Political Institutions Essay

The parliament which is officially known as the European Parliament is the only colligations frame that directly elect. It is do up of 785 members who are elected for five year terms by universal suffrage and are determined by the governmental loyalty. By virtue of being the only elected body of the union, parliament reflects the more than than 500 million citizens wishes, however, it has relatively weaker power as compared to the council in close to areas such having the absolute legislative  powers. Its powers include co-owning the legislative and budgetary authority of the union with the council.Further, it has power over the commission which the council do non enjoy and hence earning it the praises that it is the most powerful and democratic legislature in the globe. Parliament overview, 2007 Its occurrent prexy who also doubles as its speaker is Hans-Gert Pottering elected in 2007.The council of the European center which was also known as the Council of Minister s out-of-pocket to its composition, it is composed of national ministers, one per nation, who meets various capacities depending with the issue to be discussed e.g. if it is security mea authentic matters being discussed then the respective ministers in charge of security matters in every nation attends the council. It co-holds both the legislative and budgetary powers with the parliament, and further it holds the administrator director powers, making it the of import decision making organ of the EU.The power of the council is however, unbroken at bay through a rotating kind of its leadership, its presidency rotates amidst the member states every six months and therefore preventing any attempts to override the authority of the council over the opposite unions institutions. Again, the decision making is compositors case to voting with mass or unanimity being set as the requirements, with the votes being allocated by the ratio of population. The councils power also extends to the control of the other both pillars of the union namely the common Foreign and Security Policy and the police force and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal matters. The Council of the European Union, 2007The commission of the European Communities forms the executive arm of the union its composition includes one member each from the unions states i.e. 20 seven. The members are elected on condition that they get out not represent their respective national interests. The bodys main duty is to draft all the law of the union and has a monopoly of legislative inventiveness within the European Community pillar however, the laws are subject to approval by both the parliament and the council.Again, its powers extend to over becharming the daily         activities of the union and also it has got a duty to up hold the law and treaties and hence playing the role of a Guardian of the Treaties that makeup the union. Its powers are redact to check by the fa ct that the prexy who is the commissions head is nominated by the council and approved by the parliament.Other members of the commission who are known as the commissioners are proposed by member states in consultation with the commissions president and again approved by the parliament. The commissions current president is Jose Manuel Baroso who together with his commission was elected into office in 2004. Institutions Commission, 2007 This is the authoritative coquet of justice of the European Communities also known as the European court of Justice it acts on Union law matters. It is composed of twenty seven judges one each from the member states, the court president is chosen (elected) from among the 27, currently Vassilos Skouris is the occupier of the post.The courts major role is to make sure that the Union law is adhered to by all the member states, its supremacy is seen on the fact that the Union law overrides national laws of members nations. For instance in 2001 it g overn that a section of the national constitution of Germany was not in ready with the Union law because it barred women from engaging in military roles. 20 The court of justice does not act all alone in matters concerning the Union law it is assisted by two lesser courts known as the Court of First Instance of the European Communities (CFI) and Civil Service Tribunal. Institutions Court of Justice, 2007The sensitivity of fraud cases and the fact that the Unions Budget confused large amounts of money, an auditing body was necessary the court of auditors is responsible for the monitoring of the economic consumption of the union and preparing yearly audits on the Unions budget. Its name does not necessarily imply any legal or judicial powers scarcely it gives views on legislations that involve financial matters. It is composed of one member apiece from the union members and who are appointed by the council every six years, with the president being elected every three years from am ong them, currently Hubert weber occupies the seat. Institutions Court of Auditors, 2007With natural laws and treaties being enacted chiefly to accommodate new members and new ideologies and partly to streamline the functioning of the Unions institutions, new institutions have been proposed to be created. down the stairs Lisbon accord of Changes the following institutions are proposed the European Council, which has been formerly playing as an informal body under the Council of ministers. Its inception will see it assuming the executive powers that were initially the preserve of the council of ministers and therefore becoming the highest political body of the Union. Other powers will include delineating the Unions policy agenda and creating the momentum for integration, other features will be similar to that of the council of ministers.The other proposed institution is the European Central Bank, this till is tipped to represent the interests of the euro-zone i.e. the fifteen s tates that have adopted the euro, and the main idea behind the formation of this body is to induce fiscal controls in order to sustain price stability. Its establishment will include a board made national bank governors and a president appointed by the European Council currently Jean-Claude Trichet is the president. Draft Treaty modifying, 2007The European Union system of government though unique rotter be likened to other models of governance, for instance, Germanys federalism and the Swiss federal council where power is primarily shared between the state and the federal government with the states having a headway say in the decision making process even at the federal level unlike in US where powers are all the way divided between the state and the federal government with the state having limit say over decision making process. The rotating presidency, the choice of lesser cities to emcee the headquarters of the Community Institutions, the spreading of executive powers betwee n the institutions, are some of the  equal representation measures employed by the EU. Borzel, Tanja A, 2002  References               EU Law Blog, open at      http//eulaw.typad.com, accessed on November 26, 2008Merging of the executives, available at            http//www.enalu?lang=2& antiophthalmic factordoc=473, accessed on November 26, 2008EUR-Lex Treaties, available at