I'm guessing that someone somewhere has created a "picture" of the hierarchy/structure of EU bodies and maybe their place vs their component State parliaments. Any advice?
I’ll find you something good. In the meantime, the best way to think of them is as the Council of Ministers (the committee that brings together the 27 member states in whatever format - finance, transport or energy ministers, for example) is the power centre. The council expresses the combined wishes of the EU’s governments so - compared to a nation state - it’s a mixture of a parliament and a cabinet. The European Commission is the only body that can initiate legislation but these days it won’t do that without first having a broad mandate from the council. The commission name is used for the 27 commissioners (a sort of cabinet known as a “college”) but also for the bureaucracy that polices the existing rules of the EU. The commissioners are appointed every five years by the European Council - the committee of the EU’s 27 heads of state and government. After that, they become independent from the people who appointed them. The European Parliament is directly elected every five years and has powers of oversight over the EU’s budget (but with. A say over only a small part of it) and co-decision powers on EU-level legislation. On tax, finance, and foreign policy, it’s kept out.
I'm guessing that someone somewhere has created a "picture" of the hierarchy/structure of EU bodies and maybe their place vs their component State parliaments. Any advice?
I’ll find you something good. In the meantime, the best way to think of them is as the Council of Ministers (the committee that brings together the 27 member states in whatever format - finance, transport or energy ministers, for example) is the power centre. The council expresses the combined wishes of the EU’s governments so - compared to a nation state - it’s a mixture of a parliament and a cabinet. The European Commission is the only body that can initiate legislation but these days it won’t do that without first having a broad mandate from the council. The commission name is used for the 27 commissioners (a sort of cabinet known as a “college”) but also for the bureaucracy that polices the existing rules of the EU. The commissioners are appointed every five years by the European Council - the committee of the EU’s 27 heads of state and government. After that, they become independent from the people who appointed them. The European Parliament is directly elected every five years and has powers of oversight over the EU’s budget (but with. A say over only a small part of it) and co-decision powers on EU-level legislation. On tax, finance, and foreign policy, it’s kept out.