Citizenship of the European Union
Citizenship of the European Union was introduced by the Maastricht Treaty, which was signed in 1992, and has been in force since 1993. European Union citizenship is additional to national citizenship, the EU citizenship affords rights and legal protections to its citizens. EU citizens have the right to address the European Parliament, European Ombudsman, and EU agencies directly, EU citizens freedoms include the right to free movement and employment across the EU. EU citizens are free to trade and transport goods and capital through EU borders, as in national market. EU citizens enjoy legal protections of the EU law, specifically the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and acts, the EU has an office of European Ombudsman whom EU citizens can approach directly. EU citizenship was first introduced by the Maastricht Treaty, and was extended by the Treaty of Amsterdam, prior to the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, the European Communities treaties provided guarantees for the free movement of economically active persons, but not, for others.
However, the treaty provisions were interpreted by the European Court of Justice not as having an economic purpose. In the case of Martinez Sala, the European Court of Justice held that the provisions provided substantive free movement rights in addition to those already granted by union law. Historically, the benefit of being a citizen of an EU country has been that of free movement. The free movement applies to the citizens of European Economic Area countries, with the creation of EU citizenship, certain political rights came into being. The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union provides for citizens to be represented at Union level in the European Parliament. Member States can distinguish between nationals and Union citizens but only if the provisions satisfy the test of proportionality, migrant EU citizens have a legitimate expectation of a limited degree of financial solidarity. Having regard to their degree of integration into the host society Length of time is an important factor when considering the degree of integration.
The ECJs case law on citizenship has been criticised for subjecting an increasing number of rules to the proportionality assessment. Article 45 Freedom of movement to work Article 45 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union states that 1, Freedom of movement for workers shall be secured within the Union. State employment reserved exclusively for nationals varies between member states, however, it is broadly limited to those roles that exercise a significant degree of public authority, such as judges, the military, senior civil servants or politicians. Note that not all Member States choose to all of these posts to nationals. Much of the existing legislation and case law was consolidated in the Citizens Rights Directive 2004/38/EC on the right to move
Council of the European Union
The Council of the European Union is the third of the seven institutions of the European Union as listed in the Treaty on European Union. It is part of the essentially bicameral EU legislature and represents the governments of the EUs member states. It is based in the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels, the Council meets in 10 different configurations of 28 national ministers. The continuity between presidencies is provided by an arrangement under which three successive presidencies, known as Presidency trios, share common political programmes, the Foreign Affairs Council is however chaired by the Unions High Representative. Its decisions are made by qualified majority voting in most areas, usually where it operates unanimously, it only needs to consult the Parliament. In a few limited areas the Council may initiate new EU law itself, the Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union. The Secretariat is divided into seven directorates-general, each administered by a director-general, the Council first appeared in the European Coal and Steel Community as the Special Council of Ministers, set up to counterbalance the High Authority.
The original Council had limited powers, issues relating only to coal and steel were in the Authoritys domain, as a whole, the Council only scrutinised the High Authority. In 1957, the Treaties of Rome established two new communities, and with two new Councils, the Council of the European Atomic Energy Community and the Council of the European Economic Community. However, due to objections over the power of the Authority, their Councils had more powers. In 1965 the Council was hit by the empty chair crisis, due to disagreements between French President Charles de Gaulle and the Commissions agriculture proposals, among other things, France boycotted all meetings of the Council. This halted the Councils work until the impasse was resolved the following year by the Luxembourg compromise, although initiated by a gamble of the President of the Commission, Walter Hallstein, who on lost the Presidency, the crisis exposed flaws in the Councils workings. In 1993, the Council adopted the name Council of the European Union and that treaty strengthened the Council, with the addition of more intergovernmental elements in the three pillars system.
However, at the time the Parliament and Commission had been strengthened inside the Community pillar. The Treaty of Lisbon abolished the system and gave further powers to Parliament. It merged the Councils High Representative with the Commissions foreign policy head, the development of the Council has been characterised by the rise in power of the Parliament, with which the Council has had to share its legislative powers. The Parliament has often provided opposition to the Councils wishes and this has in some cases led to clashes between both bodies with the Councils system of intergovernmentalism contradicting the developing parliamentary system and supranational principles. The primary purpose of the Council is to act as one of the two chambers of the EUs legislative branch, the chamber being the European Parliament
Court of Justice of the European Union
The Court of Justice of the European Union is the institution of the European Union that encompasses the whole judiciary. Seated in Luxembourg, Luxembourg, it consists of two courts, the Court of Justice and the General Court. From 2005 to 2016 it consisted of the Civil Service Tribunal and it has a sui generis court system, meaning of its own kind, and a supranational institution. CJEU consists of two courts, the Court of Justice, informally known as European Court of Justice which hears applications from national courts for preliminary rulings, annulment. It consists of one judge from each EU member country, as well as 11 advocates general, the General Court, which hears applications for annulment from individuals, companies and, less commonly, national governments. It is made up of 47 judges, which will be increased to 56 in 2019, cJEUs specific mission is to ensure that the law is observed in the interpretation and application of the Treaties of the European Union. To achieve this, it, reviews the legality of actions taken by the EUs institutions, enforces compliance by states with their obligations under the Treaties.
