The EU institutions II.

1. The EU institutions II. EU-integration knowledges Written by Endre Domonkos 1st Semester, Academic Year 2010/2011

2. I. The European Parliament I. • The European Parliament (EP) is a representative body elected directly by the citizens of the Union. • It’s essential functions are the followings: to express the will of the Union’s citizens in the Community decision-making process hand-in-hand with the Council, representing the interests of the Member States, and the Commission, ensuring Community interests. • The Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) working in European political groups, perform their duties on behalf of the Union’s citizens and try to represent their interests. • The European Parliament used to be a consultative body. Today in respect of the majority of the Community’s legislative process the Parliament shares with the Council the power to take decisions and to adopt European legislation (co-decision-making and co-legislative body). • It also shares budgetary authority with the Council. The EP approves the composition of the European Commission and exercises supervision over its activities. • It’s important to note that Parliament isn’t a decision-making institution equal in rank to the Council. The Parliament hasn’t got legislative power of its own, it assumes the role of the co-legislator of the Council. • Parliament also required significant authority over the nomination and monitoring of the Commission under the Treaty of Maastricht and the Treaty of Amsterdam. The Treaty of Amsterdam made the nomination of the Commission’s President, and subsequently of the entire body, subject to Parliament approval. The Parliament has right to censure the Commission with a two-thirds majority of the votes. • International agreements concluded between the Communities and other countries are also subject to the EP’s assent. Trade agreements and the accession treaties concerning the enlargement of the Union must be approved by the Parliament. • EP takes initiatives demanding the expansion and modification of existing Community programmes and launch new ones.

3. I. The European Parliament II. • Today, the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) just their colleagues sitting in national parliaments – represent the citizens of the Union directly. • The MEPs share with national assemblies is that they also form political groups; they perform their duties according to the stance taken by their relevant affiliation. • The present configuration of the institution was established in 1976, when the Heads of State or Government of the European Communities – finally complying with the Parliament’s request of 15 years – gave their assent for the EP to be elected directly by the Union’s citizens. • In this manner, they also approved the European Parliament’s ambition of becoming a true parliamentary body ensuring the democratic legitimacy of the European integration. • Since 1979, the Members of the European Parliament have been elected directly by the citizens of the Member States for a period of five years. • The European elections are similar to the elections of national parliaments, in that it is usual for the same political forces to be pitted against each other. • The main difference, however, manifests itself in the way in which, in the European Parliament, the elected members of the national parties group into multinational political groups according to their political affiliations. • These European parties, similarly to the parties represented in national parliaments, perform their work on the strength of their common concerted interests.

4. I. The European Parliament III. • Today, it is characteristically not the nationality but the political affiliation of the MEPs that shapes their opinion regarding the issues discussed. • Despite the transnational nature of political groups, the conditions under which the European elections are held in the various Member States still differ. • Although there have been attempts to form a unified European electoral system, only common principles have been adopted that provide a framework for European elections. • On the basis of these principles, it is up the Member States to determine which system they draw on to elect their European representatives. • The main common principle is that each State has to adhere to the principle of proportional representation when electing its Members to the European Parliament, applying either the party list system or the single transferable vote. • In 18 of the Member States (Austria, Cyprus, the CzechRepublic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden), the whole country forms a single constituency, and citizens vote for a national list. • In 6 Member States (Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom), territorial constituencies are used and the people vote for regional lists (except Ireland, which uses single transferable vote). • Germany is a unique case, because its election system allows political parties to set up lists at the national or at the Länder level, but the seats are allocated nationally.

5. I. The European Parliament IV. • At the European elections, any citizen of voting age may elect a representative and be elected one in the country of his residence. • The number of mandates allocated to each Member State depends on the number of inhabitants, yet the system favours the smaller Member States (although to a lesser degree than the system applied in the Council) who, in relation to the size of their population, have more seats than the more populous Member States. • Candidates in the elections to the European Parliament held from 10 to 13 June 2004 contested 732 seats. • This figure was set in the Treaty of Accession of the 10 new Member States, thereby amending the relevant provisions of the Treaty of Nice. • The Treaty of Nice placed a cap of 732 on the number of seats in the European Parliament of a Union 27. • However, under the Treaty of Nice the allocation of mandates among the 27 Member States would only become effective following the accession of all 12 then-candidate countries. • The Treaty of Nice stipulated that, if the number of seats in the European Parliament remains below 732 due to fewer than 12 acceding to the Union, a proportional correction mechanism would be applied, increasing the number of MEPs from each Member States so as make the total as close to 732 as possible. • On this basis, the EP seats were distributed among 25 Member States, sharing out the 17 and 33 seats of Bulgaria and Romania.

