Sessions 3 – 4 EU Institutions and Decision Making

1.

Overview

• • Two types of institutions should be distinguished: Institutions that represent EU’s

intergovernmental element

: European Council, Council of the European Union (= Council of Ministers), Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER).

Institutions that represent EU’s

supranational element

: Parliament, Commission, Court of Justice, Court of Auditors; European Central Bank, European Investment bank.

The EU’s

decision-making process

, i. e. the production of secondary law, involves three main institutions: • the

European Commission

, which has the agenda setting power and seeks to uphold the interests of the Union as a whole, • the

Council of the European Union

, which represents the individual member states, • the

European Parliament

, which represents the EU’s citizens and is, since 1979, directly elected by them.

According to the

codecision procedure

which is now used for most EU law-making the Parliament shares legislative power equally with the Council.

en 2. The European Commission

The European Commission has four main roles: • To propose legislation to Parliament and the Council (

right of initiative

). However: Council can modify proposals by the Commission unanimously (Art. 250 EC); Council and Parliament can force the Commission to make a proposal (Arts. 208 and 192 EC).

• To

manage and implement EU policies and the budget

(especially CAP and competition policy), • To Justice, Commission as “guardian of the Treaties”), • To

enforce European law represent the European Union on the international stage

(jointly with the Court of , e. g. by negotiating agreements between the EU and other countries.

en European Commission (ctd.)

The Commission and its president are first nominated and then appointed by member countries after approval by the European Parliament. Currently each country has 1 commissioner. The number of commissioners should be reduced in the future.

en Distinguish:

• The commission as a collective-decision making body (the

political arm

) • The “Directorates-General” and “services” (the

administrative arm

)

European Commission (ctd.) The power of the Commission, resulting from its monopoly of initiative (example: proposal to increase external tariff rate):

SQ Area of successful Commission proposals M 1 M p (= SQ) M 27 whereby SQ = status quo(zero tariff rate), M 1 member state, M p = pivotal member state, M 27 = most liberal = most protectionist member state.

en 3. The Council of the European Union

All regulations and directives must be approved by the Council, either jointly with the European Parliament or after consultation with it. The Council is the

most important legislative authority

of the Community.

en

The Council is composed of one representative from each country, usually the national minister in charge of the issue under discussion.

The Council decides by unanimity in the most sensitive areas, such as common foreign and security policy, taxation, asylum and immigration policy, and in most cases by

qualified majority voting

.

en The Council of the European Union (ctd.)

The

current qualified majority voting procedure

assigns a certain number of votes to member countries as a function of their population size, but weighted in a way that favors small countries relative to strict proportionality.

en General problem: One person, one vote or one country, one vote.

The current procedure (Treaty of Nice) is a political compromise of both principles.

The Council of the European Union (ctd.)

Member states‘ votes and population shares Country Germany UK France Italy Spain Poland Romania Netherlands Greek Czech Republic Belgium Portugal Hungary 27 14 13 12 12 12 Votes 29 29 29 29 27 12 12 % of all votes Population share 8.41

17.01

8.41

8.41

8.41

7.83

12.40

12.24

11.97

8.34

7.83

4.06

3.77

3.48

3.48

3.48

3.48

3.48

7.97

4.62

3.32

2.19

2.13

2.13

2.13

2.11

The Council of the European Union (ctd.)

Member states‘ votes and population shares Country Sweden Bulgaria Austria Slovakia Denmark Finland Irland Lithuania Latvia Slovenia Estonia Cyprus Luxembourg Malta 4 4 4 4 3 7 7 7 7 4 Votes 10 10 10 7 % of votes 2.90

2.90

2.90

2.03

2.03

2.03

2.03

2.03

1.16

1.16

1.16

1.16

1.16

0.78

Population share 1.84

1.63

1.67

1.11

1.11

1.07

0.80

0.72

0.50

0.41

0.28

0.17

0.08

0.08

The Council of the European Union (ctd.)

The Treaty of Nice requires a

triple majority

for the qualified majority voting procedure: (1)

Majority of states

(in case the decision was not made at the initiative of the commission a two third majority of member states is required) > 13 states (2)

Qualified majority of votes

, i. e. 255 out of 345 votes (about 74% of votes) (3) Upon request of a member state: Supporters represent

at least 62% of the population of the EU

> 305.586 Mio.

