
Guide to the
European Union
Cork 2014 - 1st International
Forum of EYP Ireland
GUIDE TO THE EU
Index
I.
The EU Explained
3
II.
Institutional Set-Up of the EU
5
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
European Parliament
Council of Ministers
European Council
i.
Settling the Council confusion
European Commission
European Court of Justice
European Central Bank
III. Legislative Procedures
1.
2.
Community Method
i.
Ordinary Legislative Procedure
Intergovernmental Method
IV. Legal System of the EU
1.
Sources of Law
2.
Primary Sources of EU Law
i.
The Founding Treaties of the European Communities
ii.
The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU
3.
Secondary Sources of EU Law
i.Regulations
ii.
Directives
iii.
Decisions
iv.
Recommendations and Opinions
V.Competences
1.Definitions
2.Principles
3.Categories
4.
Infochart of Division of Competences
VI. Relevant Frameworks for Cork
1.
Europe 2020
2.
Innovation Union
3.
European Research Area (ERA)
4.
Horizon 2020
5.
Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF)
6.
Useful Links
1
9
10
11
12
14
15
16
16
17
18
18
18
18-19
20
21
22
23
23
24
25
26
27
Cork 2014
Dear participants,
Coming to an EYP session and participating in active political deliberation is
definitely a fun affair. With most of you now preparing academically for the
Forum before it begins next week, the Chairsteam of Cork 2014 would like to
present you with a Guide to the EU.
The politics of the European Union and the complex decision making sphere
of policy-making require an understanding of the fundamental principles,
structures and processes that bind stakeholders together. The European Union, a political construct, has evolved to an elaborate network of actors that
interact within a multi-layered system of governance. From Member States to
EU institutions and the civil society, the EU is a system with governing principles and intricate processes.
This Guide will present you with some key aspects that define the political
system of the EU. It will also outline the establishment of a legal system within
the Union and the balance of power between national and supranational
interests. Moreover, this guide will present the division of competences between Member States and the EU as well as current policy frameworks such
as the Europe 2020 and the Horizon 2020 which map out the future of the
European economy and society.
We hope that this Guide will provide you with valuable information and will
increase your understanding of policy-making in the EU.
On behalf of the Chairsteam,
Dimitris Zacharias
President, Cork 2014 – 1st International Forum of EYP IE

Put together by:
Dimitris Zacharias | Hans Maes | Rosa Douw |
Niall Murphy | Laure Steinville | Timm Brünjes |
Anna Borrell | Bram Van Meldert | Iman Idriss |
Chris Papadogeorgopoulos | Karim Ben Hamda|
Ciara Robinson | Christian Browne | Rónán
O’Connor | Walter Suominen | Francesco Colin
Founding fathers of the European Union:
Paul-Henri Spaak | Altiero Spinelli
Sicco Mansholt | Jean Monnet | Robert Schuman
Konrad Adenauer | Joseph Bech | Johan Willem Beyen
Winston Churchill | Alcide De Gasperi | Walter Hallstein
2
GUIDE TO THE EU
I. The EU Explained

This section will provide delegates with insight into the aims, processes and rules of governance of the European Union. The videos introduce key aspects of EU procedural mechanisms and provide fundamental information in many of the current topics on the EU agenda.
The EU Institutions Explained by their
Presidents 
How it works: European Parliament 
European Parliament explained: who its Members are, how their work is organised, what powers they yield and the impact of all this on the
daily life of Europeans.
A view from the inside: the Presidents of the
main EU institutions share their views on how the
EU actually works. Who does what? What’s specific to each institution? What is the role of President? How do they see Europe’s future? Since
this explanatory video was made, the presidents
of the European Commission and the European
Council have changed. With the accession of
Croatia, the EU now has 28 Member States.
How It Works: What will the Lisbon Treaty
change for the Parliament? 
The EP stands to gain the most from the Lisbon
Treaty. Not only will the number of MEPs increase, but also their powers to decide together
with the Council on matters such as agriculture,
justice and home affairs, and the budget. The
EP’s political control of the Commission will also
be strengthened.
How it works: European Laws 
This animated video guides the viewer through
the Ordinary Legislative Procedure and highlights the procedures that lead to the adoption
of a new piece of legislation. The animated
guide also clearly distinguishes the areas of jurisdiction of all the institutions included in the EU
legislative procedure.
How It Works: EU Budget 
Where does the EU get its money from, how
does it decide about its budget and who benefits the most? We examine the EU’s budget
procedure and focus in on the European Parliament’s changed role in it.
How it works: Trilogue 
Why do MEPs increasingly often negotiate with
the states behind closed doors before even voting in plenary? A look at the how(s) and why(s) of
trilogues.
3
Cork 2014
How it works: What makes for a good single
currency? 
EuroparlTV investigates the Fiscal Compact and
the changes it has brought to the rules of economic governance of Member States. The Fiscal
Compact builds on the principles of governance
of the Stability Pact.
How It Works: Leaving the EU 
The Lisbon Treaty now provides for it officially: a
Member State can leave the EU. In fact, it can just
stop implementing EU laws overnight or, more
sensibly, negotiate its exit. In any case, it’ll all be
over in max 2 years.
The Crisis of Credit Visualised 
This video traces the origins of the credit crisis
of 2008 and the elements that led to an international financial turmoil. This video uses visual
assistance to explain the complicated financial
processes that led to an international crisis.
Open the links. If you’re
the 500th visitor to a
site and won a prize, its
probably a virus.
4
GUIDE TO THE EU
II. Institutional Set-Up of the EU

Role: Executive, proposes legislation,
promotes the EU
Members: 28 Commissioners, one
for each Member State
President: Jean-Claude Juncker (LU)
Headquarters: Brussels
Supervises
Appoints
Role: Legislative body, directly
elected
Members: 751 Members of the
European Parliament (MEPs)
President: Martin Schulz (DE)
Headquarters: Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg
Proposes legislation
and budget
Role: Deciding on policies and
adopting legislation
Members: Council configurations according to policy domain (national ministers)
President: Rotating presidency,
Member States assume presidency for a period of 6 months
Headquarters: Brussels
COUNCIL OF
MINISTERS
Citizens
National
Governments
Co-decision
EU
LAW
EU
BUDGET
Arbitrates
Supervises
COURT OF
JUSTICE
COURT OF
AUDITORS
Role: ensure a common application and interpretation of the
European Union law
Members: one Judge per
Member State
President: Vassilios Skouris
(GR), since October 2003
Headquarters: Luxembourg
5
Cork 2014

