UK and the EU (3) - The Parliament, the Commission and the Court

European Commission

The earlier post - UK and the EU (2) - took a necessarily brief look at the Treaties which are, essentially, the constitution of the EU.  This post takes a closer look at three of the Institutions of the EU - the European Parliament; the European Commission and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).  Europa - Links to all the EU Institutions

: The European Parliament :

The European Parliament is an important forum for political debate and decision-making at the EU level. The 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEP) are directly elected for 5 year terms by voters in all Member States to represent people’s interests with regard to EU law-making and to make sure other EU institutions are working democratically.

Over the years and with subsequent changes in European treaties, the Parliament has acquired substantial legislative and budgetary powers that allow it to set, together with the representatives of the governments of the Member States in the Council, the direction in which the European project is heading. In doing so, the Parliament has sought to promote democracy and human rights – not only in Europe, but also throughout the world.

The vast majority of European laws are adopted jointly by the European Parliament and the Council. 

The ordinary legislative procedure gives the same weight to the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union on a wide range of areas (for example, economic governance, immigration, energy, transport, the environment and consumer protection).

The Parliament also has political initiative power which means that it can ask the Commission to present legislative proposals to the Council.

The Parliament, in collaboration with the Council, draws up the annual budget of the European Union.

The President of the European Commission is nominated with the approval of the European Parliament (by absolute majority) at the proposal of Council.  It can also call a motion of censure on the Commission which must then collectively resign or discharge a commissioner.

The European Parliament can also ask questions (written or oral) of the Council and Commission, receive petitions from European citizens and create temporary committees of inquiry in the case of breaches or poor application of community law. Lastly, it has right of recourse at the Court of Justice of the European Union.

A short guide to the European Parliament

How the European Parliament works

Legislative powers

: The European Commission :

The European Commission is the EU's politically independent executive arm.  The Commission comprises a President, 7 Vice Presidents and 20 Commissioners. and is appointed for 5 years.  Commissioners (one per Member State) have to be independent of national governments.  It is alone responsible for drawing up proposals for new European legislation, and it implements the decisions of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.

Proposes new laws

The Commission is the sole EU institution tabling laws for adoption by the Parliament and the Council that:

• protect the interests of the EU and its citizens on issues that can't be dealt with effectively at national level;
• get technical details right by consulting experts and the public.

Manages EU policies; allocates EU funding

• Sets EU spending priorities, together with the Council and Parliament.
• Draws up annual budgets for approval by the Parliament and Council.
• Supervises how the money is spent, under scrutiny by the Court of Auditors.

Enforces EU law

• Together with the Court of Justice, ensures that EU law is properly applied in all the member countries.

Represents the EU internationally

• Speaks on behalf of all EU countries in international bodies, in particular in areas of trade policy and humanitarian aid.
• Negotiates international agreements for the EU.

 The European Commission

: The Court of Justice of the EU :

• Role: Ensuring EU law is interpreted and applied the same in every EU country; ensuring countries and EU institutions abide by EU law
• The Court is divided into 3 bodies:
  Court of Justice – deals with requests for preliminary rulings from national courts, certain actions for annulment and appeals. General Court – rules on actions for annulment brought by individuals, companies and, in some cases, EU governments. In practice, this means that this court deals mainly with competition law, State aid, trade, agriculture, trade marks. Civil Service Tribunal - rules on disputes between the EU and its staff.

The Court of Justice interprets EU law to make sure it is applied in the same way in all EU countries, and settles legal disputes between national governments and EU institutions.
It can also, in certain circumstances, be used by individuals, companies or organisations to take action against an EU institution, if they feel it has somehow infringed their rights.

What does the CJEU do?

The Court gives rulings on cases brought before it. The most common types of case are:

• interpreting the law (preliminary rulings) – national courts of EU countries are required to ensure EU law is properly applied, but courts in different countries might interpret it differently. If a national court is in doubt about the interpretation or validity of an EU law, it can ask the Court for clarification. The same mechanism can be used to determine whether a national law or practice is compatible with EU law.
• enforcing the law (infringement proceedings) – this type of case is taken against a national government for failing to comply with EU law. Can be started by the European Commission or another EU country. If the country is found to be at fault, it must put things right at once, or risk a second case being brought, which may result in a fine.
• annulling EU legal acts (actions for annulment) – if an EU act is believed to violate EU treaties or fundamental rights, the Court can be asked to annul it – by an EU government, the Council of the EU, the European Commission or (in some cases) the European Parliament.
  Private individuals can also ask the Court to annul an EU act that directly concerns them.
• ensuring the EU takes action (actions for failure to act) – the Parliament, Council and Commission must make certain decisions under certain circumstances. If they don't, EU governments, other EU institutions or (under certain conditions) individuals or companies can complain to the Court.
• sanctioning EU institutions (actions for damages) – any person or company who has had their interests harmed as a result of the action or inaction of the EU or its staff can take action against them through the Court.

Preliminary rulings to the CJEU from national courts are particularly important since they have been a source of some very important principles of EU law.   Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functoning of the EU states:

The Court of Justice of the European Union shall have jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings

concerning:   (a) the interpretation of the Treaties; (b) the validity and interpretation of acts of the institutions, bodies, offices or agencies of the Union;

Where such a question is raised before any court or tribunal of a Member State, that court or

tribunal may, if it considers that a decision on the question is necessary to enable it to give judgment, request the Court to give a ruling thereon.

Where any such question is raised in a case pending before a court or tribunal of a Member State

against whose decisions there is no judicial remedy under national law, that court or tribunal shall

bring the matter before the Court.

If such a question is raised in a case pending before a court or tribunal of a Member State with

regard to a person in custody, the Court of Justice of the European Union shall act with the

minimum of delay

If a question of EU law arises in a case before the Supreme Court of the UK then basically there must be a reference to the CJEU.  However, this is tempered by the "acte clair" doctrine, first articulated in the Cilfit case (C-283/81).  This states that in accordance with article 267 TFEU, a national court against whose judgment there is no higher appeal must refer a question to the ECJ when a question on the interpretation of EU law arises, unless the answer is “so obvious as to leave no scope for any reasonable doubt”

Court of Justice website

Shining a light on the acte clair doctrine 

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