CJEU was originally established in 1952 as a court called the Court of Justice of the European Coal. The General Court was created in 1988 and the Civil Service Tribunal was created in 2004, with the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009, the court system obtained its current name, while the original court itself was renamed Court of Justice. Primacy of European Union law Beck, the Legal Reasoning of the Court of Justice of the EU. Gundega Mikelsone, The Binding Force of the Case Law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, official website The archival fonds of the Court of Justice of the European Union is consultable at the Historical Archives of the European Union
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union. Together with the Council of the European Union and the European Commission, the Parliament is composed of 751 members, who represent the second-largest democratic electorate in the world and the largest trans-national democratic electorate in the world. It has been elected every five years by universal suffrage since 1979. However, voter turnout at European Parliament elections has fallen consecutively at each election since that date, voter turnout in 2014 stood at 42. 54% of all European voters. The Parliament is the first institution of the EU, and shares equal legislative and it likewise has equal control over the EU budget. Finally, the European Commission, the body of the EU, is accountable to Parliament. In particular, Parliament elects the President of the Commission, and it can subsequently force the Commission as a body to resign by adopting a motion of censure. The President of the European Parliament is Antonio Tajani, elected in January 2017 and he presides over a multi-party chamber, the two largest groups being the Group of the European Peoples Party and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.
The last union-wide elections were the 2014 elections, the European Parliament has three places of work – Brussels, the city of Luxembourg and Strasbourg. Luxembourg is home to the administrative offices, meetings of the whole Parliament take place in Strasbourg and in Brussels. Committee meetings are held in Brussels, the Parliament, like the other institutions, was not designed in its current form when it first met on 10 September 1952. One of the oldest common institutions, it began as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and it was a consultative assembly of 78 appointed parliamentarians drawn from the national parliaments of member states, having no legislative powers. Its development since its foundation shows how the European Unions structures have evolved without a master plan. Some, such as Tom Reid of the Washington Post, said of the union, nobody would have designed a government as complex. Even the Parliaments two seats, which have switched several times, are a result of various agreements or lack of agreements, the body was not mentioned in the original Schuman Declaration.
It was assumed or hoped that difficulties with the British would be resolved to allow the Council of Europes Assembly to perform the task, a separate Assembly was introduced during negotiations on the Treaty as an institution which would counterbalance and monitor the executive while providing democratic legitimacy. The wording of the ECSC Treaty demonstrated the desire for more than a normal consultative assembly by using the term representatives of the people. Its early importance was highlighted when the Assembly was given the task of drawing up the treaty to establish a European Political Community
European Commission
Commissioners swear an oath at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, pledging to respect the treaties and to be completely independent in carrying out their duties during their mandate. The Commission operates as a government, with 28 members of the Commission. There is one member per state, but members are bound by their oath of office to represent the general interest of the EU as a whole rather than their home state. One of the 28 is the Commission President proposed by the European Council, the current Commission is the Juncker Commission, which took office in late 2014. The procedural languages of the Commission are English and German, the Members of the Commission and their cabinets are based in the Berlaymont building in Brussels. The first Commission originated in 1951 as the nine-member High Authority under President Jean Monnet, the High Authority was the supranational administrative executive of the new European Coal and Steel Community. It took office first on 10 August 1952 in Luxembourg, in 1958 the Treaties of Rome had established two new communities alongside the ECSC, the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community.
However their executives were called Commissions rather than High Authorities, the reason for the change in name was the new relationship between the executives and the Council. Some states such as France expressed reservations over the power of the High Authority, louis Armand led the first Commission of Euratom. Walter Hallstein led the first Commission of the EEC, holding the first formal meeting on 16 January 1958 at the Château of Val-Duchesse, Hallstein notably began the consolidation of European law and started to have a notable impact on national legislation. The three bodies, collectively named the European Executives, co-existed until 1 July 1967 when, under the Merger Treaty, the Rey Commission completed the Communitys customs union in 1968 and campaigned for a more powerful, European Parliament. Despite Rey being the first President of the communities, Hallstein is seen as the first President of the modern Commission. The Malfatti and Mansholt Commissions followed with work on monetary co-operation, with that enlargement the Commissions membership increased to thirteen under the Ortoli Commission, which dealt with the enlarged community during economic and international instability at that time.