6. I. The European Parliament V. • Upon the accession of Bulgaria and Romania and with a maximum delay of one year compared to this target date – the number of EP Members will temporarily exceed the ceiling. • To top it all, for this temporary period, the proportionality principle entitles both countries to an increased number of seats (18 for Bulgaria and 35 for Romania); thus, until the next elections, the total number of MEPs will be 785. • The European Parliament should return to 732 seats in 2009, but since the Treaty of Accession acknowledged and corrected the error made in the Treaty of Nice (which gave the Czech Republic and Hungary two seats fewer than Belgium, Greece and Portugal despite their comparable population), there should be 736 seats available in the 2009 EP elections (provided that the Union has only 27 members at the time). • According to the last European Parliamentary elections, held on between 4 and 7 June in 2009, the European Parliament now has got 736 members. • In the European Parliament, the Members don’t sit in national delegations but according to their political affiliations in factions of European political parties – in so-called political groups . • The political groups play a key role in the work of the Parliament; they determine the composition of the institution’s bodies, nominate the President and Vice-presidents of the Parliament, assign the chairmen and Members of the Committees. • The European political groups are generally formed by MEPs with similar political values.

7. I. The European Parliament VI. • As the political groups must reflect their transnational character, a minimum of 19 members from at least one fifth of the Member States (5 Member States in the Union of 25) can form a political group. • After the elections, the existing political groups are reformed and new ones are created. • There are traditional groups (that have been operational for decades) and groups that are formed only one parliamentary term, since their Members and national parties form ad hoc leagues. • The traditionally large political groupings have founded political parties that operate together with the majority of Christian Democrats and Conservatives and the Party of European Socialists, assembling the Socialist and Social Democratic Parties – determine the course of activities taken by the European Parliament. • The dominant role of the two largest political groups is reflected by the fact that usually, each occupies about one-fourth or one-third of all the seats, while together they often hold over 60% of the mandates. • There are currently 7 political groups in the European Parliament. These are the followings: • Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) (265 seats); • Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament (184 seats); • Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (84 seats); • Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance (55 seats); • European Conservatives and Reformists Group (54 seats); • Confederal Group of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left (35 seats); • Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group (32 seats).

9. I. The European Parliament VII. • The structure of the European Parliament is similar to that of national assemblies, although its organisation of labour is somewhat different, owing to its international character. • At the same time, the division of labour and the responsibilities of the top officers are essentially identical with the arrangements of national parliaments. • It other words, the bulk of work, namely the technical debates, takes place in the standing Committees of experts while the plenary session, responsible for the political debates, examines only the issues prepared in advance by the Committees. • The European Parliament is also headed by a President, who is assisted by the Vice-presidents. • Every two and half a years at the start and in the middle of each parliamentary term, the MEPs elect the President of the Parliament by secret ballot by a majority of the Members voting. • The main tasks of the Presidents are the followings: to manage the EP, chairs, opens and closes the parliamentary sessions, acts as chair at the sessions of the management bodies – the Conference of the Presidents and the Bureau – and represents the European Parliament at meetings with other EU institutions and non-member states. • The President signs the budget of the EU and those Community acts in which the Parliament acts as co-legislator with the Council. • The MEPs also elect 14 Vice-presidents from among themselves in the term of two and a half years.

