Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Summary Contents
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Tables
- List of Cases
- List of Secondary Law
- Table of Equivalents
- List of Abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: European Constitutional Law
- Part I Constitutional Foundations
- 1 Constitutional History: From Paris to Lisbon
- 2 Constitutional Nature: A Federation of States
- 3 European Law I: Nature – Direct Effect
- 4 European Law II: Nature – Supremacy/Pre-emption
- 5 Governmental Structure: Union Institutions I
- 6 Governmental Structure: Union Institutions II
- Part II Governmental Powers
- Appendices
- Index
5 - Governmental Structure: Union Institutions I
from Part I - Constitutional Foundations
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Summary Contents
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Tables
- List of Cases
- List of Secondary Law
- Table of Equivalents
- List of Abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: European Constitutional Law
- Part I Constitutional Foundations
- 1 Constitutional History: From Paris to Lisbon
- 2 Constitutional Nature: A Federation of States
- 3 European Law I: Nature – Direct Effect
- 4 European Law II: Nature – Supremacy/Pre-emption
- 5 Governmental Structure: Union Institutions I
- 6 Governmental Structure: Union Institutions II
- Part II Governmental Powers
- Appendices
- Index
Summary
Introduction
The creation of governmental institutions is the central task of all constitutions. Each political community needs institutions to govern its society; as each society needs common rules and a method for their making, execution and arbitration. It is no coincidence that the first three articles of the 1787 American Constitution establish and define – respectively – the ‘Legislative Department’, the ‘Executive Department’ and the ‘Judicial Department’.
The European Treaties establish a number of European institutions to make, execute and arbitrate European law. The Union's institutions and their core tasks are defined in Title III of the Treaty on European Union. The central provision here is Article 13 TEU:
1. The Union shall have an institutional framework which shall aim to promote its values, advance its objectives, serve its interests, those of its citizens and those of the Member States, and ensure the consistency, effectiveness and continuity of its policies and actions.
The Union's institutions shall be:
– the European Parliament,
– the European Council,
– the Council,
– the European Commission (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Commission’),
– the Court of Justice of the European Union,
– the European Central Bank,
– the Court of Auditors.
2. Each institution shall act within the limits of the powers conferred on it in the Treaties, and in conformity with the procedures, conditions and objectives set out in them. The institutions shall practise mutual sincere cooperation …
The provision lists seven governmental institutions of the European Union. They constitute the core ‘players’ in the Union legal order. What strikes the attentive eye first is the number of institutions: unlike a tripartite institutional structure, the Union offers more than twice that number. The two institutions that do not – at first sight – seem to directly correspond to ‘national’ institutions are the (European) Council and the Commission. The name ‘Council’ represents a reminder of the ‘international’ origins of the European Union, but the institution can equally be found in the governmental structure of Federal States. It will be harder to find the name ‘Commission’ among the public institutions of States, where the executive is typically referred to as the ‘government’. By contrast, central banks and courts of auditors exist in many national legal orders.
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- European Constitutional Law , pp. 147 - 184Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015