How the European Union works: Commission, Parliament, Council explained simply

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The European Union can seem like a maze of similar-sounding bodies. In practice its law-making rests on a fairly simple triangle: one institution proposes, and two others debate and decide. This guide explains who does what, in plain terms.

The big picture

The EU has no single government. Instead, power is shared between institutions that represent different interests:

The European Commission represents the interests of the EU as a whole.
The European Parliament represents citizens directly.
The Council of the European Union represents the governments of the member states.
The European Council brings together national leaders to set overall direction.

The European Commission: proposing and enforcing

The Commission is the EU's executive arm, based mainly in Brussels.

It is led by a College of Commissioners, one from each member state, including the President. Each commissioner is responsible for an area such as trade, competition or the environment.
It has the main right to propose new EU laws. In most areas, Parliament and the Council cannot pass a law the Commission has not proposed.
It manages the EU budget and runs programmes.
It acts as guardian of the treaties, checking that member states apply EU law, and can take a country to the Court of Justice if it does not.
Commissioners swear to act independently, not on instructions from their home governments.

The President of the Commission is proposed by the European Council and elected by the Parliament, and the full College must then be approved by a vote in Parliament.

The European Parliament: the elected voice

It has 720 members (MEPs) for the current term, elected directly by citizens in every member state in elections held every five years.
Seats are shared between countries roughly by population, with smaller countries getting proportionally more than strict arithmetic would give them.
MEPs sit in political groups by outlook, such as centre-right, socialist, liberal or green, rather than by nationality.
It meets in Strasbourg for its main plenary sessions and works in Brussels too.
It amends and votes on laws, shares power over the budget, and can force the whole Commission to resign through a vote of censure.

The Council of the European Union: the governments

Often just called the Council, this is where government ministers from each member state meet.

Which ministers attend depends on the subject: agriculture ministers on farming, finance ministers on economic matters, and so on.
The presidency rotates between member states every six months, with the country holding it chairing most meetings and setting priorities.
Most decisions use qualified majority voting, which needs 55% of member states representing at least 65% of the EU population. Sensitive areas such as tax and foreign policy usually need unanimity.

The European Council: the leaders

Not to be confused with the Council above, the European Council is made up of the heads of state or government of the member states, plus its own full-time President and the Commission President. It meets regularly in summits, sets the EU's overall priorities and handles crises, but it does not pass laws itself.

How a law is made

Most EU laws follow the ordinary legislative procedure.

The Commission drafts a proposal after consultation.
Parliament and the Council each examine it and propose amendments.
They negotiate, often in informal three-way talks with the Commission, to find a text both can accept.
Both must approve the same final text for it to become law.

The result is usually a regulation, which applies directly in every member state, or a directive, which sets a goal that each country writes into its own laws.

Other institutions worth knowing

The Court of Justice of the EU, in Luxembourg, interprets EU law and settles disputes.
The European Central Bank, in Frankfurt, sets interest rates for the euro.
The Court of Auditors checks how EU money is spent.

A common mix-up

The Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, is a separate organisation with a wider membership. It runs the European Court of Human Rights and is not part of the EU. Which EU institution would you like explained in more detail? Ask in the comments.