10. I. The European Parliament VIII. • The day-to-day work of the European Parliament is managed by two central bodies: the Conference of Presidents and the Bureau, which take decisions on matters relating to legislative planning and organise the Parliament’s work. • The President of the Parliament and the leaders of the political groups comprise the Conference of Presidents. The Conference of Presidents is responsible for taking political decisions concerning the Parliament’s work , drawing up of the agendas of the sessions, the decision on the composition of the Committees regarding their competences and the supervision of the Parliament’s relations with the other EU-institutions, the national parliaments and the Member States. • The Bureau’s members are the President of the Parliament and the 14 Vice-presidents. The Bureau manages the session and administers the organisational, financial and administrative matters of the EP’s. • In the European Parliament, the standing Committees are in charge of the in-depth discussion and detailed preparation of topics. • It is the Committees that prepare the issues for political debate at the plenary session. • Each Committee is headed by a Chairman and three of four Vice-Chairman, who are elected on the basis of the political groups’ nominations at the Committees’ statutory meetings, so that the number of chair and vice-chair positions allocated to each political group should reflect its size. • The political groups are also responsible for assigning the Members of the Committees, bearing in mind that the composition of each Committee should mirror the structure of mandates in the Parliament.

11. I. The European Parliament IX. • The Committees vary in size. While the biggest one, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, has 78 Members, the smallest one – the Committee of Petitions – has only 23 Members. • The decision on the size, members and heads of the Committees is taken at the beginning of the new parliamentary term. • Two and a half year thereafter, in the middle of the term, the positions are re-allocated and a new Chairman and Vice-Chairman are elected. • As a rule, each MEP is a Member with full rights in at least one Committee and acts as a substitute in at least one other Committee. • The substitutes are entitled to speak at Committee meetings and, if any of their respective political groups’ full members is absent, to take part in the vote. • Committee work is usually organised by reports on various issues (legislative proposals, other parliamentary resolutions). • The MEP responsible for drafting particular report and thus preparing Parliament’s decision is called the rapporteur. • The rapporteurs are appointed by the committee on the basis of deals between the political groups. • The number of rapporteurships is proportionate to the weight of a political group in a Committee.

12. I. The European Parliament X. • Committee work largely focuses on debating draft reports, which take their final shape after amendments thereto have been debated upon. • Once a draft is reported in Committee, it is submitted to the plenary session for final adoption. Amendments may still be submitted in plenary, which MEPs vote on before voting on and adopting the final text of the report. • Besides the standing Committees, the Parliament has the right to set up sub-committees, temporary committees and temporary committees of inquiry. The Parliament also manages Joint Parliamentary Committees with the parliaments of the associated countries and similar Inter-parliamentary Delegations with other parliamentary bodies of certain countries or groups of countries. • The EP’s official seat is in Strasbourg, but Brussels and Luxembourg also play an important role in the work of the institution. • The EP meets in plenary session in Strasbourg, while the Committees meet in Brussels and the General Secretariat is located in Luxembourg, whichhas got responsibility for the background work of the EP. • A Protocol attached to the Treaty on the European Union specifies that the EP should have its seat in Strasbourg, where the 12 monthly part-sessions, which are normally one-week long (from Monday to Thursday), should be held. Normally 12 plenary sessions and 6-7 mini-sessions are held in a year. The EP works in 4-week periods. • Besides the plenary week and the two weeks for the Committees, the political groups also have one week when they have the opportunity to outline their strategies and reconcile their internal differences. Although the political groups hold their meetings in Brussels, they frequently convene in the Member States or in Strasbourg during the plenary week prior to voting-sessions.

13. II. The European Court of Justice I. • The European Court of Justice (ECJ) of the European Communities has its seat in Luxembourg. Its establishment is related to the creation of Community law. • With the establishment of the Communities, the concept of Community law was created, which has become an integral part of the legal systems of the Member States but has remained independent of national jurisdictions. • Main tasks of the European Court of Justice: 1. Ensuring that Community law is uniformly interpreted and implemented in each Member State. 2. Supervising the observance of Community law and monitoring that Community institutions act line with their competences as stipulated by the Treaties. 3. Giving opinion on the compatibility with the Community law of any international agreement to be concluded by the EU or the Member States. • Having delivered several historic judgments, the Court of Justice has provided an impetus for the development of closer European integration. • The institutional significance of the European Court of Justice is the only forum that has jurisdiction to interpret Community law and to verify the legality of acts adopted by the EU institutions.