6
GUIDE TO THE EU
Timeline of Treaties of
the European Union
1951
Treaties of Rome : EEC and EURATOM
treaties
Purpose: to set up the European Economic
Community (EEC) and the European Atomic
Energy Community (Euratom).
Main changes: extension of European integration to include general economic cooperation.
Single European Act
Purpose: to reform the institutions in preparation for Portugal and Spain’s membership and
speed up decision-making in preparation for
the single market.
Main changes: extension of qualified majority
voting in the Council (making it harder for a
single country to veto proposed legislation),
creation of the cooperation and assent procedures, giving Parliament more influence.
1957
1965
1986
1992
Treaty of Amsterdam
Purpose: To reform the EU institutions in
preparation for the arrival of future member
countries.
Main changes: amendment, renumbering
and consolidation of EU and EEC treaties.
More transparent decision-making (increased
use of the co-decision voting procedure).
1997
2001
Treaty of Lisbon
Purpose: to make the EU more democratic,
more efficient and better able to address
global problems, such as climate change,
with one voice.
Main changes: more power for the European
Parliament, change of voting procedures in
the Council, citizens’ initiative, a permanent
president of the European Council, a new
High Representative for Foreign Affairs, a new
EU diplomatic service.
Treaty establishing the European Coal and
Steel Community
Purpose: to create interdependence in coal
and steel so that one country could no longer
mobilise its armed forces without others
knowing. This eased distrust and tensions
after WWII. The ECSC treaty expired in 2002.
2007
7
Merger Treaty - Brussels Treaty
Purpose: to streamline the European institutions.
Main changes: creation of a single Commission and a single Council to serve the then
three European Communities (EEC, Euratom,
ECSC). Repealed by the Treaty of Amsterdam.
Treaty on European Union - Maastricht Treaty
Purpose: to prepare for European Monetary
Union and introduce elements of a political
union (citizenship, common foreign and internal affairs policy).
Main changes: establishment of the European Union and introduction of the co-decision
procedure, giving Parliament more say in
decision-making. New forms of cooperation
between EU governments – for example on
defence and justice and home affairs.
Treaty of Nice
Purpose: to reform the institutions so that the
EU could function efficiently after reaching 25
member countries.
Main changes: methods for changing the
composition of the Commission and redefining the voting system in the Council.
The Lisbon treaty clarifies which powers:
-
belong to the EU
-
belong to EU member countries
-
are shared.
The Treaty establishing a constitution for
Europe with aims similar to the Lisbon Treaty –
the constitution was signed but never ratified.
Cork 2014
Year of Accession
to the EU
1951
1957
1973
1981
1986
1995
2004
2007
2013
8
GUIDE TO THE EU
1.
European Parliament
now charged with overseeing the process and
issuing its opinion on more legislative affairs. It
shares budgetary power with the Council, and
thereby influences EU public spending.
Role: Legislative body, directly elected
Members: 751 Members of the European
Parliament (MEPs)
President: Martin Schulz (DE
Headquarters: Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg
Powers of the European Parliament
- Under the codecision procedure, it shares
power with the Council over discussion and approval of new legislative proposals, and of the
EU Budget.
- It may encourage or pressure the European
Commission to develop new proposals.
- The European Commission, the Council of
Ministers and the presidency of the Council of
Ministers must regularly report to the European
Parliament.
- It has the right to confirm or reject the European Council’s nominees for president of the
European Commission and High Representative
for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
- It has the right of approval over appointment
of the College of Commissioners, the management team of the European Central Bank and the
Court of Auditors.
- It may compel the removal of the College of
Commissioners.
- It manages the office of the European Ombudsman.
Overview
Ever since 1979, every five years all citizens of
the EU get to elect their representatives in the
European Parliament. All 28 Member States
have a fixed amount of representatives, ranging
from 6 for smaller Member States such as Luxembourg and Malta up to 96 for larger Member
States like Germany. The allocation of seats is
roughly dependent on the country’s share of the
EU population.
MEPs spend most of their working time in Brussels, attending committee and political fraction
meetings. Once a month they travel to Strasbourg for a week to have the plenary session,
where they discuss upon resolutions in general
and where they vote. Most Members of the
European Parliament get elected through their
national political affiliation, and at the European
level they seek to join like-minded political
groups.
The Politics of the European
Parliament
Keep in mind that the composition is very
volatile, with MEPs defecting from their original
groups.
The Leadership of the European Parliament comprise of a President and 14 Vice-Presidents who
also chair plenary meetings/discussions. The
organising of internal processes is a task of the
Bureau of the Parliament which is also charged
with intra-institutional administrative matters. The
political decisions and the interaction strategy of
the European Parliament are determined in the
Conference of Presidents and the coordination
of the agendas of the respective committees is
determined in the Conference of Committee
Chairs.
The main responsibilities of the European Parliament are legislative; together with the Council of
the EU, the European Parliament formally codecides on adopting or rejecting EU legislation.
The European Parliament’s role in policy-making
has been elevated with the Treaty of Lisbon allocating more powers to it and assigning it more
jurisdictions in several policy domains within
which the European Parliament did not have
a strong voice. The European Parliament also
supervises process and entities within the decision-making structure of the EU and has been
awarded an oversight jurisdiction in an effort to
safeguard democratic principles of EU governance.
The European Parliament has gained significant
power within the policy-making trifecta and is
Political groups are central mechanisms for
structuring debate and coalition formation in
the legislative process. The all have a secretariat,
research staff and financial resources as well as
party and/or group leaderships that determine
the vital political issues. Political groups have a
three-line whipping system in order to ensure
cohesion. The formation of coalitions in the
9
Cork 2014
Key Terms and Concepts
European Parliament is frequent and necessary
depending on the voting procedure; the ‘grand
coalition’ as it has come to be known between
the EPP and the PES (S&D) is somewhat of a necessity for decisions that require majority voting.
- Conference of Presidents
- Consent Procedure
- Consultation Procedure
- Cooperation Procedure
- Dual Mandate
- European Ombudsman
- Member of the European Parliament
- Ordinary Legislative Procedure
- President of the European Parliament
- Political Groups
- National Political Affiliation in the European
Parliament
Committees of the European Parliament are the
vessels of implementing legislative scrutiny in
the Parliament. Committees are charged with
proposing amendments to legislative proposals in the form of reports and draft resolutions.
The Rapporteurs lead the working procedure
in parliamentary committees and are tasked
with balancing their party’s interests, the interests of other institutions and relevant agencies,
and policy positions from associations, interest
groups and civil society. The European Parliament comprises of 20 Standing Committees and
2 sub-committees. Under specific Rules (175 &
176), the European Parliament has the capacity
to establish temporary committees regarding
policy elements that arise and require working
procedures tailored to the policy domain.
Groups in the European Parliament
10
GUIDE TO THE EU
2.
Council of Ministers
Powers of the Council of Ministers
- It shares powers with the European Parliament
for discussing and passing laws as well as approval of the EU budget.
- It coordinates economic policies of the Member States through the Eurogroup.
- It coordinates Justice and Home Affairs policies of the Member States through the JHA.
- It defines and implements the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).
- It concludes international agreements on behalf of the EU.
Role: Deciding on policies and adopting
legislation
Members: Council configurations according
to policy domain (national ministers)
President: Rotating presidency, Member
States assume presidency for a period of 6
months
Headquarters: Brussels
Overview
The Council is one of the two essential decisionmakers. It meets in different configurations,
depending on the issues on the agenda. For
example, if there are agricultural matters to be
discussed, the 28 national Ministers of agriculture will gather in Brussels in the Agriculture and
Fisheries configuration to discuss national preferences and decision-making at the EU level. The
purpose of the gatherings is to discuss, amend,
and agree on legislation. Additional tasks of the
Council are to define the EU’s foreign policy, and
to coordinate Member States’ national policies.
Together with the Parliament, it also decides on
the budget of the EU.
The Politics of the Council of Ministers
The voting system of the Council has changed
several times over the years; when once unanimity voting was a prerequisite for most policy
domains, ministers could cast their vote on
specific policy issues using either simple majority
for procedural issues. Unanimity voting is used
for matters relating to membership, taxation, the
CFSP, the CSDP, the finances of the Union and
other matters that require a single voice. For all
other matters, the Council employs the Qualified
Majority Voting (QMV) which is a voting system
whereby proposals must win substantially more
than a simple majority. Under this arrangement,
each Minister is given several votes roughly in
proportion to the population of his or her Member State. In order to win the majority voting, at
least 14 Member States must be in favour with
