The EU works through institutions set up by treaties: the European Commission proposes laws, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU (national ministers) adopt them, the European Council of national leaders sets priorities, and the Court of Justice makes sure the law is applied the same way everywhere.
The EU can only act in the areas that its member states have given it in the treaties. Within those areas, the work is shared between several institutions. The Treaty on European Union lists seven: the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council of the EU, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the EU, the European Central Bank and the Court of Auditors.
Three of them make most laws. The European Commission, with one member per member state, proposes new laws and checks that EU rules are applied. The European Parliament, whose 720 members were elected directly by citizens in June 2024, debates and amends those proposals. The Council of the EU brings together ministers from the 27 national governments, who also amend and vote. In most areas, a law is adopted only when Parliament and the Council agree on the same text.
Above this, the European Council, made up of the heads of state or government of the member states, its President and the Commission President, sets the Union’s general direction and priorities, but does not pass laws. The Court of Justice of the EU, in Luxembourg, interprets EU law and settles disputes, so that a rule means the same in Lisbon as in Helsinki. The European Central Bank runs monetary policy for the countries that use the euro, and the Court of Auditors checks how EU money is spent.
Example
The Commission President is chosen through several institutions. After the European elections, the European Council proposes a candidate by qualified majority, taking the election results into account. Parliament then elects or rejects that person. The Council, in agreement with the President-elect, adopts the list of other Commissioners, and the whole Commission must be approved by Parliament before it takes office.
Debates and limits
Whether this system is democratic enough is a long-running debate, often called the “democratic deficit”. Critics argue that the Commission, which holds the right to propose laws, is not directly elected, and that voters find it hard to see who is responsible for a decision. Supporters reply that Parliament is directly elected, that ministers in the Council answer to national parliaments, and that the Treaty of Lisbon (2009) extended the procedure in which Parliament decides on an equal footing with the Council to 40 further legal provisions.