14. II. The European Court of Justice II. • The ECJ comprises one judge from each Member State, nominated by national governments and appointed by the common accord of the governments of the Member States. The judges hold office for a renewable term of six years. Every three years, half of the judges are replaced or re-appointed, which ensures continuity of jurisdiction. The judges perform their duties independently from Member States or any institution and cannot be dismissed before the end of their mandate. The judges select one member to be President for three years. • The Court of Justice may sit in plenary session or in chambers of three of five judges. The Treaty of Nice established a Grand Chamber comprised 13 judges (the President of the Court, the Presidents of the Chambers of 5 judges and other judges by rotation). • Advocates General (8 persons) have the same status as the judges. They also hold office for six years. The Member States select 4 advocates general every three years. The advocates general give a summary of a particular case and submit an opinion in writing to the Court. • Court of First Instance was established in 1989 to reinforce the judicial protection of Community law and to facilitate faster and more effective jurisdiction and to relieve the Court by assuming some of its tasks so that it could concentrate on its primary duty, namely the uniform interpretation of Community law. • The Court of First Instance is composed of at least one judge from each Member State. • Members of the Court of First Instance are appointed by the common accord of the governments of the Member States for a renewable term of six years. Every three years , half the judges are replaced or re-appointed. According to the Treaty of Nice the Court of First Instance became the general judicial body in almost direct actions, such as actions for annulment, for failure to act and for damages. • Appeals against the rulings of the Court of First Instance under its jurisdiction may be submitted to the Court of Justice in cases defined in its Statute.

15. II. The European Court of Justice III. • The procedures of the European Court of Justice are the followings: 1. Proceeding for failure an obligation (vis-á-vis the Member States). It should be determined whether the Member State has fulfilled its obligations under the Treaties. The Commission doesn’t automatically bring an action against a Member State that fails to fulfill its obligations under the Treaties. As first step, it serves a reasoned opinion on a particular Member State. Should the Member State fail to comply with the opinion within the deadline specified therein, the Commission initiates legal proceedings before the Court of Justice. 2. Proceeding for annulment: the Court of Justice reviews the legality of the acts of the Community institutions. If it finds a misuse of competence of power, an absence of competence, a violation of a substantial procedural requirement, or a breach of the Treaties or of any act of Community legislation, the Court may annul the ensuing legal measure. Such annulment of Community act may be initiated by a Member State, the Council, the Commission or the Parliament. 3. Proceeding for failure to act (vis-á-vis the Community institutions). The Court of Justice may review the legality of a failure to act by a Community institution. In such cases, for example the failure to legislate, it is a Member State, the Community institutions, or natural and legal persons who are directly and individually concerned, who may initiate legal proceedings. 4. Actions for damages: the Court of Justice may rule on the liability of the EU-institutions or servants in the performance of their duties in actions for damages, based on non-contractual liability. 5. Request for an opinion: the Council, the Commission, a Member State or the EP may seek the opinion of the ECJ to determine the compatibility of an international agreement with the provisions of the EC Treaty. If the Court decides that there is an incompatibility, the agreement may not put into force. 6. Preliminary rulings: to provide the uniform interpretation and application of Community law. The national court to which the ruling is addressed must apply the interpretation of the Court. The preliminary ruling on interpretation by the ECJ serves as a guide for other national courts.

16. II. The European Court of Justice IV. • Appeals can be considered a special type of proceedings. The Court of Justice may hear appeals against the judgements given by the Court of First Instance, in effect acting as a court of appeals on such occasions. • Generally, a distinction between requests for preliminary rulings and the other procedures, since the former are „indirect actions”, where the case before the Court of Justice is based on what happened before national courts, while the latter are „direct actions”, where those concerned resort directly to the Court of Justice. • The procedure before the Court of Justice always has a written stage and almost always an oral stage. The written stage is generally more significant. • With direct actions, as soon as the written application is sent to the Court, the judges appoint an advocate general and a judge-rapporteur from their members who are responsible for the given case. • The application is also sent to the defendant, who has one month to lodge a defence. • The applicant then submits a reply and the defendant a rejoinder (the time allowed being one month in each case). • After hearing the judge-rapporteur’s report and the advocate general’s opinion, it is decided whether the case should be dealt with by a Chamber or by the full Court and the date is set for the public hearing. • In a report for the hearing, the judge-rapporteur summarises the facts and the arguments of the parties. At the public hearing, the judges may put questions to the parties.