a total of at least 255 votes out of 345 (approximately 74% of the vote).
The Presidency of the Council rotates every six
months among Member States. In 2014, Greece
and Italy are the countries that will hold the
rotating presidency with Latvia and Luxembourg
sharing the 2015 presidency and the Netherlands and Slovakia sharing the presidency for
2016. The presidency prepares and coordinates
the work of the Council, setting the agendas for
several meetings, working parties and committees. It arranges and chairs most meetings of the
Council and Coreper (Committee of Permanent
Representatives) and represents the Council in
inter-institutional meetings and configurations.
Lastly, it mediates intergovernmental bargaining
to form cohesive institutional preferences and
policy positions.
Qualified Majority Voting in the
Council of Ministers
Member StateVotes
Germany, UK, France and Italy
29
Spain and Poland
27
Romania14
The Netherlands13
Greece, Czech Republic,
Belgium and Hungary
12
Austria, Bulgaria, Sweden
10
Slovakia, Denmark, Finland,
Ireland and Lithuania
7
Latvia, Slovenia, Estonia, Cyprus
and Luxembourg 4
Malta 3
The Coreper is the Committee that handles most
of the workload of the Council before the ministers meet; each Member State has a permanent
representation in Brussels and these representations include experienced public officers with
policy knowledge and expertise. Almost 85% of
the detailed work of the Council is completed
before it appears to the ministerial meetings in
the respective configurations.
Total
11
345
Cork 2014
3.
European Council
Key Terms and Concepts
Role: Defines the EU’s general political direction and priorities
Members: Top political leaders; Heads of
State or Government of the Member States,
together with its President and the President
of the European Commission
President: Donald Tusk (PL) (as of November
1st, 2014)
Headquarters: Brussels
-Coreper
- European Council
- Presidency of the Council of Ministers
- President of the European Council
- Qualified Majority Voting (QMV)
-Summitry
- Council configurations
 Council confusion: Which is which?
Overview
Originally created in 1974 intending to establish
an informal platform for discussion between
heads of states or government, the European
Council became an EU institution when the
Treaty of Lisbon entered into force on 1 December 2009. Along with the aforementioned members, the High Representative of the Union for
Foreign Affairs and Security Policy takes part in
the European Council’s work. Depending on the
agenda requirements the members of the European Council may decide each to be assisted by
a minister and, in the case of the President of the
Commission, by a member of the Commission .
European Council: Heads of State, highest decision making body in the EU
Council: Also known as the Council of Ministers,
gathers government ministers in their specific
policy fields. The Council is one of the two main
legislative bodies of the EU, together with the
Parliament.
Council of Europe: Not EU-related. This Council
is an intergovernmental organisation that mainly
deals with protection of human rights, democracy and rule of law. The Council of Europe has
47 Member States, and is located in Strasbourg,
France.
The European Council meets in Brussels, typically twice every six months. At these meetings,
the political leaders decide by consensus on the
overall direction and priorities of the EU, and
provide the necessary impetus for its development, in the form of ‘conclusions’. These conclusions are non-binding, as the European Council
cannot pass laws.
Powers of the European Council
- The European Council is regarded as the
‘board of directors’ of the EU, consisting of the
heads of government of the Member States.
- The European Council is chaired by its president who serves for a period of two and a half
years (renewable only once).
- It is responsible for making nominations to
senior positions, including the president of the
European Commission, the High Representative
and the president of the European Central Bank.
12
GUIDE TO THE EU
4.
European Commission
The President of the European
Commission
The President of the European Commission is
the dominating figure of the institution. The
president is tasked with ensuring the effective
management of the College, appearing alongside meetings of world leaders representing the
voice of the Union, mediating the negotiations at
European Council summits and holding bilateral
meetings with national leaders of international
partners. The president of the European Commission convenes and chairs meetings of the
College, lays down the guidelines for the work
of the Commission, distributes policy portfolios,
assigns duties and policy responsibilities, takes
questions before the European Parliament and
represents the European Commission in dealings with other EU institutions and at key meetings of national governments and their leaders.
Role: Executive, proposes legislation, promotes the EU
Members: 28 Commissioners, one for each
Member State
President: Jean-Claude Juncker (LU)
Headquarters: Brussels
Overview
According to the Treaty of Lisbon, the European Commission is charged with promoting
the general interest of the Union , ensuring the
application of the Treaties and overseeing the
application of Union law. The European Commission fulfills its tasks through the executive powers of initiation and agenda setting as well as
implementation. Its main responsibilities relate
to managing the EU budget and representing
the EU in international affairs, negotiations and
commitments. The European Commission is the
institutional barometer of European integration; its monopoly over the generation of most
legislative proposals grants the European Commission the highest degree of influence over the
legislative framework of governance for supranational decisions and their application in Member
States’ legal environments.
Directorates-General and Services
The DGs are the equivalent of national government departments; they oversee the development and implementation of policies and laws
in specific domains. The DGs are staffed with a
mix of full-time European bureaucrats known as
fonctionnaires, and of national experts seconded
from the Member States on short-term appointments. Each DG is headed by a director-general;
they are people with a direct link to the Commissioner.
The European Commission is comprised of five
key components: the College of Commissioners,
the president of the European Commission, the
Directorates-General and Services, a network
of advisory and executive committees and the
Secretariat General.
Committees
The process of implementation is monitored by
a network of several hundred committees and
sub-committees participating in the comitology.
These committees can have the following forms:
- Advisory committees charged with scrutinising
less politically sensitive issues.
- Management committees charged with focusing on areas such as agricultural policy. Management committees have the power to refer Commission measures to the Council of Ministers and
hence overrule the Commission.
- Regulatory committees charged with referring
Commission measures to the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.
- Regulatory committees with scrutiny.
Structure
The term Commission refers to the institution in
its entirety as well as the 28 member College of
the Commission. The Commission is divided into
DGs which are directed by an appointed official.
Commissioners are nominated by each Member
State and after their hearings and formal appointment the portfolios of the European Commission are divided among them. Each Commissioner is appointed for a term of 5 years and all
28 Member States have a national official direct a
DG. Each Commissioner is supported by a small
staff of assistants and advisors that is referred to
as the cabinet.
13
Cork 2014
Powers of the European
Commission
Key Terms and Concepts
-Cabinet
- College of Commissioners
-Comitology
- Power of initiation
-Directorate-General
- President of Commission
- It develops and makes proposals for new EU
laws and policies.
- It oversees the implementation of laws and
policies through the Member States.
- It develops and manages the EU budget.
- It represents the EU in international trade negotiations.
- It oversees the process by which applications
for membership of the EU are considered.
- It manages overseas delegations.
- It coordinates the EU’s official development
assistance and humanitarian aid.
14
GUIDE TO THE EU
5.
European Court of Justice
Powers of the European Court of Justice
Role: ensure a common application and interpretation of the European Union law
Members: one Judge per Member State
President: Vassilios Skouris (GR), since October
2003
Headquarters: Luxembourg, Luxembourg
- Supreme legal body of the EU.
- Final court of appeal for all matters relating to
EU law.
- Issues preliminary rulings when national courts
ask for a ruling on the interpretation or validity of
an EU law that arises in a national court case.
- It makes decisions on direct actions when an
individual, corporation, Member State or EU
institution brings proceedings directly before the
Court, usually with an EU institution or a Member
State as defendant.
Overview
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is the institution that ensures the adequate and systematic
application of the European Union law. It covers
the role of the guardian of the uniformity of the
interpretation of the EU legislation and its conformity to Member States’ legal systems as well.
It is mandatory for national courts to refer to the
ECJ both if the interpretation of EU law is not
clear and if there is a conflict between EU and
national law.
Key Terms and Concepts
- Advocates General
- Constitutional Court
- Direct action
- Direct effect
- EU Civil Service Tribunal
- European Court of Human Rights
- General Court
-Judge-rapporteur
- Judicial authority
- Mutual recognition
- Preliminary ruling
- Supremacy of EU law
As the judicial arm of the EU, the ECJ has made
decisions that have expanded and clarified the
reach of EU law by establishing clear rules of
judicial governance. Principles such as the direct
effect and the supremacy of EU law have helped
transform Treaties into a legal body that resembling that of a constitution for Europe. The Court
of Justice is the final court of appeal and is assisted by the General Court and the EU Civil Service
Tribunal. The two main courts are comprised of
28 judges while the Tribunal is comprised of 7
judges.
Structure of the European Court of
Justice