Following the Jenkins Commission, Gaston Thorns Commission oversaw the Communitys enlargement to the south, the Commission headed by Jacques Delors was seen as giving the Community a sense of direction and dynamism. Delors and his team are considered as the founding fathers of the euro. The International Herald Tribune noted the work of Delors at the end of his term in 1992. He arrived when Europessimism was at its worst, although he was a little-known former French finance minister, he breathed life and hope into the EC and into the dispirited Brussels Commission. The successor to Delors was Jacques Santer, the entire Santer Commission was forced to resign in 1999 by the Parliament as result of a fraud and corruption scandal, with a central role played by Édith Cresson
European Court of Auditors
The Court of Auditors is the fifth institution of the European Union. It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg, the Court of Auditors was created by the 1975 Budgetary Treaty and was formally established on 18 October 1977, holding its first session a week later. At that time the Court was not an institution, it was an external body designed to audit the finances of the European Communities. It replaced two separate bodies, one which dealt with the finances of the European Economic Community and Euratom and one which dealt with the European Coal. The Court did not have a legal status until the Treaty of Maastricht when it was made the fifth institution. By becoming an institution it gained new powers, such as the ability to bring actions before the European Court of Justice. However its audit power related only to the European Community pillar of the EU, despite its name, the Court has no judicial functions. It is rather a professional external investigatory audit agency, the primary role of the court is to externally check if the budget of the European Union has been implemented correctly, in that EU funds have been spent legally and with sound management.
In doing so, the checks the paperwork of all persons handling any income or expenditure of the Union. In this role the Court has to remain independent yet remain in touch with the other institutions and it is based on this report that the Parliament makes its decision on whether or not to sign off the European Commissions handling of the budget for that year. The Parliament notably refused to do this in 1984 and 1999 and they are not all replaced every six years, however, as their terms do not coincide. Members are chosen from people who have served in national audit bodies, while serving in the Court, members cannot engage in any other professional activities. As the body is independent, its members are free to decide their own organisation and rules of procedure, since the Treaty of Nice, the Court can set up chambers to adopt certain types of reports or opinions. The Court is supported by a staff of approximately 800 auditors and administrators recruited as part of the European civil service, Auditors are divided into auditor groups which inspect and prepare draft reports for the Court to take decisions upon.
Inspections take place not only of EU institutions but any state which receives EU funds given that 90% of income, upon finding a fault the Court has no legal powers of its own and instead informs OLAF which is the EUs anti-fraud agency. The members elect one of their members as the President of the Court for a renewable three-year term, the election takes place by a secret ballot of those members who applied for the presidency. The duties of the President are to convene and chair the meetings of the Court, ensuring that decisions are implemented, the president represents the court and appoints a representative for it in contentious proceedings. The current President is Klaus-Heiner Lehne, elected 13 September 2016 and he succeeded Vítor Manuel da Silva Caldeira, elected in 2007
European Central Bank
The European Central Bank is the central bank for the euro and administers monetary policy of the eurozone, which consists of 19 EU member states and is one of the largest currency areas in the world. It is one of the worlds most important central banks and is one of the seven institutions of the European Union listed in the Treaty on European Union, the capital stock of the bank is owned by the central banks of all 28 EU member states. The Treaty of Amsterdam established the bank in 1998, and it is headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. As of 2015 the President of the ECB is Mario Draghi, former governor of the Bank of Italy, former member of the World Bank, the bank primarily occupied the Eurotower prior to, and during, the construction of the new headquarters. The primary objective of the ECB, mandated in Article 2 of the Statute of the ECB, is to price stability within the Eurozone. The ECB has, under Article 16 of its Statute, the right to authorise the issuance of euro banknotes. Member states can issue euro coins, but the amount must be authorised by the ECB beforehand, the ECB is governed by European law directly, but its set-up resembles that of a corporation in the sense that the ECB has shareholders and stock capital.
Its capital is €11 billion held by the central banks of the member states as shareholders. The initial capital allocation key was determined in 1998 on the basis of the population and GDP. Shares in the ECB are not transferable and cannot be used as collateral, the European Central Bank is the de facto successor of the European Monetary Institute. The EMI itself took over from the earlier European Monetary Co-operation Fund, the bank was the final institution needed for EMU, as outlined by the EMU reports of Pierre Werner and President Jacques Delors. It was established on 1 June 1998, the first President of the Bank was Wim Duisenberg, the former president of the Dutch central bank and the European Monetary Institute. The French argued that since the ECB was to be located in Germany and this was opposed by the German and Belgian governments who saw Duisenberg as a guarantor of a strong euro. Tensions were abated by an agreement in which Duisenberg would stand down before the end of his mandate.
Trichet replaced Duisenberg as President in November 2003, there had been tension over the ECBs Executive Board, with the United Kingdom demanding a seat even though it had not joined the Single Currency. Under pressure from France, three seats were assigned to the largest members, France and Italy, Spain demanded and obtained a seat. Despite such a system of appointment the board asserted its independence early on in resisting calls for interest rates, when the ECB was created, it covered a Eurozone of eleven members. On 1 December 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force, ECB according to the article 13 of TEU, on 1 November 2011, Mario Draghi replaced Jean-Claude Trichet as President of the ECB
Europe
Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania.