The Council of the European Union (ctd.) Blocking minority (Treaty of Nice)

: (1) > 13 states (2) > 90 votes (3) Upon request of a member state: > 38% of population, i. e. > 187.295 Mio.

The Council of the European Union (ctd.)

The

draft Constitution

requires a

double majority

: (1) > 55% of states , i. e. > 14 states (2) > 65% of population, i. e. > 320.372 Mio.

This implies the following

blocking minority

: (1) > 45% of states , i. e. > 12 states (2) > 35% of population, i. e. > 127.508 Mio.

Comparison with Treaty of Nice

: • Germany and the other three big countries would have gained considerable power, • the relative position of Poland and Spain would have become worse.

The Council of the European Union (ctd.) The Treaty of Lisbon

: • From 2014 on, the calculation of qualified majority will be based on the

double majority

of Member States and people.

• However, from 2014 to 2017, a Member State may request that an act can be adopted in accordance with the qualified majority as defined in the current Treaty of Nice.

• Only from 2017 on, the double majority will hold without further restrictions.

The Council of the European Union (ctd.) Discussion: Voting power and voting weights

The member of a collective decision-making body has some power if the vote of this member can occasionally change the decision. The voting power is not proportional to the voting weight.

Example 1

: Two members, A with 51 votes and B with 49 votes. With simple majority rule, A’s voting power = 100%, B’s voting power = 0%.

Example 2

: Two members, A with 99 votes and B with 1 vote. With unanimity rule, both members have the same voting power (50%)

The Council of the European Union (ctd.) Understanding voting power Example

: Three members, A with 30 votes and B with 25 votes and C with 21 votes. Majority of 50 votes is required

The Council of the European Union (ctd.) Understanding voting power I: The Shapley-Shubik-Index

Permutations (A,B,C) (A,C,B) (B,A,C) (B,C,A) (C,A,B) (C,B,A) Pivots Index Player A 0 0 1 1 1 1 4 4/6 Player B 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1/6 Player C 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1/6

The Council of the European Union (ctd.) Understanding voting power II: The Banzhaf-Index

Coalitions (A,B,C) (A,B) (A,C) (B,C) (A) (B) (C) Swings Index 1 0 1 1 Player A 1 1 1 6 6/10 0 1 0 0 Player B 0 1 0 2 2/10 0 1 0 0 Player C 0 0 1 2 2/10 Swing: If a player can change a winning coalition into a loosing coalition by leaving the coalition and vice versa.

The Council of the European Union (ctd.) Penrose’s square root law:

Basic idea: Suppose voters in your country decide upon an issue by referendum (simple majority). Your own vote will change the outcome of the referendum only if the voters are split into equal parts on that matter. This happens with probability approximately proportional to the inverse of the square root of the number of citizens.

If we want to give all citizens in the EU the same influence on the Council’s decision, the country should have a voting power in the Council proportional to the square root of the population and the quota for qualified majority should be set at 62% (Kirsch et al.).

The Council of the European Union (ctd.)

Square root model Country Votes Germany UK France Italy Spain Poland Romania Netherlands Greek Czech Republic Belgium Portugal Hungary 9.08

7.93

7.77

7.66

6.61

6.18

4.65

4.04

3.33

3.20

3.24

3.25

3.17

6.44

4.85

4.21

3.47

3.34

3.38

3.39

3.31

% of all votes Difference to draft Constitution 9,47 8.24

-7.25

-4.49

8.10

7.99

6.89

-4.16

-3.93

-2.01

-1.30

0.47

0.90

1.21

1.26

1.25

1.25

1.27

The Council of the European Union (ctd.)

Square root model Country Sweden Bulgaria Austria Slovakia Denmark Finland Irland Lithuania Latvia Slovenia Estonia Cyprus Luxembourg Malta Votes 3.01

2.78

2.87

2.32

2.33

2.29

2.05

1.84

1.51

1.41

1.16

0.87

0.68

0.63

% of votes 3.14

2.90

2.99

2.42

2.43

2.39

2.14

1.92

1.57

1.47

1.21

0.91

0.71

0.66

Difference to draft constitution 1.31

1.33

1.31

1.09

1.33

1.32

1.29

1.23

1.11

1.06

0.94

0.76

0.62

0.58

en 4. The European Parliament (EP)

Although the origins of the EP go back to the fifties and the founding treaties,

only since 1979

its members have been

directly elected

(for five years) by the people they represent.

en

en The European Parliament (EP)(ctd.)

