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European Union: European Union Government Profile 2012

2012/03/09

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European Union Government Profile 2012

The policy of the European Union (EU) is emerging as separate political systems. As a supranational merger of sovereign states, it represents, with respect to the policy area, a historical innovation is both intergovernmental, supranational and a multiparty parliamentary democracy. The German Federal Constitutional Court has to appoint the neologism used Staatenverbund.

From the onset phase of the project of European unification after the Second World War, different designs, which still exist today, opposed the notion of a State from the Union (the United States of Europe within the meaning of Winston Churchill) while the other design was more a confederation (the Europe of nations within the meaning of de Gaulle). In this contradiction has formed the current institutional structure, on the basis of compromises made between the Member States.

The most important political institutions on the European level are the European Commission, the European Union Council (also called the "Council of Ministers), the European Parliament, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Council . The Commission is an independent body which is obliged to work in the interest of the whole Union and has essentially the executive. The legislature is mainly held by the Council of Ministers in which Member States are gathered and represent the interests of their respective governments, and by the European Parliament is directly elected since 1979 and represents the European population. The body of jurisprudence from the EU Court of Justice of the European Union that is politically independent. Finally, the European Council which, since 1969, the Heads of State and Government of member states meet in regular summits - formally established since 1993 - and set the guidelines and decide the policy of the EU.

Government type: 

a hybrid intergovernmental and supranational organization

Administrative divisions: 

Independence: 

7 Febrary 1992 (Maastricht Treaty signed establishing the EU); 1 November 1993 (Maastricht Treaty entered into force)

National holiday: 

EuropeDay 9 May (1950); note - a Union-wide holiday, the day that Robert SCHUMAN proposed the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community to achieve an organized Europe

Constitution: 

Legal system: 

Comparable to the legal systems of member states; first supranational law system

Suffrage: 

18 years of age; universal

Legislative branch: 

two legislative bodies consisting of the Council of the European Union (27 member-state ministers having 345 votes; the number of votes is roughly proportional to member-states' population) and the European Parliament (736 seats; seats allocated among member states in proportion to population; members elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term); note - the Council is the main decision-making body of the EU; leaders of the EU member states appointed UK Baroness Catherine Ashton to be the first High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy; Ashton took office on 1 December 2009; her concurrent appointment as Vice President of the European Commission - both of which are subject to confirmation by the European Parliament - endows her position with the policymaking influence of the Council of the EU and the budgetary influence of the European Commission elections: last held 4-7 June 2009 (next to be held in June 2014) election results: percent of vote - EPP 35.9%, PES 21.9%, ALDE 10.9%, Greens/EFA 7.2%, UEN 4.8%, GUE/NGL 4.3%, IND/DEM 2.4%, others 12.6%; seats by party - EPP 266, PES 161, ALDE 80, Greens/EFA 53, UEN 35, GUE/NGL 32, IND/DEM 18, others 93

Judicial branch: 

Court of Justice of the European Communities (ensures that the treaties are interpreted and applied uniformly throughout the EU; resolve constitutional issues among the EU institutions) - 27 justices (one from each member state) appointed for a six-year term; note - for the sake of efficiency, the court can sit with 13 justices known as the "Grand Chamber"; Court of First Instance - 27 justices appointed for a six-year term

Political parties and leaders : 

Confederal Group of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left or GUE/NGL [Lothar BISKY]; Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group or EFD [Nigel FARAGE and Francesco SPERONI]; European Conservatives and Reformists Group or ECR [Michael KAMINSKI]; Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe or ALDE [Guy VERHOFSTADT]; Group of the European People's Party or EPP [Joseph DAUL]; Group of Greens/European Free Alliance or Greens/EFA [Rebecca HARMS and Daniel COHN-BENDIT]; Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament or S&D [Martin SCHULZ]

Political pressure groups and leaders: 

International organization participation: 

European Union: ARF (dialogue member), ASEAN (dialogue member), G-20, IDA, OAS (observer), PIF (partner), SAARC (observer), UN (observer) European Council: Australian Group, CBSS, CERN, FAO, EBRD, G-10, IEA, LAIA, NSG (observer), OECD, UNRWA (observer), WCO, WTO, ZC (observer) European Central Bank: BIS European Investment Bank: EBRD, WADB (nonregional member)

Flag description: 

blue field with 12 five-pointed gold stars arranged in a circle in the center, representing the union of the peoples of Europe; the number of stars is fixed