- Judicial arm of the EU.
- Judges meet as chamber of three to five
judges or as a Grand Chamber of 13 judges.
- It is assisted by eight advocates-general appointed for a renewable term of six-years.
Advocates-general are charged with reviewing
cases, studying arguments and delivering opinions.
15
Cork 2014
6.
European Central Bank
Structure
Role: Managing monetary policy; maintaining price stability
Members: Euro area national central banks
President: Mario Draghi (IT)
Headquarters: Frankfurt
The ECB is comprised of three decision-making
bodies that are charged with fulfilling its objectives according to the ECB’s mandate. These
bodies are:
The Executive Board
The Executive Board is responsible for the implementation of monetary policy and the day-to-day
operations of the ECB. It can issue decisions to
national central banks and it is composed of the
President of the ECB (Mario Draghi), a Vice-President of the ECB and four other members. The
Executive Board meets weekly.
Overview
Established in 1998 with the Treaty of Amsterdam, the primary objective of the European
Central Bank (henceforth referred to as ECB) is
to maintain price stability within the Euro area
and the Eurozone . The ECB is governed directly
by EU law but its institutional set-up resembles
that of corporations; its shareholders and stock
capital require a more intricate institutional setup than that of its institutional counterparts in the
EU framework of governance. The ECB’s capital
is 5 billion euro and it is held by the national
central banks of Member States who are its primary shareholders. The initial allocation capital
key was determined upon establishment but it
is adjustable since it’s pegged to the population
and GDP of Member States. Shares at the ECB
are not to be transferred or used as collateral in
the financial system.
The Governing Council
The Governing Council is the primary decisionmaking body of the European Central Bank and
it is composed of the Executive Board and the
governors of the national central banks of Euro
area Member States (6+18 Members).
The General Council
The General Council of the ECB deals with transition issues relating to Member States’ adoption
of the common currency. The General Council
assists in that transition process by fixing the
exchange rates between national currencies and
the Euro while the former is tested in the ERM II.
Beyond the maintenance of price stability in the
Euro area, the ECB is tasked with implementing
monetary policy, setting up the benchmark interest rate, i.e. the interest rate that it charges when
lending to commercial banks, and taking care
of the foreign reserves of the European System
of Central Banks (ESCB). Further tasks include
conducting foreign-exchange operations, promoting the smooth operation of payment systems such as TARGET2 payments system and
the TARGET2 securities (still in development).
The ECB holds the exclusive right to issue Euro
banknotes whereas Member States have the
right issue Euro coins after consultation with the
ECB. Lastly, the ECB is responsible for collecting
macroeconomic data from national central banks
in order to ensure the effective implementation
and oversight of macroprudential regulation.