Year 1952 1958 1973 1979 1981 1986 1994

en

1995 No. of MEPs No. of MS Status of MEPs 78 142 198 410 434 6 6 9 9 Title of Chamber nominated ECSC Common Assembly nominated EC Common Assembly nominated European Parliament elected European Parliament 518 567 626 10 12 12 15 elected elected elected elected European Parliament European Parliament European Parliament European Parliament 2005 2007 732 785 25 27 elected elected European Parliament European Parliament

The European Parliament (ctd.)

Distribution of seats in EP in 2007 Country Germany UK France Italy Spain Poland Romania Netherlands Greek Czech Republic Belgium Portugal Hungary Sweden 24 24 24 24 24 19 seats 99 78 78 78 54 54 35 27 country Bulgaria Austria Slovakia Denmark Finland Irland Lithuania Latvia Slovenia Estonia Cyprus Luxembourg Malta

Total

7 6 6 6 5

785

seats 18 18 14 14 14 13 13 9

The European Parliament (ctd.)

Party groups in EP in 2007 Party group European People’s Party/ European Democrats Europe of Nations Greens/European Free Alliance European United Left/ Nordic Green Left Political orientation Centre-right (Christian Democrats & Conservatives) Party of European Socialists Centre-left Alliance of Liberals and Democrats Liberal Eurosceptics and generally right-wing Environmentalists & some Regionalists Left-wing Independence/ Democracy Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty Group Non-attached Eurosceptic/ Anti-EU Right-wing Various No. of MEPs (%) 278 (35.4 %) 216 (27.5 %) 104 (13.2 %) 44 (5.6 %) 42 (5.3 %) 41 (5.2%) 24 (3.1 %) 23 (2.9 %) 13 (1.7 %)

en The European Parliament (EP) (ctd.)

The regular

plenary sessions

are held in

Strasbourg

. Although he EP has come to base more

support staff

for the assembly in

Brussels

, part of the staff is still located in

Luxembourg

where it was originally based.

The European Parliament still lacks the powers and influence of national parliaments. However, since the 1970’s, Treaty amendments and institutional agreements have

greatly enhanced the European Parliaments en

(with respect to budgetary, legislative and personnel decisions):

en The European Parliament (EP) (ctd.)

• In the 1970’s: more

budgetary powers

for EP • 1980: Isoglucose judgment of the

ECJ

: Legislative Council decisions without

consultation of EP

are void.

• 1987 (SEA): Introduction of

cooperation procedure

for some legislation (greater scope for delay, amendment, and blocking laws) • 1993 (Maastricht Treaty):

Codecision procedure

introduced for some legislation; EP given approval power over nominated Commission.

en Extension of codecision procedure

; EP given formal right to veto nominee for post of Commission President.

• 2003 (Nice Treaty): Further

extension of codecision procedure

.

en 5. The European Council

The European Council, which should not be confused with the Council of the European Union, is the

Commission meet forum where the heads of the member states and the president of the

to discuss general issues.

Although it has

no formal decision-making power

, it is the

most influential body

. It is here that all the major policy guidelines are set and that all decisions on the big issues are taken. The European Council meets at least every sixth months, and it makes all decisions unanimously. The presidency rotates all six months among all EU members.

en

Only since Maastricht the European Council is explicitly mentioned in the Treaties (now Art. 4 EU and Art. 99 EC).

en 6. General Discussion

•

Over-Centralization ?

Reference-Model: Theory of Fiscal Federalism More competencies for the Community (Principle of subsidiarity?) Reducing the requirements for qualified majority European Court of Justice Charter of Human Rights •

Deficit of Democracy?

Criterion: To what extent citizens’ preferences are reflected in the collective decisions.

•

Lack of Transparency?

Access to information, complexity of legal procedure, responsibility and accountability of political authorities.

Comitology: 300-400 temporary expert committees and about 150 standing advisory groups to assist and monitor the Commission.