The European Parliament
The European Parliament - the only directly elected EU institution - has 626 Members who exercise democratic control over the running of the EU. Parliament, acting jointly with the Council of Ministers, enacts most EU laws, establishes the EU budget and supervises EU spending. Parliament receives petitions from citizens adversely affected by EU decisions. It also debates and adopts resolutions on behalf of all EU citizens on matters of wide and/or urgent public concern. These resolutions are circulated to the other EU institutions and to national parliaments; they have a considerable influence on EU policies.
The European Commission
The Commission comprises 20 Commissioners. It is independent of national governments and acts as a college. The Commission makes proposals for European legislation and action, upholds the treaties and implements EU policies. The European Parliament approves (or rejects) the President-designate of the Commission, votes (or refuses to vote) the Commission as a whole into office, and has the power to censure the Commission.
Council of Ministers
The Council of the European Union is made up of one minister from each Member State government The ministers present in Council meetings vary according to the subject under discussion, e.g., agriculture ministers for farm policy, finance ministers for budgetary policy and so forth. The Council acts jointly and equally with Parliament to adopt most EU legislation; they also work together to establish the EU budget.
The European Council
The Heads of State or Government of the Member States meet at least twice a year in the European Council. The European Council decides the broad lines of Community policy.
The Court of Justice
The Court of Justice is the supreme court of the European Union. It decides on cases of alleged breaches or of failure to implement the EU treaties and EU law. The Court has 15 judges and nine advocates-general.
The Court of Auditors
The Court of Auditors (15 members) monitors the management of Community finance.