16
GUIDE TO THE EU
III. Legislative Procedures
Proposal from the Commmission
to the EP and Council
Parliament first reading:
no EP amendments
1st Reading
Parliament first reading:
EP amendments
Commission on EP
amendments (amended
Commission proposal)
Council first reading: the Council
does not modify the text
The act is adopted

Council first reading: the Council
does not approve the outcome of
the EP first reading and adopts a
common position
Commons opinion on the
common position
Parliament second reading
(deadline 3+1 months)
Parliament approves the common
position or does not take a decision
within the deadline
The act is adopted

Council first reading: the Council
approves all amendments
The act is adopted

2nd Reading
Parliament adopts amendments to
the common position by an absolute majority of its Members
Parliament accepts the common
position by an absolute majority of
its Members
Commision opinion on EP
amendments
The act is not adopted X
Council second reading
(deadline 3+1 months)
The council approves all
Parliament’s amendments
The act is adopted

The council does not approve all
Parliament’s amendments
Conciliation commitee is convened,
within a period of 6 + 2 weeks, and
has a further 6 + 2 weeks to reach
agreeement
Successful conclusion to
conciliation
The EP and council are unable to
adopt the joint text ithin the period
of 6 + 2 weeks
The act is not adopted X
3rd Reading
Third reading: within a period of 6
+ 2 weeks approval of the joint text
by the EP (majority of votes cast)
and by the Council (QMV)
The act is adopted
17

Unuccessful conclusion to
conciliation
The act is not adopted X
Cork 2014
1. Community Method
Ordinary Legislative Process
The Council is then given three months to either
approve the amendments in which case the new
act is adopted, or reject the proposal in which
case the President of the Council together with
the President of the Parliament shall, within six
weeks, set up a meeting with the conciliation
committee.
Article 289 TFEU lays down the core setting
of the Union’s main legislative procedure. The
Parliament and Council shall jointly adopt and
alter Union legislation based on the initiation of
the Commission. The procedure is then further
defined in article 294 TFEU.
Firstly, the European Commission shall draft the
initiative, which will be presented to both Parliament and Council. What then follows is the first
reading of the draft legislation, where the Parliament will present changes to the draft legislation
and communicate the draft to the Council.
The committee consists of members of the
Council and Parliament and will aim at reaching a
common ground on the proposed legislation. If
within 6 weeks the committee does not agree on
a draft, the act will not be adopted. If the committee reaches an agreement its version of the
draft needs to be approved by a qualified majority in the Council and majority in the Parliament.
If all parties agree the new act is adopted, thus
concluding the ordinary legislative procedure.
The Council will then either approve the legislation or submit reasons against the proposal and
communicate an altered draft to the Parliament.
If the Council approves the draft a new law has
been made, but if it does not and the Parliament will be given the reasons as to why not and
the second reading of the draft will begin. The
Parliament will have three months to take action
on the proposal of the Council. There are three
possible courses of action: the Parliament can
with a majority reject the proposal deeming the
act not to have been adopted or the can submit
changes to the proposal and communicate it
back to the Council. If the Parliament agrees with
what was said by the Council or fails to uphold
the time limit of three months, the legislation
is passed corresponding to the position of the
Council.
2.
Intergovernmental Method
During this procedure the Council may either
unanimously or through qualified majority accept legislation based on the proposal of the
European Commission, however the Council
requires the consent of the Parliament to ultimately adopt the new legislation, thus although
there is currently not an amendment procedure
the Parliament still carries a vital role as it may
indefinitely delay the process.
18
GUIDE TO THE EU
IV. Legal Systems of the EU
1. Sources of Law