17. II. The European Court of Justice V. • Some weeks later, again in open court, the advocate general delivers his opinion to the Court, in which he proposes his solution to the problem. • The oral procedure then ends. • The judges deliberate alone, the judge-rapporteur presents his draft judgment; the draft is modified on the basis of changes proposed by the other judges and is then adopted by a majority vote; no dissenting opinions are attached to the final judgment, which is given in open court. • During the procedure of preliminary rulings, after the national court submits its questions to the ECJ, the ECJ has the request translated into all the official languages of the EU and then serves it on the Member States, the Commission and the Council. • The parties, the Member States and the Community institutions have two months within which to submit their written observations and opinions to the Court. • From this point on, the procedure is basically the same as that for direct actions. • All those who submitted written observations may present their arguments orally at the hearing. • It’s important to emphasize that no appeal can be made against the judgements of the Court of Instance.

18. III. The Court of Auditors • The European Court of Auditors was established as the independent body entrusted with the supervision of Community finances in 1977. • The Court of Auditors sits in Luxembourg. • The Court of Auditors consists of one member from each Member State. The members of the Court of Auditors are appointed for a renewable period of six years by a qualified majority of the Council, after consulting the European Parliament. The Court’s members elect their President for a renewable term of three years. • Main tasks of the Court of Auditors: -to examine whether the European Union managed its finances in accordance with the budgetary rules and set the objectives. -To guarantee that the Community’s expenditure is incurred in compliance with proper accounting, administrative and moral constraints. -To audit any institution or organisation receiving Community funds (In addition to the Community institutions, national, regional and local bodies, independent organisations receiving Community funds and even third countries (e. g. candidate states) in receipt of Community aid are also obliged to supply data regarding the utilisation and management of the Community resources allocated to them. -To publish an annual report on its work and the results produced. -To compile special report on any subject related to the implementation of the Community budget. • The Court of Auditors has got an advisory function, since the Community institutions may ask the Court for an opinion on the management of Community finances or on legislation relating to financial matter on the budget.

19. IV. The Economic and Social Committee • The Economic and Social Committee (ESC) is one of the Union’s two advisory bodies, the other being the Committee of Regions. • The ESC was set up by the 1957 Treaty of Rome in order to involve the various economic and social interest groups in Community matters and in the preparation of Community decisions. The body comprises the representation of economic and social interest groups, who are divided into three groups: Employers’ Group, Workers’ Group and Various Interests’ Group. • According to the Treaty of Nice, the number of members of the Economic and Social Committee may not exceed 350. Currently, in a Union of 27 the ESC has 344 members, who are nominated by the Member States and appointed by the Council, acting by qualified majority for a renewable term of four years. • The ESC elects its President, two Vice-presidents and a Bureau from its members every two years. The Bureau is made up if 24 members, 8 from each interest group; its task is to coordinate the work of the Committee. • The seat of the ESC is in Brussels. • Main tasks of the ESC: - to advise the European Commission and the Council on economic, social and employment issues. Consultation of the ESC by the Commission or the Council is mandatory in certain matters stipulated by the Treaty. The Committee must comply with a set deadline when issuing its opinion. - to influence Community decisions but this is relatively limited. • The full Committee meets in plenary session ten times a year and in so-called section sessions between.

