Unit 4: Organisations, Competition and Environment
Main EU Institutions
What are the main institutions of the European Union?
Download a handout on the main EU Institutions pdf format (98Kb).
Institutions of the European Union
They were created to give expression to an ever closer Union of European nations. As the Union's responsibilities have broadened, the institutions have grown larger and more numerous. In its first 20 years, the Commission would propose, the Parliament would advise, the Council of Ministers would decide and the Court of Justice would interpret.
In the last 20 years, the Parliament has become directly-elected and acquired new powers, the European Court of Auditors has arrived on the scene, the European Investment Bank has emerged as a major source of finance for economic development, the Economic and Social Committee has demonstrated to the value of debate and co-operation between the economic and social partners and, most recently, the Committee of the Regions has been set up to advance regional interests and diversity.
European Parliament is the directly-elected democratic expression of the political will of the peoples of the European Union, the largest multinational Parliament in the world.
Council of the European Union is usually known as the Council of Ministers, and has no equivalent anywhere in the world. Here, the Member States legislate for the Union, set its political objectives, co-ordinate their national policies and resolve differences between themselves and with other institutions.
European Commission has three distinct functions: initiator of proposals for legislation, guardian of the Treaties, and the manager and executor of Union policies and of international trade relations.
Court of Justice provides the judicial safeguards necessary to ensure that the law is observed in the interpretation and application of the Treaties and, generally in all of the activities of the Union.
Court of Auditors is the taxpayers' representative, responsible for checking that the European Union spends its money according to its budgetary rules and regulations and for the purposes for which it is intended.
European Investment Bank is the European Union's financing institution, it provides loans for capital investment promoting the Union's balanced economic development and integration.
Economic and Social Committee in accordance with the Treaties, the Committee advises the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament. The opinions which it delivers (either in response to a referral or on its own initiative) are drawn up by representatives of the various categories of economic and social activity in the European Union.
Committee of the Regions is the European Union's youngest institution whose birth reflects Member States' strong desire not only to respect regional and local identities and prerogatives but also to involve them in the development and implementation of EU policies.
European Ombudsman every citizen of each Member State is both a national and a European citizen. One of the rights of all European citizens is to apply to the European Ombudsman if they are victim of an act of "maladministration" by the EU institutions or bodies.
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