of Lisbon the thought of integrating such a
charter in the treaties themselves was rejected.
Instead, the Charter of fundamental rights of
the EU that was originally proclaimed in 2000
gained full legal effect by the entry into force of
the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009. It is therefore now
elevated to the same status of primary law as the
treaties themselves (Article 6 I TEU).
The sources of EU law (hereinafter referred to
as Union law) can be divided into two groups:
the primary source of Union law (hereinafter
referred to as primary law) and secondary source
of Union law (hereinafter referred to as secondary law). Just as their terms suggest, the two
sources of law stand in a hierarchy of norms with
the primary law ranking above the secondary.
Therefore secondary law can only be effective as
long as it is consistent with the primary law. Yet
it is legal and necessary that the secondary law
substantiates the primary law and is interpreted
in its light. The differentiation between primary
and secondary law is especially important in
the process of lawmaking: While secondary law
is enacted by the EU institutions (Article 288 I
TFEU2), the enactment or amendment of primary
law is solely within competence of the Member
States (Article 48 TEU3).
3. Secondary sources of Union
law
Ranked directly below the primary law is the secondary law. The most important legal acts of the
secondary law are summarised in Article 288(1)
TFEU. Secondary legal acts may be agreed upon
and communicated to the Member States in the
following forms:
2. Primary sources of Union law
The primary law consists mainly of the founding
treaties of the European Communities and the
Charter of fundamental rights of the EU4.
- Regulation;
- Directive;
- Decision;
- Recommendation;
- Opinions.
i. Regulations
i. The founding treaties of the European
Communities
The legal act of a regulation is laid down in Article 288(2) TFEU:
The most relevant primary law is tabled in the
founding treaties of the European Communities.
These are the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC, Treaty of Paris,1951), the European
Economic Community (EEC, Treaty of Rome,
1957) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom, Euratom Treaty, 1957).
Certainly not only the original treaties are part of
the primary law but also the later amendments
of them, i.e. the Treaty of Maastricht, the Treaty
of Amsterdam, the Treaty of Nice, as well as the
Treaty of Lisbon and existing TEU and TFEU.Tthe
accession treaties with Member States joining
over time are also part of the primary law.
“A regulation shall have general application. It
shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.“
Any regulation shall be binding in its entirety
and directly applicable in all Member States. This
means that with its entry into force a regulation
unfolds legal effect in all Member States without
the necessity of incorporation or transformation
by a national body. The directly transposable
nature of a regulation is directly applicable to
Member States, EU institutions and European
citizens. Therefore a regulation can directly affect
rights and obligations of the individual citizen.
Furthermore the direct applicability of a regulation and its universal primacy imply that it rules
out opposing national law.
ii.The Charter of fundamental rights of the
EU
The question whether or not to integrate a charter of fundamental rights was one of the most
controversial in the conflict about the European
Constitution (TCE)5 . In the context of the Treaty
19
Cork 2014
ii. Directives
If even the vertical effect of a directive is impossible and the Member State has failed to incorporate the directive correctly the Member State can
be charged for compensation of damages.
The concept of a directive is defined in Article
288 III TFEU:
“A directive shall be binding, as to the result to
be achieved, upon each Member State to which
it is addressed, but shall leave to the national
authorities the choice of form and methods.“
iii. Decisions
The legal act of a decision is specified in Article
288 IV TFEU:
As stipulated by Art. 288 III TFEU the lawmaking
by means of a directive is a two-tiered process:
Initially the EU enacts the directive which then
has to be incorporated by the addressed Member States. The choice of form and methods
shall be left to the national authorities as long
as they achieve the results that are laid down in
the contents of the directive. This means that the
creative leeway goes only so far as the objective
is still achievable. The more detailed a directive
is, the more detailed the incorporated law must
be, so that sometimes the incorporation comes
down to nothing more than a transcription.
“A decision shall be binding in its entirety. A
decision which specifies those to whom it is addressed shall be binding only on them“
Like the directive, the decision is binding in its
entirety and thus constitutes rights and obligations for the addressee. Unlike the directive,
the decision only sets out an arrangement for
one individual case and not a general rule. The
addressee of a directive can be one or several
Member State(s) and any natural or legal person9.
iv. Recommendations and opinions
Regarding the choice of form and methods the
European Court of Justice (ECJ) has made two
confinements:
Article 288 V TFEU lays down the concept of
recommendations and opinions:
“Recommendations and opinions shall have no
binding force.“
- First of all, the Member States are bound to
choose those form and methods that are of practical effect and the most adequate to achieve the
objective that is outlined in the directive. This
principle is called “direct effect“.
- Secondly the rank of the law to be incorporated must comply with the rank of the law that
regulated the matter in question until then.
Contrary to all other legal acts named in Article 288, recommendations and opinions have
no legally binding character. Nonetheless they
have a strong political significance and are often
obeyed by choice. While most recommendations and opinions are addressed to Member
States, they can also be addressed to any natural
or legal person.
Due to the wide scope that is inherent with directives, often Member States fail to transpose them
correctly. The ECJ has thus developed measures
to further ensure the correct incorporation.
2
The Treaty on the functioning of the European Union (TFEU,
formerly Treaty of Rome) goes into deeper detail on the role,
policies and operation of the EU, while the Treaty on European Union (TEU, formerly Maastricht Treaty) lays out the basic
principles, values, authorisation and competences of the EU
Institutions.
Firstly it has designed the requirement for an interpretation in conformity with the directive. This
obligation requires national courts to interpret
the law so as conform to the Directive’s objective. This principle is derived from the principle
of loyal cooperation6 and the aforementioned
principle of direct effect.
3
see footnote 2
General principles of law such as the principle of democracy
and common law can also be primary law.
4
The Treaty establishing a Constition for Europe (TCE) was an
unratified treaty with the intent to create a consolidated constitution for the EU
5
6
The principle of loyal cooperation between Member States is
laid down in Article 4 III TEU.
In cases where interpretation in conformity with
the directive is impossible in the respective
Member, the ECJ has decided that, under certain
conditions7, directives can unfold vertical effects8 while usually they can only come into force
through the national legislation.
7
for further information see:
http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/institutional_affairs/
decisionmaking_process/l14527_en.htm
8
In a state-citizen (vertical) relationship only, not in a citizencitizen (horizontal) relationship.
9
20
A legal person can, e.g., be a firm or corporation of any kind.
GUIDE TO THE EU
V. Competences
1. Definitions
3. Categories
Competence: Eurospeak for decisionmaking
power. Since the Treaty of Lisbon, competences
of the EU are listed in the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), arts 3-6.
- Exclusive competence (Art 3 TFEU): In these
policy fields the Union’s institutions have the sole
power to legislate. Member States have definitely and irreversibly forfeited their sovereignty
in these areas to the Union.
2. Principles
- Shared competence (Art 4 TFEU): In this category both the EU and the Member States have
the power to legislate. This category is, unofficially, split up in two sub categories.
Exclusive shared competence: Policy fields
governed by the principle of pre-emption.
Parallel shared competence: Policy areas
where the Union can legislate without preventing Member States from exercising their legislative competence.
The main purpose of these competences can
be seen as determining the division of power
between the Union and the Member States.
- Principle of Conferral (Art 5(1) TEU): Competences of EU institutions are limited to those
conferred on them by the Member States. This
means that the Union’s institutions cannot assume more power at will.
- Principle of Subsidiarity: Decisions should
be made at the lowest level possible. The aim is
to legislate as close to the citizens as possible.
Thus, the EU may only act when action on the
EU level would be more effective than action
at national, regional or local level. Two criteria
determine whether action should be taken at the
EU level:
a. Advantages of scale
b. Overcoming specificity of regional
preferences
- Supporting, coordinating or supplementing
competence (Art 6 TFEU): the EU has little power
to issue legally binding acts in these fields. It is
not allowed to harmonise different national laws
in these fields. Instead, it can set up programmes
that support, coordinate or supplement national
legislation.
- Member State competences: all the major
areas of taxation and public spending, such as
healthcare, housing, welfare provision and pensions.
- Principle of Proportionality: The EU actions
should be limited to the means necessary to
achieve specific aims.
- Principle of Pre-emption: In the category
where competences are shared (cf. infra), this
principle dictates that Member States can only
act in fields where the Union has not acted or
where it has appealed its acts.
21
Cork 2014
4. Infochart of Competences
Exclusive
Customs union
Eurozone monetary
policy
Conservation of
marine resources
Common
commercial policy
Shared
Support, coordinate
or supplement
Exclusive if EU has
policy
Internal market
Non-exclusive
Certain social
policy
Cohesion policy
Outer space
policies
Development
cooperation
Humanitarian
aid
Agriculture and
fisheries
Environment
Consumer protection
Transport
Energy
Old third pillar
'Area of freedom,
secuity and justice'
Certain public
health policies
22
R&D policies
Certain human health
policies
Industry
Culture
Tourism
Education and training
Civil protection and
disaster prevention
Administrative
cooperation
Coordination of economic, employment
and social policies
Common foreign,
security and defence
policies
GUIDE TO THE EU
VI. Relevant Policy Frameworks for Cork ‘14
Innovation has been placed at the heart of the
EU’s strategy to create growth and jobs, because
the EU believes that the primary driver of economic growth is innovation, and that the EU-28
lags behind other global innovation players such
as the United States, Japan or Korea. Therefore
it comes as no surprise that the EU very actively
aims to create an environment that promotes
innovation: EU strategies, programmes and
concrete measures are numerous, which can be
hard to understand at first glance, but nowadays
make up a comprehensive system aiming at
stimulating growth and progress of the European society.

