欧盟运行机制 how the EU works

HowtheEuropeanUnionworksAcitizen’sguidetotheEUinstitutionsEuropeanUnionEuropeandocumentation2PublishedinalltheofficiallanguagesoftheEuropeanUnion:Danish,Dutch,English,Finnish,French,German,Greek,Italian,Portuguese,SpanishandSwedishandinCzech,Estonian,Hungarian,Lithuanian,Latvian,Maltese,Polish,SlovakandSlovene.EuropeanCommissionDirectorate-GeneralforPressandCommunicationPublicationsB-1049Bruxelles/BrusselManuscriptcompletedinJune2003Coverillustration:EuropeanParliamentCataloguingdatacanbefoundattheendofthispublicationLuxembourg:OfficeforOfficialPublicationsoftheEuropeanCommunities,2003ISBN92-894-5283-8EuropeanCommunities,2003Reproductionisauthorised.PrintedinBelgiumPRINTEDONWHITECHLORINE-FREEPAPERHowtheEuropeanUnionworksAcitizen’sguidetotheEUinstitutionsContentsIntroducingtheEuropeanUnionTreatiesanddecision-makingTheEuropeanParliament:voiceofthepeopleTheCounciloftheEuropeanUnion:voiceofthememberstatesTheEuropeanCommission:promotingthecommoninterestTheCourtofJustice:upholdingthelawTheEuropeanCourtofAuditors:gettingvalueforyourmoneyTheEuropeanCentralBank:managingtheeuroTheEuropeanEconomicandSocialCommittee:voiceofcivilsocietyTheCommitteeoftheRegions:voiceoflocalgovernmentTheEuropeanInvestmentBank:financingEUprojectsTheEuropeanOmbudsman:investigatingyourcomplaintsAgenciesLookingtothefuture351014202528303234363840463IntroducingtheEuropeanUnionnjusthalfacenturyofexistence,theEuropeanUnion(EU)hasachievedremarkablethings.Ithasdeliveredpeacebetweenitsmembersandprosperityforitscitizens.IthascreatedasingleEuropeancurrency(theeuro)andafrontier-free‘singlemarket’wheregoods,people,servicesandcapitalmovearoundfreely.TheEUhasgrownfromsixtofifteencountriesanditispreparingtoembraceadozenmore.Ithasbecomeamajortradingpower,andaworldleaderinfieldssuchasenvironmentalprotectionanddevelopmentaid.TheEU’ssuccessowesalottoitsuniquenatureandthewayitworks.FortheEUisnotafederationliketheUnitedStates.Norisitsimplyanorganisationforco-operationbetweengovernments,liketheUnitedNations.ThecountriesthatmakeuptheEU(its‘memberstates’)remainindependentsovereignnationsbuttheypooltheirsovereigntyinordertogainastrengthandworldinfluencenoneofthemcouldhaveonitsown.Poolingsovereigntymeans,inpractice,thatthememberstatesdelegatesomeoftheirdecision-makingpowerstoEuropeaninstitutionstheyhavecreated,sothatdecisionsonspecificmattersofjointinterestcanbemadedemocraticallyatEuropeanlevel.Thethreemaindecision-makinginstitutionsare:•theEuropeanParliament,whichrepresentstheEU’scitizensandisdirectlyelectedbythem;•theCounciloftheEuropeanUnion,whichrepresentstheindividualmemberstates;•theEuropeanCommission,whichseekstoupholdtheinterestsoftheUnionasawhole.IHowtheEuropeanUnionworks4This‘institutionaltriangle’producesthepoliciesandlaws(directives,regulationsanddecisions)thatapplythroughouttheEU.Therulesandproceduresthattheinstitutionsmustfollowarelaiddowninthetreaties,whichareagreedbythememberstates’presidentsandprimeministersandratifiedbytheirparliaments.Inprinciple,itistheCommissionthatproposesnewEUlawsbutitistheParliamentandCouncilthatadoptthem.TheCourtofJusticeupholdstheruleofEuropeanlaw,andtheCourtofAuditorschecksthefinancingoftheUnion’sactivities.Fiveotherbodiescompletethesystem:•theEuropeanEconomicandSocialCommitteerepresentscivilsocietyandthetwosidesofindustry;•theCommitteeoftheRegionsrepresentsregionalandlocalauthorities;•theEuropeanCentralBankisresponsibleforEuropeanmonetarypolicy;•theEuropeanInvestmentBankfinancesEUinvestmentprojects;•theEuropeanOmbudsmanguardsEUcitizensandorganisationsagainstmal-administration.Inaddition,specialisedagencieshavebeensetuptohandlecertaintechnical,scientificormanagementtasks.Thisbookletoffersacomprehensiveoverviewofwhateachinstitutionoragencydoes,andhowitworks.ItsaimistoprovideahelpfulguidetotheEU’spresentdecision-makingsystem.Thefirstthreeofthesetreatiescreatedthethree‘EuropeanCommunities‘,i.e.thesys-temofjointdecision-makingoncoal,steel,nuclearpowerandothermajorsectorsofthememberstates’economies.TheCommunityinstitutions—setuptomanagethissystem—weremergedin1967,resultinginasingleCommissionandasingleCouncil.TheEEC,inadditiontoitseconomicrole,graduallytookonawiderangeofresponsibilitiesincludingsocial,environmentalandregionalpolicies.Sinceitwasnolongerapurelyeconomiccommunity,thefourthTreaty(Maastricht)renameditsimply‘theEuropeanCommunity’(EC).TheMaastrichtTreatyalsointroducednewformsofco-operationbetweenthememberstategovernmentsforexampleondefenceandintheareaof‘justiceandhomeaffairs‘.Byaddingthisintergovern-mentalco-operationtotheexisting‘Community‘system,theMaastrichtTreatycreatedanewstructurewiththree‘pillars’whichispoliticalaswellaseconomic.ThisistheEuropeanUnion(EU).TheEUisfoundedonfourtreaties:•TheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanCoalandSteelCommunity(ECSC),whichwassignedon18April1951inParis,cameintoforceon23July1952andexpiredon23July2002;•TheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity(EEC),whichwassignedon25March1957inRomeandcameintoforceon1January1958;•TheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanAtomicEnergyCommunity(Euratom),whichwas