Which EU institution is the most powerful? Essay -- Economics

Which EU institution is the most powerful?The European amount of money (EU) is currently made up of 25 countries, know asMember States, which unitedly form the largest voluntary and peacefulblock of countries in the world. Many deal mistakenly view theEuropean Union as a single body whilst in fact the EU consists of anumber of different institutions that together carry out activities onbehalf of the Member States. There are many institutions but the mainfive being the Commission, the Council of Ministers (also called theCouncil of the European Union), the European Council and the European parliament and the European Court of Justice. In this essay I amgoing to focus on these institutions and discuss which is to beconsidered more powerful. I will for the first time look at each oneindividually and how it is organised then analyse its powers andresponsibilities before comparing them and drawing up my conclusions. However I would kindred to note that there are many differentinterpre tations and parameters of powerful which make it difficultto answer the question.The EU was established in 1992 by the Maastricht Treaty. It compriseswhat are known as three pillars. Firstly the EC secondly,inter-governmental co-operation (i.e. between national governments) inforeign and security policy and the third pillar beinginter-governmental co-operation in umpire and home affairs. In thesecond and third pillars policy decisions are made by unanimouscooperation between members and cannot be en potencyd. Therefore for themost part, the governing institutions of the EC pillar have limitedinput in these pillars.The European Commission does much of the day-to-day die hard in theEuropean Union and is the driving force in the Unions institutionalsystem. Their main responsibility is to initiate and implement newprograms, and they form a permanent executive that supervise the workof the EU, much in the way that a national cabinet operates. Thispower is displayed in article 211 of th e Treaty Establishing theEuropean alliance, which states that, the CommissionShall formulate recommendations or deliver opinions on matters dealtwith in this treaty, if it expressly so provides or if the commissionconsiders it necessary.The Commission is made up of a President and the College ofCommissioners (the political arm), and the Direc... ...-------------------------------------1 The Presidency of the Council is the driving force in the legislative and political decision-making process, organising and chairing all meetings and working out compromises to resolve any difficulties. The Presidency rotates among the Member States every six months and is used as a mechanism by dint of which Member States can advance specific priorities. The UK will next hold the Presidency in the second half of 2005.2 The European Councils far reaching and dramatic decisions have helped propel their meetings into the public spotlight where they have become the focal poin t for media coverage of the EU, which increases their power3 During the political, economic and institutional weakening of the European Community (EC) in the 1960s and 1970s the ECJ persisted and struggled on to create an extensive and powerful mass of case law that continued the process for deeper integration. The outcome of this was extremely positive. The work of the ECJ developed not just a new legal order but also assisted in the ECs resurgence during the 1980s. (Dinan 2000 p301)