economy. These three mutually reinforcing priorities should help the EU and the Member States
deliver high levels of employment, productivity
and social cohesion.”
Concretely, the EU has set five ambitious objectives - on employment, innovation, education, social inclusion and climate/energy - to be reached
by 2020. Each Member State has adopted its
own national targets in each of these areas. Concrete actions at EU and national levels underpin
the strategy.
In the Europe 2020 strategy, the EU has set a
headline target for Member States to invest
3% of their GDP in Research and Development
(R&D) by 2020 (1% public funding, 2% privatesector investment), which is expected to create
3.7 million jobs and increase the EU’s annual
GDP by nearly €800 billion. The EU can nonetheless only do so much as encourage the Member
States to actively pursue such a funding strategy.
As a matter of fact, Research and Development
is the second type of shared competence of the
EU as evidenced in the preceding section.
1. Europe 2020
“It is a strategy launched in 2010, setting targets
for the EU to achieve by 2020 (the targets cover
employment, research and development, climate
change and energy, education, social inclusion
and poverty reduction)”
As former Commission President Jose Manuel
Barroso noted “in a changing world, we want the
EU to become a smart, sustainable and inclusive
23
Cork 2014
2. ‘Innovation Union’
This an initiative setting out a strategic approach
to innovation, driven by the highest political
level [the EU institutions] and using public sector
intervention private sector and remove bottlenecks which prevent ideas from reaching the
market.
thus its measures target the following
bottlenecks:
- weaknesses in public education and
innovation systems,
- poor availability of finance, most damaging because preventing ideas that have emerged from publically funded research from
reaching the markets,
- costly patenting and outdated innovation regulations and procedures,
- slow standard-setting at EU-level,
- failure to use public procurement
strategically,
- fragmented efforts among member countries and regions.
The Innovation Union is an initiative (a specific
strategy), which focuses the EU efforts – and its
cooperation with non EU states – to make the EU
more innovative (from research to retail) so as to
tackle the big challenges of today; (1) energy, (2)
food security, (3) climate change and (4) Europe’s ageing population.
The EU, through the Innovation Union initiative,
has identified key obstacles for Europe to become a pivotal actor in global innovation, and

24
GUIDE TO THE EU
3. European Research Area (ERA)
A set of goals and agendas have therefore been
implemented within the overarching goal of
completing the ERA:
The ERA is a unified research area open to the
world based on the internal market, in which researchers, scientific knowledge and technology
are to circulate freely. Hence, just like the Single
market or the Schengen Area in other domains,
the ERA aims at removing barriers to the free
circulation of research and technology and the
transnational pooling of resources. In 2012, the
European Commission further called for the ERA
completion through the Communication on the
ERA.
- making national research systems more
effective,
- transnational cooperation and competition by
facilitating the sharing of research agendas,
- labour market for researchers by facilitating
mobility to foster excellence and relevance of
research,
- guaranteeing the transfer and access to scientific knowledge.
In order to tackle the challenges mentioned
above, and despite the EU’s limited competence
in negotiating and formulating legally binding
rules for R&D, the EU has been taking an active stance to reach its objectives as laid out in
Europe 2020 and the Innovation Union. Completing the European Research Area is a primary
objective.
It is within this broad set of goals stemming from
the EU’s Europe 2020 strategy, Innovation Union
as well as the ERA that the EU established Horizon 2020 framework.