20. V. The Committee of the Regions • The Committee of the Regions was set up by the Maastricht Treaty to provide a forum for local and regional authorities to express their points of view on Community decision-making. • The Committee has got 344 members, who represent local and regional authorities. They are mostly majors or leaders of local governments or provinces appointed by direct democratic elections, or persons who are politically accountable to a local or regional elected body or representatives and who don’t hold office as a result of delegation. • The members of the Committee perform their duties independently of any external institution and may not take instructions from any organisation. • The Members of the Committee elect their President, a Vice-president from each Member State and a Bureau from their members every two years. The Bureau coordinates the work of the Committee. The 58 members of the Bureau comprise the President, the Vice-presidents, a further 27 members and the leaders of the political groups. • The seat of the Committee of the Regions is in Brussels. • According to the Maastricht Treaty the Committee of Regions must be consulted a matter of course prior to the adoption of decisions which will have repercussions at regional level. The Commission must be consulted on the areas of education, culture, health, trans-European networks and economic and social cohesion. The Treaty of Amsterdam gave the Committee another five areas of compulsory consultation: employment policy, social policy, the environment, vocational training and transport. The Committee has the right to issue own-initiative opinions on matters having an impact at local or regional level. • The opinion of the Committee must be issued in compliance with a set deadline. Plenary sessions are held five times a year.

21. VI. The European Investment Bank • The European Investment Bank (EIB) was created under the Treaty of Rome. The Luxembourg-based EIB’s objective is to contribute to the balanced economic development of the Communities through financing capital investments. • The Bank may have a maximum of loans outstanding equivalent to 250% of its capital. The EIB grants loans mainly by borrowing on the international capital markets, usually through issuing bonds. • Board of Governors: consists of Ministers nominated by each Member State, usually Ministers of Finance. The Board of Governors lays down the general guidelines on credit policy, approves the balance sheet and the annual report, decides on capital increases and appoints the leading officers of the EIB. • Board of Directors: based on the nominations of the Member States and of the European Commission for a term of 5 years. The Board of Directors consists of 28 Directors and 18 Alternates. Its task is to adopt decisions concerning borrowings, granting of loans and guarantees. • The Board of Governors appoints the Management Committee, which comprises the President and eight Vice-presidents, for a renewable term of six years. Under the supervision of the Board of Directors, the Management Committee oversees day-to-day business at the EIB, prepares borrowing and lending decisions and ensures that the decisions of the Board of Directors are implemented. • The main task of the EIB is to finance projects that are in accordance with the economic aims of the Community (to help the development of economically weaker regions; to support the improvement of the international competitiveness of the EU’s industry, supporting SME-s, to grant loans for projects guaranteeing the Community’s energy supply + to develop of the transport and communications infrastructures of the Union. • European Investment Fund: to finance the establishment, growth and development of SME-s.

22. VII. The European System of Central Banks and the European Central Bank I. • The Maastricht Treaty established the programme of the economic and monetary union (EMU), involving the establishment of the single European currency in the third phase of the programme and, at the latest, by 1999. In order to establish the required institutional structure to manage the European currency and the monetary union, the Treaty of Maastricht also provided for the establishment of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the European Central Bank (ECB). • With the adoption of single currency, the European System of Central Banks became the leading institution of the Union’s financial policy. The ESCB is composed of the European Central Bank and the national central banks (NCBs) of the Member States. • In accordance with the Treaty, the primary objective of the ESCB is to maintain the price stability. The ESCB is responsible for the following tasks: - to define and implement the monetary policy of the Community; - to conduct foreign exchange operations; - to hold and manage the official foreign reserves of the Member States; - to promote the smooth operation of payment systems. • The ECB is a completely independent institution; it may not seek or take instructions from the governments of the Member States, from the Community institutions or any other external body. • The NCBs are the sole subscribers to the capital of the ECB. The subscription of capital is based on the EU Member States’ respective shares in the GDP and population of the Community, each with a weighting of 50%

23. VII. The European System of Central Banks and the European Central Bank II. • The main decision-making body of the ECB is the Governing Council, which comprises all the members of the Executive Board and the presidents of the NCBs of the Member States that have joined the currency union. The President of the Council and one member of the Commission may attend the Governing Council’s meetings without the right to vote. The Governing Council adopts the guidelines and takes the most important decisions of the ESCB. It formulates the monetary policy of the Community, including decisions relating to monetary objectives of the ESCB, like key interest rates and to supply of reserves. The members of the Governing Council generally adopt decisions by simple majority. • The Executive Board comprises the President, the Vice-president and four other members, chosen on the basis of their recognised financial expertise. They are appointed by the common accord of the governments of the Member States at the level of the Heads of State or Government (after consultation with the European Parliament and the Governing Council of the ECB) for a non-renewable period of up to eight years. The Members of the Executive Board perform their duties independently of governments and the other Community institutions and may not engage in any other professionalactivity during their terms of office. • The President and the Vice-president of the Executive Board are also the President and Vice-president of the European Central Bank. • The Executive Board is responsible for implementing the monetary policy in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the Governing Council. The Executive Board prepares the meetings of the Governing Council. • The General Council comprises the President, the Vice-president of the Executive Board and the presidents of the NCBs of all the Member States, irrespective of whether they fully participate in the monetary union, namely whether or not they have joined the eurozone.

