Institutions of the European Union

[4] The development of the institutions, with incremental changes from treaties and agreements, is testament to the evolution of the Union's structures without one clear "master plan."

Some observers like Tom Reid of The Washington Post said of the institutions that "nobody would have deliberately designed a government as complex and as redundant as the EU.

"[5] The first institutions were created at the start of the 1950s with the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), based on the Schuman declaration, between six states.

The ECSC was designed to bring the markets of coal and steel, the materials needed to wage war, under the control of a supranational authority with the aim of encouraging peace and economic development.

The "Common Assembly" proposed by Jean Monnet to act as a monitor, counterweight and to add democratic legitimacy was composed of 78 national parliamentarians.

[7] The second was the Council of Ministers, pushed by the smaller states also to add an intergovernmental element and harmonise national policies with those of the authority.

The three institutions shared the Court of Justice and the Parliament, however, they had a separate Council and High Authority, which was called the Commission in these Communities.

At the time the French government was suspicious of the supranational and wanted to limit the powers of the High Authority in the new Communities, giving the council a greater role in checking the executive.

[2][7] The Maastricht Treaty also gave further powers to the council by giving it a key role in the two new pillars of the EU which were based on intergovernmental principles.

[14] Essentially, the Council of the European Union, parliament or another party place a request for legislation to the commission.

The commission then drafts this and presents it to the parliament and the Council of the European Union, where in most cases both must give their assent.

[15] The commission's duty is to ensure it is implemented by dealing with the day-to-day running of the Union and taking others to Court if they fail to comply.

They represent nearly 500 million citizens (the world's second largest democratic electorate) and form the only directly elected body in the Union.

It meets four times a year to define the Union's policy agenda and give impetus to integration.

In these various forms they share the legislative and budgetary power of the Parliament, and also lead the Common Foreign and Security Policy.

It is a body composed of one appointee from each state, currently twenty-seven, but is designed to be independent of national interests.

The council's adoption of the commission is not an area which requires the decision to be unanimous; their acceptance is arrived at according to the rules for qualified majority voting.

[24] The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) (French: Cour de justice de l'Union européenne or "CJUE"; Latin: Curia[25]) is the judicial branch of the European Union (EU) and is responsible for interpreting EU law and treaties.

[11][26] It is also the central bank for the eurozone (the states which have adopted the euro) and thus controls monetary policy in that area with an agenda to maintain price stability.

The committee is composed of the Council members plus an equal number of MEPs who seek to agree a common position.

The European Commission has similarities to the Swiss Federal Council in that both have all-party representation and are appointed on the basis of nationality rather than popularity.

Due to this system of presidency Swiss leaders, like those of the EU, are relatively unknown with national politics viewed as somewhat technocratic resulting in low voter turnout, in a similar fashion to that of the European Parliament.

Other parallels include the jealously guarded powers of states, the considerable level of translation and the choice of a lesser city as the capital.

It becomes clearer under the Lisbon Treaty with the division of the European Council as a distinct institution with a fixed President.

This is notable in terms of the committees being of greater size and power, political parties being very decentralised and it being separated from the executive branch (most national governments operate under a parliamentary system).

[36] The treaty states that the Commission and Council would be based in Brussels, the Courts in Luxembourg City, and the Parliament in Strasbourg.

Together with NATO it has attracted more journalists and ambassadors than Washington, D.C.[39] However the three-city agreement has been criticised, notably concerning the Parliament, due to the large number of people that move between the cities.

The European Green Party estimated that the arrangement costs 200 million euro and 20,268 tonnes of carbon dioxide.