25
Cork 2014
4.Horizon2020
Pillar 1: Excellent Science Base
“Horizon 2020 is the name given to the 8th Framework Programme for EU Research and Innovation. It
is the financial instrument implementing the Innovation Union, Europe 2020’s flagship initiative to secure
Europe’s competitiveness.”
It aims to promote world class research in Europe, by
developing, attracting and retaining research talent in Europe, and ensuring their access to the best
infrastructures. The major mechanisms of Pillar 1, the
European Research Council (ERC) and Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions (MCSA) remain programmes,
as they were under the FP7 (the ERC funds research
projects and MSCA for researchers).
Just as other EU funding programmes (Erasmus+
or the Structural Funds - i.e. the European Regional
Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the
Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for
Rural Development, etc.), Horizon 2020 is part of
the Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF) of the
EU, and will therefore run from 2014 until 2020. The
predecessor of Horizon 2020 was called Framework
Programmes (FP) for Research and Development; the
7th Framework Programme (FP7) ended in 2013.
Horizon 2020 is nonetheless different than its predecessors insofar as it is a more comprehensive
programme, that combines three previous funding
programmes:
-
Pillar 2: Industrial Leadership
The ILEIT programme aims to make strategic investments in key technologies, thus promoting innovation
in existing
industrial infrastructures. Higher access to finance will be awarded to innovators through
loans and guarantees for high-risk. A debt facility will
be operated by the European Investment Bank. There
is also dedicated support for innovative Small and
Medium Entreprises at different growth stages covering the whole innovation cycle (feasibility, demonstration and testing, and commercialisation phases).
the FP7 programme for Research,
- the innovation aspects of the Competitiveness and Innovation framework programme (CIP),
Pillar 3: Societal Challenges
- the EU contribution to the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).
Pillar 3 has the largest share of the budget and is
broken down into seven groups of policy-driven challenges. It aims to include the societal concerns into
the EU research policy objectives, through interdisciplinary collaborations including social sciences and
humanities, thus creating a critical mass of knowledge
and resources in order to deal with the societal challenges. It encompasses the entire cycle from basic
research to market uptake with a stronger output
orientation compared to FP7.
Therefore, Horizon 2020 is the biggest funding programme for research created so far, as it has a capacity of nearly € 80 billion of funding available (over 7
years). Horizon 2020 is divided into three main pillars:
excellent science, industrial leadership and societal
challenges all offering funding through a wide range
of calls targeting different organisations (universities, private research organisations, SMEs, industries,
national and local authorities, etc.).
26
GUIDE TO THE EU
5. Multi-annual Financial
Framework (MFF)
catch up with the rest, strengthening all regions’
competitiveness and developing inter-regional
cooperation.
The multiannual financial framework (MFF) lays
down the maximum annual amounts (‘ceilings’)
which the EU may spend in different political
fields (‘headings’) over a period of at least 5
years. The upcoming MFF covers seven years:
from 2014 to 2020.
2.Sustainable Growth: Natural Resources: includes the common agricultural policy, common
fisheries policy, rural development and environmental measures.
3.Security and citizenship: includes justice
and home affairs, border protection, immigration
and asylum policy, public health, consumer protection, culture, youth, information and dialogue
with citizens.
The MFF is not the budget of the EU for seven
years. It provides a framework for financial programming and budgetary discipline by ensuring
that EU spending is predictable and stays within
the agreed limits. It also allows the EU to carry
out common policies over a period that is long
enough to make them effective. This long term
vision is important for potential beneficiaries
of EU funds, co-financing authorities as well as
national treasuries.
4.Global Europe: covers all external action
(‘foreign policy’) by the EU such as development
assistance or humanitarian aid with the exception of the European Development Fund (EDF)
which provides aid for development cooperation
with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, as
well as overseas countries and territories. As it is
not funded from the EU budget but from direct
contributions from EU Member States, the EDF
does not fall under the MFF.
By defining in which areas the EU should invest
more or less over the seven years, the MFF is
an expression of political priorities as much as
a budgetary planning tool. The annual budget
is adopted within this framework and usually
remains below the MFF expenditure ceilings
in order to retain some flexibility to cope with
unforeseen needs.
5.Administration: covers the administrative
expenditure of all the European institutions, pensions and European Schools.
MFF Structure and Content
For the period 2014-2020, the MFF sets a maximum amount of EUR 960 billion for commitment
appropriations and EUR 908 billion for payment
appropriations. The MFF 2014-20 is divided into
six categories of expense (‘headings’) corresponding to different areas of
EU activities:
6.Compensations: temporary payments designed to ensure that Croatia, who joined the EU
MFF 2014-2020 Distribution
1.Smart and Inclusive
Growth
a.Competitiveness for
growth and jobs: includes
research and innovation;
education and training; transEuropean networks in energy,
transport and telecommunications; social policy; development of enterprises etc.
b.Economic, social and
territorial cohesion: covers
regional policy which aims at
helping the least developed
EU countries and regions to
27
Cork 2014
Comparison of the current MFF to the 2007-2013 Programme

6. Useful Links
Europe 2020 – A European Strategy for Smart,
Sustainable and Inclusive Growth
This report published by the European Commission
sets out the governing principles of Europe’s strategy
for the future and lays down the fundamental drivers
of economic growth and sustainability of the EU.
Horizon 2020 – General Overview
Horizon 2020 Structure
European Research Area (ERA) Progress Report 2013
Recommended reading: The Facts and Figures illustrated by graphs and complimentary notes (p.25-48)
COM(2011) 500 final – A Communication from the
Commission to the European Parliament, the Council,
the European Economic and Social Committee and
the Committee of the Regions
This communication from the European Commission
outlines the proposal for a Multi Annual Financial
Framework for the period between 2014-2020 and
proposes structural reforms to the distribution of the
budget and its funding principles.
“State of the Innovation Union: Taking stock 20102014”
This is the progress report of the EU’s strategy to
achieve its numerous and ambitious goals for an “Innovation Union”. It provides a good overview of the
EU’s actions and activities towards research and innovation, as well as a good state-of-play of the progress
to achieve the EU’s objectives for Europe 2020.
Recommended reading: The Executive Summary
(p.8-12)
EU Research and Innovation
This page gives a very short overview of the EU’s Research and Innovation activities, but most importantly
it provides links to all relevant EU stakeholders and
topics in European research and innovation.
E-Library of the Science in Society Programme
28