24. VIII. The European Ombudsman • The Maastricht Treaty vested the European Parliament with responsibility for appointing the Ombudsman of the European Union. The first European Ombudsman was appointed in 1995. • The Ombudsman holds his office for a renewable period of five years with an official seat in Strasbourg, just like the European Parliament. • The Ombudsman is empowered to receive complaints from any citizen of the Union or social organisation or undertaking with headquarters registered in any of the Member States who have suffered maltreatment or have a grievance involving an institution of the Union. • The Ombudsman main task is to conduct an investigation regarding the complaints. A complaint may only be filled with the Ombudsman if the complainant has already voiced his concern to the institution involved. • The Ombudsman may not intervene on behalf of national, local and regional governments and doesn’t deal with pending cases or cases already settled with a final judgement. • When receiving a complaint, the Ombudsman first decides if he has authority in the given matter. If so, he launches an investigation, which is a rule a public investigation but which can also be confidential, if requested by the complainant. If the Ombudsman substantiates the complaint, he seeks a solution to redress the problem and, if necessary, submits draft recommendations to the institution concerned. If the institution concerned fails to act upon the recommendation, the Ombudsman reports the case to the European Parliament.

25. IX. Institutional changes affecting the European Parliament in the Treaty of Lisbon • As far as the European Parliament is concerned, the most significant provision of the Treaty of Lisbon stipulates that „the European Parliament shall, jointly with the Council, exercise legislative and budgetary functions”, which clearly underlines Parliament’s role as co-decision-maker. • In addition, „it shall exercise functions of political control and consultation” and it „shall elect the President of the Commission”. • The Treaty of Lisbon stipulates that the European Parliament is to have real parliamentary powers in the areas of legislation, adoption of the budget, and appointments and control functions, even though it will exercise decision-making competences jointly with the Council. • As an expression of Parliament’s role as a co-legislator, and as one of the most significant practical implications, the Treaty of Lisbon makes co-decisionthe general legislative procedure, significantly extending its scope and specifying the exceptional areas where other procedures (special legislative procedures) remain applicable. • This means that the Parliament and the Council adopt legislation in most cases, hence the European Parliament becomes part and parcel of Community decision-making in almost all areas, and Community decision-making will be placed in a much more transparent framework: as a general rule, Parliament and the Council legislate through co-decision (with other procedures applied only in exceptional cases), while decision-making in the Council is generally by qualified majority voting, with unanimity as an exception to the rule. • According to the Treaty of Lisbon the number of its member could not exceed 750 and entitling Member States to a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 96 seats in the EP. The European Council decides the precise allocation of seats, acting on the European Parliament’s proposal and in unanimity.

26. X. Institutional changes affecting the Court of Justice in the Treaty of Lisbon • The Treaty of Lisbon renamed the Court of Justice of the European Communities as the Court of Justice of the European Union, consisting of the Court, the General Court (the new name of the Court of First Instance) and the Specialised Courts (currently called judicial panels). • The competence of the Court of Justice was broadened in the area of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, and to a lesser extent in foreign and security policy, although mainly in current second- and partly in third-pillar areas, its jurisdiction remained limited. • An important new element is that the Court’s new competence to revise all decisions taken by the European Council (which becomes an institution proper), other than those in the field of foreign and security policy. • Another new element allows for a certain degree of individual access to the Court, giving any natural or legal person the opportunity to institute proceedings against regulatory acts that are of direct concern to the person in question and that do not entail implementing measures.

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