The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it.
For the second part the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
Member state of the European Union
The European Union comprises 28 member states. Each member state is party to the treaties of the union and thereby subject to the privileges. Unlike members of most international organisations, the states of the EU are subjected to binding laws in exchange for representation within the common legislative. Member states must agree unanimously for the EU to adopt policies concerning defence, subsidiarity is a founding principle of the EU. In 1957, six core states founded the EUs predecessor, the European Economic Community, the remaining states have acceded in subsequent enlargements. On 1 July 2013, Croatia became the newest member state of the EU, Enlargement of the Union is contingent upon the consent of all existing members and the candidates adoption of the existing body of EU law, known as the acquis communautaire. There is disparity in the size and political system of member states, while in some areas majority voting takes place where larger states have more votes than smaller ones, smaller states have disproportional representation compared to their population.
No member state has withdrawn or been suspended from the EU, in June 2016, the UK held a referendum on membership of the EU, resulting in 51. 89% of votes cast in favour to leaving. Prime Minister Theresa May invoked Article 50 on 29 March 2017 to formally initiate the withdrawal process, notes Enlargement is, and has been, a principal feature of the Unions political landscape. The EUs predecessors were founded by the Inner Six, those willing to forge ahead with the Community while others remained skeptical. It was only a decade before the first countries changed their policy and attempted to join the Union, French President Charles de Gaulle feared British membership would be an American Trojan horse and vetoed its application. Applying in 1969 were the United Kingdom, Denmark, however, declined to accept the invitation to become a member when the electorate voted against it, leaving just the UK, Ireland and Denmark to join. But despite the setbacks, and the withdrawal of Greenland from Denmarks membership in 1985, in 1987, the geographical extent of the project was tested when Morocco applied, and was rejected as it was not considered a European country.
The year 1990 saw the Cold War drawing to a close, the members of the former Eastern Bloc and Yugoslavia were all starting to move towards EU membership. Ten of these joined in an enlargement on 1 May 2004 symbolising the unification of East. Bulgaria and Romania joined in 2007, the year 2013 saw the latest member, accede to the Union, and the EU has prioritised membership for the rest of the Balkans – namely Western Balkans. Albania, Montenegro and Turkey are all formal, turkish membership, pending since the 1980s, is a more contentious issue but it entered negotiations in 2005. According to the Copenhagen criteria, membership of the European Union is open to any European country that is a stable, free market liberal democracy that respects the rule of law and human rights
Institutions of the European Union
The institutions of the European Union are the seven principal decision making bodies of the European Union. Institutions are different from agencies of the European Union, most EU institutions were created with the establishment of the European Community in 1958. Much change since has been in the context the shifting of the balance away from the Council. The role of the Commission has often been to mediate between the two or tip the balance, however the Commission is becoming more accountable to the Parliament, in 1999 it forced the resignation of the Santer Commission and forced a reshuffle of the proposed Barroso Commission in 2004. The development of the institutions, with changes from treaties. Some such as Tom Reid of the Washington Post said of the institutions that nobody would have designed a government as complex. The first institutions were created at the start of the 1950s with the creation of the ECSC, based on the Schuman declaration, at its core was an independent executive called the High Authority with supranational powers over the Community.
The laws made by the Authority would be observed by a Court of Justice in order to ensure they were upheld, during the negotiations, two supervisory institutions were put forward to counterbalance the power of the High Authority. The Common Assembly proposed by Jean Monnet to act as a monitor, the second was the Council of Ministers, pushed by the smaller states to add an intergovernmental element and harmonise national policies with those of the authority. In 1957 the Treaties of Rome established two, communities creating a market and promoting atomic energy co-operation. The three institutions shared the Court of Justice and the Parliament, however they had a separate Council and High Authority, the reason for this is the different relationship between the Commission and Council. The three communities were merged in 1967, by the Merger Treaty, into the European Communities. The institutions were carried over from the European Economic Community, under the Treaties of Rome, the Common Assembly was supposed to become elected.
However this was delayed by the Council until 1979, since it gained more powers via successive treaties. The Maastricht Treaty gave powers to the Council by giving it a key role in the two new pillars of the EU which were based on intergovernmental principles. The 2009 Lisbon Treaty brought nearly all areas under the codecision procedure. The rules for the distribution of seats in the parliament were changed to a formula system, the High Representative merged with the European Commissioner for External Relations and joined the Commission. The appointment of the Commission President became dependent upon the last EU elections, the Council of Ministers adopted more qualified majority voting and the European Council was made a distinct institution with a permanent president
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