of the European Union: The role of the court is to interpret and apply EU law. It comprises one judge from each Member State appointed for a renewable six year term. The Court is based in Luxembourg. The Court of First Instance was set up in 1988 to assist with the huge case load of the Court of Justice.

Co-decision: This is the procedure now used for most EU law-making. Parliament shares power equally with the Council. If they cannot agree on a piece of proposed legislation, it is sent to the conciliation committee, which comprises equal numbers of Council and Parliament representatives. Upon reaching an agreement, the committee sends the text to the Parliament and Council so that they can finally adopted it as law. The Lisbon Treaty greatly extends the number of areas in which the Parliament is co-legislator with the Council. The procedure will be known as “ordinary legislative procedure”.

The Court of Auditors: The role of this body is to examine the Union’s accounts and to ensure good financial management. It consists of one national per Member State. The Court of Auditors is based in Luxembourg.

Decision: This is legally-binding, but only on those to whom it is addressed.

Directive: This is legally-binding, but gives Member States flexibility as to how the
results are to be achieved.

The European Investment Bank: This is the Union’s long-term lending institution. It is a no-profit bank that lends money to the public and private sectors for projects of European interest. Philippe Maystadt is currently president of the European Investment Bank.

The European Parliament: This is the EU institution directly elected by the citizens
of the Union. Elections are held every five years. The parliament legislates jointly with the Council of the European Union and sets the Union’s budget. The European Parliament has three places of work: Brussels (Belgium), Luxembourg and Strasbourg (France). Under the Lisbon Treaty, the European Parliament elects the Commission President.

Regulation: Regulations and Directives are the two main legal tools of the EU. A regulation has general application and is legally-binding and directly applicable in all Member States.

Recommendations and opinions: These are non-binding.

Qualified Majority Voting: QMV On most issues, the Council of the European Union takes its decisions by voting. Each country can cast a certain number of votes, roughly in proportion to the size of its population. The Lisbon Treaty will introduce a new system of double majority. This will make qualified majority voting more transparent, as it is based on two clear elements: A 65% majority of the EU’s population and a 55% majority of EU Member States.